"Building the reach to match the reputation" – Panasonic's new TV partner says it has big ambitions

When you drop news as big as the announcement that Panasonic made yesterday, confirming that it's entering into a partnership that seems to basically sell off its TV branding to a new manufacturer, you know that people are likely to be sceptical.

Like with Sony giving the Bravia keys to TCL earlier this year, there are likely plenty of Panasonic ultras out there who're devastated to learn that this storied Japanese brand will no longer be the sole driver of its own TV destiny.

After all, we're only just around a year since the announcement of the stunning Z95B, a five-star OLED TV that deserved to be a massive hit, and which scored well around the industry, not just with T3's tech editor, Mike Lowe.

I was in Munich for Panasonic's big news conference, though, where it confirmed the new partnership and the European arrangement that will follow. Unsurprisingly, executives from Chuangwei, Shenzhen Skyworth's parent company, were on hand to immediately present some reassuring sentiments about the deal.

Paul Darch, CEO of Shenzhen Skyworth, said all the things you'd expect to hear about respecting Panasonic's legacy and attention to detail. The big and immediate take-home was that "Panasonic's TV business will continue in Europe with even stronger products".

There will be no pull-out of the market, then, with the new approach "backed by new scale and resources for what comes next". In terms of respect for what's come before, Darch had this to say: "The DNA that defines Panasonic TVs is unchanged".

He explained that Panasonic's Japanese HQ will continue to have input on the TV-making process and will give "ongoing technical support". Meanwhile, "the reference stays the reference" – meaning the aims of the business remain top-tier, in theory.

This is clearly all about scale, though, and Darch didn't hide that, stating that the overall goal of the partnership was "building the reach to match the reputation" that Panasonic has established over time. To that end, he underlined that Shenzhen Skyworth is aiming at a double-digit market share in Europe as soon as feasible.

All of that sounds fine in theory, but it'll be fairly fascinating to watch how it actually plays out in the next couple of years. The TV market is cut-throat, and Panasonic will have to maintain high standards; skipping a follow-up to the Z95B in its 2026 TV lineup is an interesting way to start that timeline.