LG is reportedly in talks to sell its entire TV business to Hisense, according to an EBN report today, with a meeting between representatives of both companies currently underway in Beijing. The main reason for LG's nearly 60-year-old TV business being sold is due to declining profits driven by competitive pressure from Chinese TV brands such as TCL and Hisense.
If this report is accurate, it will be another business where LG is waving the white flag after withdrawing from the smartphone market in 2021 also due to competition from Chinese manufacturers. Last year, Samsung was still in the top spot with a 17% market share, followed by TCL (16%), Hisense (10%), LG (9%) and Walmart (5%). Despite being in fourth place, LG wants to sell their business to a company in third place.
This move is not surprising because Sony itself sold its TV business to TCL this year with the formation of a new subsidiary, Bravia Inc. Sony only contributed to the development of the technology while the production of panels and TVs will be done by TCL. The competition from Chinese companies forced Sony, which was once proud of Trinitron, to admit defeat.
Samsung is still at the top, in its 20th year on the scene. However, this year they withdrew from the Chinese TV market due to fierce price competition. The era of Japanese TV technology dominance is over and now China may soon overtake South Korea.
