LG may be done making TVs — and Chinese rivals are circling
LG Electronics is reportedly weighing a sale or major restructuring of its TV division as Chinese rivals TCL and Hisense outgrow it on every front. In Q4 2025, TCL and Hisense together claimed 30.2% of global TV shipments — surpassing the Samsung-LG combined total of 26.2% for the first time, per Yicai (Omdia Q4 2025). LG's own share stood at 9.8%, down 3.3 percentage points year-on-year. For a brand that once defined premium TV, the slide is hard to ignore.
The squeeze
The margin story is even bleaker than the share numbers. LG's TV division has historically scraped by at 1–2% operating profit, and recent quarters have tipped into losses. At the same time, LG Display — the panel-making arm — has wound down LCD TV production entirely, pivoting to OLED. That means LG Electronics must now buy screens from outside suppliers, often the same Chinese manufacturers it competes against at retail. Building a competitive TV at scale when your panel supplier is also your biggest rival is an expensive problem with no clean solution.
Investors are noticing. Wall Street and Seoul analysts increasingly treat TV as a legacy cash drain rather than a growth business. LG's more promising bets — EV battery components and B2B display systems — give the company financial cover to step back from consumer screens without looking like a retreat.
The Sony template
LG isn't the first Korean-era premium brand to face this math. Sony spent years absorbing TV losses before striking a joint venture with TCL: Bravia Inc., finalized in March 2026, gives TCL a 51% stake while Sony retains 49% and full ownership of the Bravia brand, with operations starting April 2027, according to FlatpanelsHD. Sony keeps the software, the image processing reputation, and the logo. TCL handles the factory floor.
Reports from Korean outlet EBN suggest LG executives held closed-door meetings with Hisense in Beijing — framed publicly as "partnership discussions," but read by the market as something closer to an exit negotiation. Nothing is confirmed, and LG has made no public statement about selling the division. Still, the Korea Herald (Apr 2026) notes explicit earnings pressure on both Samsung and LG as the Chinese supply-chain advantage widens.
What it means for buyers
If a deal takes shape, the most likely outcome mirrors Sony's arrangement: the LG name stays on the box, but Hisense runs the production. "Designed by LG" on a Hisense-built panel is not a far-fetched scenario. For now, LG OLED sets remain available and unaffected — but anyone deep in the LG ecosystem should watch this story closely over the next 12 months.
