Sony no longer exclusively own “Bravia” – New joint venture partner is TCL with 51% control

Sony Bravia, a name that echoes premium, tech superiority, and Japanese quality. The first two could still be around, but the last one? Not anymore.

The latest info bomb dropped with Sony and TCL agreeing to form a new joint venture that will take over Sony’s TV and home entertainment hardware business, with the Chinese holding a 51% controlling stake while the Japanese keeps 49%. On paper, Sony isn’t fully walking away, but in practice, this marks a major shift in who really calls the shots behind future Bravia TVs.

The new entity is expected to handle everything from product planning and design to manufacturing, sales, logistics, and after-sales support, with a definitive agreement targeted by March 2026 and full operations projected to begin in April 2027, pending regulatory approvals.

With the rise of locally-improved display tech combined with massive production capacity, the TV business has become a low-margin battlefield dominated by giants like Samsung, LG, TCL, and Hisense. The winner of this deal, which is TCL, gets access to one of the most respected TV brands in the world, instantly boosts its credibility in the premium segment, especially in markets where Sony still carries strong emotional and perceived quality value. Instead of fighting purely on price, TCL now gets to play a brand-plus-scale game, blending Sony’s reputation with its own manufacturing dominance, assuming that the global consumer market is not aware of this.

Of course, not everyone is cheering. Long-time Bravia fans are already questioning whether future models will still “feel” like Sony TVs, especially if more of the underlying hardware decisions are driven by TCL’s cost-optimised approach. Some analysts see this as a smart evolution that could make Bravia more competitive on price without sacrificing core quality, while others worry about brand dilution if the balance tilts too far toward efficiency over refinement.