In a nutshell: Sony has agreed to effectively hand over control of its home entertainment business to China's TCL. The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint venture that will oversee Sony's home entertainment division, with Sony holding a 49 percent stake and TCL taking a controlling 51 percent share.
The new company will operate globally, we are told, and will be responsible for handling everything from product design and development to manufacturing, logistics, sales, and even customer service. The as yet unnamed venture will handle both televisions and home audio equipment, and is expected to carry on the Sony and Bravia names.
Sony brings decades of picture and audio expertise to the table, and will leverage its brand name and supply chain management skills. TCL, meanwhile, has spent years working on its own advanced display technology. The Chinese electronics maker also touted its global scale advantages, industrial footprint, end-to-end cost efficiency, and vertical supply chain strengths as positive contributions to the partnership.
The television industry is a curious outlier in the consumer electronics industry. Whereas most products tend to get more expensive as their tech matures, televisions have done the exact opposite. Over the past 25 years, TV prices have fallen faster than almost any other electronics product category. A recent look into why this is found several contributing factors including manufacturing breakthroughs, effects of scale, and intense competition with rivals.
Sony was once a major player in several consumer categories, but they have exited many of those markets in recent memory. In 2025 alone, Sony stopped producing Blu-ray media and discontinued its 8K TV line. The company also jettisoned its Vaio PC business in 2014 and sold its lithium-ion battery business to Murata Manufacturing in 2017.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the two companies expect to move closer to signing definitive, binding agreements by the end of March 2026. Pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, the new venture expects to begin operations by April 2027.