Sony and TCL Form Joint Venture for BRAVIA TV Business, TCL Takes 51% Majority Stake

January 21^st, 2026

Sony and TCL Form Joint Venture for BRAVIA TV Business, TCL Takes 51% Majority Stake

by Nino LeitnerJanuary 21^st, 2026

Sony and TCL have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture that will assume Sony’s home entertainment business, with TCL holding 51% and Sony retaining 49%. The new company will continue using the Sony and BRAVIA brand names while leveraging TCL’s manufacturing scale and display technology.

The deal marks a significant shift in the television industry landscape, as another major Japanese electronics brand cedes control of its TV operations to an Asian manufacturing giant. The joint venture will operate globally, handling the full process from product development and design to manufacturing, sales, logistics, and customer service for televisions and home audio equipment. Subject to definitive agreements expected by the end of March 2026 and regulatory approvals, operations are expected to commence in April 2027, according to Sony’s official press release.

Joint venture structure and operations

The new company plans to combine Sony’s picture and audio technology, brand value, and supply chain management expertise with TCL’s advanced display technology, global scale advantages, and vertical supply chain strength. According to Sony, the partnership aims to create new customer value through products carrying the globally recognized Sony name and BRAVIA brand.

Kimio Maki, President and CEO of Sony Corporation, stated that the strategic partnership aims to deliver more captivating audio and visual experiences to customers worldwide. TCL Electronics Chairperson DU Juan described the partnership as an opportunity to achieve greater scale and optimize the supply chain through strategic business complementarity and technology sharing.

The joint venture structure is notable because it gives TCL, not Sony, majority control over business decisions. This arrangement differs from typical licensing deals where brands simply lend their names to third-party manufacturers, as the new entity will genuinely integrate both companies’ operations and expertise.

Declining market share drives Sony’s decision

The move comes as Sony’s global market share in televisions has been declining. According to Kyodo News, Sony’s TV sales for the fiscal year ending March 2025 fell 9.6% from the previous year to 564.1 billion yen (approximately $3.6 billion). Meanwhile, TCL shipped 29 million televisions in 2024, giving it a global market share of around 14% and ranking second worldwide in TV shipments.

Sony’s television history spans more than six decades. The company entered the TV business in 1960 with the world’s first direct-view portable transistor TV, and its proprietary Trinitron cathode-ray tubes launched in 1968 became a global hit. Sony also launched the world’s first OLED television in 2007, demonstrating its technical leadership in display technology.

However, faced with declining margins and growing price competition, Sony has already sold off or shuttered its operations in PCs, tablets, and portable media players, as reported by The Japan Times. The BRAVIA brand survived by positioning itself at the premium tier of the market, where consumers pay more for high-end picture and sound quality. Sony’s marketing has long positioned its TVs as an extension of its creative ecosystem, allowing viewers to experience content as intended by creators using Sony gear.

Japanese TV manufacturers continue to exit

The Sony-TCL deal continues a broader trend of Japanese companies losing ground in televisions to Chinese and Korean rivals. Toshiba, Hitachi, Mitsubishi Electric, and Pioneer have already exited the TV business entirely, while Panasonic Holdings and Sharp have de-emphasized the segment in their growth strategies.

Most notably, Sharp’s TV business was acquired by Taiwan’s Foxconn in 2016 for approximately $3.5 billion, marking what was then the largest foreign takeover of a Japanese consumer electronics firm. That deal gave Foxconn control of Sharp’s advanced display technology and manufacturing capabilities, following months of negotiations.

Sharp’s TV business was acquired by Foxconn in 2016. Image shows Sharp Headquarters / Sakai Office (Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture). Image credit: L26, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

TCL has been expanding its global presence with aggressive pricing strategies and has positioned itself as a major budget TV brand in the US market. The company has previously licensed the BlackBerry and Alcatel brands for mobile devices. At CES 2026, TCL took over one of the most prominent display booths, supplanting Samsung Electronics, signaling its growing ambitions in the premium display market.

The global market for large TV products continues to expand, driven by trends such as diversified viewing styles through growing streaming platforms, enhanced user experiences through smart features, and adoption of higher resolution and larger displays. The new joint venture aims to capitalize on these trends while combining both companies’ complementary strengths.

The Sony-TCL partnership raises important questions about the future of premium television manufacturing and what it means when iconic consumer electronics brands are increasingly operated by companies other than their founders.

Will the BRAVIA name retain its premium positioning under TCL’s majority control, and does this signal further consolidation in the TV industry? Share your thoughts in the comments below.