Panasonic has announced a major shakeup of its global TV business, at the same time as confirming a fairly interesting array of TVs for its 2026 lineup. After a bit of speculation about how much more time it had in the hypercompetitive TV market, it's confirmed that it's entering into a new partnership with Shenzhen Skyworth, under parent company Chuangwei RGB.
Skyworth will produce Panasonic TVs moving forward in both the EU and the US (with other regions seemingly a possibility in the long run). That's a fairly big shift, but given how recently Sony announced that its Bravia lineup would be made by TCL moving forward, it's not the biggest structural surprise ever.
Panasonic is also bringing its Entertainment division back into the main corporation as part of the reorganisation, meaning there's no need to lose hope yet for those of us fond of 4K Blu-ray players. Panasonic is one of the few still making any, after all.
In truth, there was fear that Panasonic might not actually stay in the market at all, and this deal is being framed as a big fat commitment in the opposite direction, albeit with a 2026 lineup that contains some surprises.
In particular, there's no sign of an update to the flagship Z95B OLED, a five-star stunner that we adored when we tested it last year. Panasonic says it'll continue to make the TV, but there's no new version to entice new buyers or upgraders. There is a new Z86C, a step-down version boasting a new OLED panel, though.
There are other new TVs, too, including a bunch of Mini-LED models in various sizes led by the flagship W97C/W95C, although it looks like this version won't be making it to the UK, which is a shame but hardly a new thing in the TV world.
If there is something new that Panasonic is pushing, it's a range of new coatings that customers can choose to have on the TVs they buy – matte anti-glare ones at a range of strengths. Having seen these in person, they can make a fairly huge difference to reflections, albeit at a potentially tiny hit to overall brightness and vividness.
Whether some persuasive anti-glare tech and a range of new mid-range TVs are enough to stave off doubt about this change in business remains to be seen, though. Shenzhen Skyworth's numbers globally are massive, but its brand recognition isn't the highest, so it'll be fascinating to see how this evolves in the next year or two.
