Panasonic announced a strategic partnership with Skyworth, in which the Chinese TV maker will produce, market and sell Panasonic branded TVs. Panasonic itself will provide expertise and quality assurance for these TVs.
The two companies will join forces to develop new high-end OLED TVs. Skyworth is estimated to be the third largest OLED TV producer (following LG Electronics and Sony), but was mostly focused on its domestic market in China. Now this partnership will enable it to grow globally, using Panasonic's well-trusted global TV brand.
This new development follows the sort-of-exit of another leading Japanese TV makers - last month Sony announced today that it plans to spin-out its TV and home audio business to a separate entity, and introduce TCL that will hold a 51% stake. The new company will continue to use the Sony and Bravia brands, and will handle the full process from product development and design to manufacturing, sales, logistics, and customer service for its TV and audio products.
Panasonic has a long history with OLED TVs. In 2012, it announced a JV with Sony, to co-develop OLED TVs using inkjet printing, and even demonstrated a 56" 4K prototype in 2013, but these never materialized, and the JV was cancelled. This IP ended at up JOLED, which years later went bankrupt - and now most of the IP and equipment was acquired by TCL.
To read the entire article, sign up for OLED-Info Pro
OLED-Info Membership Benefits:
- Access to premium content
- A comprehensive guide to the OLED industry
- OLED Insights and trends analysis
- A content library of 200+ brochures, catalogs, roadmaps, presentations and more.
- Detailed structured information on OLED devices, fabs, microdisplays, automotive applications and more
- Online access, easy subscription model, cancel at any time
- Only $24.99 per month! (discounts for yearly subscriptions)
