Panasonic is a Japanese company that sells a wide variety of products, including smart TVs. The company has been in the business of TVs for decades, as it started making and selling them in 1952. In fact, it currently stands out as one of the major TV brands as of 2025, alongside the likes of LG, Sony, and Samsung. In its early days, Panasonic produced its sets in-house through various manufacturing plants at different locations.
For its plasma models, for example, the company had several plants in Japan, including one in Hyōgo Prefecture dubbed the Amagasaki Plant. It opened its Pilsen, Czech Republic, plant in 1996 to produce Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) TVs, and the plant later transitioned to produce plasma ones. However, in late 2021, the company confirmed a shift in strategy to FlatPanelsHD, announcing it would be outsourcing all of its production to external partners instead.
FlatPanelsHD notes that the company had already outsourced some of its TV production previously, but the 2021 move was the last nail in the coffin for in-house production. Outsourcing wasn’t new, and at that point, several TV companies were doing it. Some TV brands, such as low-cost TV brand Vizio, don’t handle manufacturing themselves. Meanwhile, Sony and Samsung sourced at least some of their OLED displays from LG.
Who makes TVs for Panasonic?
Panasonic’s production outsourcing move was meant to make its TV business more profitable, according to TechRadar. However, product research and development (R&D) is still handled by the company in its facilities in Japan and Langen, Germany. It has outsourced the bulk of its production to TCL, which is one of the main TV brands in the U.S. — well known for its great value-for-money sets.
TCL has production plants across the world from where it makes its TV sets, including in Asia, Europe, South America, and even North America. The Chinese tech company has plants in multiple countries, including Mexico, India, China, Vietnam, and Poland. Another company that handles manufacturing on behalf of Panasonic is Vestel in Turkey, which was already handling production of the company’s entry-level and mid-range models as of 2021.
However, as of 2025, there’s a cloud of uncertainty hovering over Panasonic’s TV business. A February 2025 report from Nikkei suggested the company was “prepared to sell its TV business if necessary,” according to the company’s president, Yuki Kusumi.
