It looks like we are witnessing the end of an era for Japanese tech dominance in the living room. Sony is making a massive shift in its hardware strategy by selling off a majority stake in its flagship Bravia brand to its Chinese rival, TCL Electronics Holdings.
The Tokyo-based tech giant is offloading 51% of its home entertainment arm to cut its exposure to the low-margin TV market. The two companies are planning to launch a joint venture in April 2027, which will continue to produce televisions under the Sony and Bravia names, but they will be powered by TCL’s own display technology.
For TCL, this is a massive win in its long-running quest to become a global household name. By partnering with Sony, TCL gets to leverage a legendary brand name and decades of technical expertise to fuel its international expansion.
Meanwhile, Sony is moving further away from the world of gadgets to focus on its real money-makers: content and intellectual property. The company is doubling down on its massive portfolio of anime, live-action films, music, and sports broadcasts while continuing to slim down its consumer electronics division.
This exit is part of a much broader trend across the Japanese tech landscape. For years, the country’s electronics heavyweights have been losing ground to rivals from China and South Korea. We have already seen names like Toshiba, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, and Pioneer leave the television market entirely, while others like Panasonic and Sharp have moved TVs to the back burner of their growth strategies.