2 weeks Ago By David Richards
Japanese Company Funai Electric who manufacture Toshiba TV’s and was once a powerhouse TV production Company, is in negotiations with Chinese TV conglomerate Skyworth, who late last year was trying to get their TVs ranged in Australia after discussions with both distributors and retailers direct, currently their TV’s are being sold into the Australian market via Amazon, they also manufacture Amazon Fire TV’s. In Australia Toshiba TV’s are manufactured by Hisense. Recently Funai Electric was placed into administration due to the JapaneseTV industry now being controlled by South Korean brands Samsung and LG with Chinese brands TCL and Hisense also moving onto the Japanese market.
According to Nikkei Asia Funai Electric’s cash and deposits are almost depleted with staff laid off when the business was placed into administration. The talks are focused on Funai Electric’s TV businesses in North America, where it supplies Walmart under Dutch brand Philips, and Japan, where it supplies its own brand units exclusively to major appliance retailer Yamada Holdings, a source said. Funai Electric’s televisions held a 3% share of the North American market and a 5.
6% share of the Japanese market on a shipment basis in the January-June period, market research agency Omdia reports. The move if successful would give Skyworth access to both the Philips and Toshiba brands in the USA. The idea is for Skyworth to continue shipping TVs under the Philips brand in North America.
Skyworth claim that they would fund a Japanese subsidiary if an agreement were reached. Currently Chinese brands are trying to break into the Japanese market with Hisense announcing earlier today that they are parachuting their current Australia Managing Director Finn Zhang, to run their operations in Japan, Skyworth is expected to consult with Yamada Holdings before deciding on what brand it would use in Japan and which retailers it would supply. Funai Electric lost A$330 million from large loans made to affiliated companies and financial support for a hair removal clinic operator acquired in 2023 by its parent Company claim insiders.
Former Funai Electric President Tomokazu Ueda admits that the Company is negotiating the sale of the TV business with a Chinese company as part of their management restructuring.”..
