Sony’s TV business has been taken over by TCL

Sony has announced plans to spin off its TV business and turn it into a new joint venture with TCL. The two companies signed a non-binding agreement for Sony’s home entertainment business, with TCL set to own a 51 percent stake in the new venture and Sony owning 49 percent.

The new company is expected to retain the “Sony” and “Bravia” brands for its future products and will handle global operations from product development and design to manufacturing, sales and logistics of televisions and home audio devices. Sony says the partnership will leverage Sony’s image and audio technology, brand equity, supply chain management and other operational expertise. This will combine with TCL’s proprietary display technology, vertical supply chain strength, global market presence and overall cost efficiency.

In the announcement, Sony CEO Kimio Maki said that combining the two companies will allow Sony and TCL to “create new value for customers in the home entertainment space, and deliver more engaging audio and video experiences to customers around the world.” TCL President DU Juan says that under the new venture, TCL expects to “raise our brand value, achieve greater scale, and optimize the supply chain in order to deliver superior products and services to our customers.”

One thing’s for sure: the prospect of cheaper Bravia TVs built with Sony’s excellent image processing and TCL’s leading technology is certainly compelling.