A few months ago, former editor for CNET Australia Mark Serrels wrote this on Bluesky (and I'll paraphrase): "Boomers love Sony, I've never seen anything like it." This comment came back to me yesterday, after hearing news of TCL and Sony forming a new joint company to produce Sony home audio and TVs, especially Bravias.

See also: These Are the Most Head-Turning TVs of CES 2026

Some people are shocked by the decision, and it's most likely the long-term fans who are most upset. Yet here's the rub: Sony hasn't produced a TV of its own, from tip to tail, in decades. What this announcement essentially means is that yet another company will be manufacturing the TVs, and it's a company that is able to build the whole thing: TCL. TCL owns its panel manufacturing, has its own assembly plants and an established distribution network. The company is able to do things cheaper, and when you couple this with the company's consistently high performance of the past few years, it makes a collaboration very attractive to a company known for its picture quality.

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I was lucky enough to attend the Japanese launch of Bravia, which was the "butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon" moment that led us here. It was the first time Sony broke its reliance on CRT and even plasma -- the two things the company could produce itself. It was the new world of LCDs, a technology that enabled very thin and light cabinets, and that didn't burn in like those other two types. The original Bravia panels were produced by S-LCD Corporation, a joint venture between Samsung and Sony, a partnership that mimics yesterday's announcement. 

In the 80s and 90s, Sony built a strong fanbase with its Trinitron TVs, but its 2005 LCD expansion was something completely different. Sony brought over its picture processing know-how, which the company still prides itself on, but it essentially relied on another manufacturer to make the panels.

I'm not an economist, so I'm not going into the hows and whys of a high-value yen that makes it hard to compete in the world market when it comes to exported goods like TVs. Yet, it's no coincidence that Sony is one of the last high-profile Japanese brands in the American market to resist licensing its name. Sharp, Pioneer and Toshiba are among the many brands that left the US and sold their licenses to another company that could produce good TVs for less. (While Panasonic recently reentered the US market, it only has a couple of models compared to *firehose emoji*.)

Yes, Sony has had an extremely successful gaming business, but the company makes more money on the software than the hardware. The company doesn't have quite the same revenue stream when it comes to TVs, and while it did try with the discontinued Sony Pictures Store and PlayStation Vue, it can't compete with market leaders like Netflix and YouTube TV.

The thing that most people are worried about is the 51% controlling interest that belongs to TCL. Sure, that means TCL will make most of the decisions, and it may change the technology mix from LCD and OLED to Micro-LED, but does this really matter?

I have owned two Sony TVs in my life -- a Trinitron CRT and a Wega rear-projection TV -- and still look back upon them fondly. The company remains in high regard, regardless of who makes the panels. For instance, the 2025 Bravia II got some great reviews, and the company is still seen as able to package a great TV -- at a significantly higher price, or with a "Sony tax," and that's the rub.

On my nightstand, I have a flyer advertising the launch of Sony's new TV range for the coming year. It says "And Don't Forget… Sony RGB is Coming. Spring 2026." That's right, the technology de jour at CES 2026 appears to be coming to Sony TVs this year (more details are expected soon). While TCL was talking up its anti-RGB-mini-LED X11L at the show, to the disregard of everything else, I noticed that company was showing some preproduction RGB backlit TVs at its CES booth. It wouldn't surprise me at all if TCL was the source for this new Sony range.

Yet, does this new venture mean the "death" of Sony or picture quality, or whatever other sky-is-falling thing people can complain about? In short: No. With the formation of the new company projected in 2027, Sony will be able to keep its name and have some control over the design and production of its signature product: TVs. This is something that none of the other Japanese companies have been able to pull off as successfully and should enable the continuation of Sony's good standing for many years to come. In 2040, you may even see someone like me write, "Gen Xers love Sony."