Panasonic to Switch Off TVs in New Zealand from 2026

This marks another step back from a category it once helped shape. Retail partners were formally notified this week, and for anyone who remembers the company’s Australian exit which StereoNET reported on in early 2020, the move feels very much in line with its recent direction.

Panasonic New Zealand Managing Director, Stewart Fowler said in a note to partners this week that the decision “has been made in response to changing business needs and to align with our future direction,” while assuring full support for existing inventory and customer obligations. He also signalled a shift toward strengthening other product categories, ranging from white goods and kitchen appliances to imaging, personal audio, security, heating and cooling, projectors, and energy systems.

Taken at face value, the withdrawal reads as a local reshuffle. Yet the broader picture is more complex to ignore. Panasonic’s TV presence has been steadily contracting for years, not only in Oceania but across several international markets. The company still operates in Europe and the UK, but with a noticeably smaller model range and far less annual turnover than in its peak years.

Part of this comes down to the realities of the modern TV business. The market is dominated by brands with their own panel manufacturing, massive supply chains and the scale to push aggressive pricing. Panasonic’s high-end OLEDs continue to earn praise for picture accuracy and filmmaker-friendly tuning, but competing in a sector driven by slim margins and relentless product cycles has become an increasingly uphill task.

For this writer, this announcement feels like one more step in a gradual pullback rather than a sudden change in strategy. Whether Panasonic still sees sustainable room to compete in consumer television remains unanswered. Europe appears to be its strongest remaining foothold, backed by long-standing brand loyalty and distribution partnerships; however, how long that remains the case is unclear.

What is clearer is that this change signals the end of an era for New Zealand consumers and retailers who trusted Panasonic displays from the first plasmas through to modern OLEDs. It leaves another local market with one fewer heritage brand at a time when competition is already narrowing.

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