Sony Invented This TV. China Just Bought 51% of Sony’s TVs.

In 2004, Sony sold the first TV lit by pure red, green and blue LEDs — for about $10,000. In 2026, a Chinese brand sells a bigger RGB TV at Best Buy for $1,299. And TCL just signed a deal to take 51% of Sony's entire TV business. This is the story of how the company that invented the technology every TV maker is now chasing ended up as the junior partner in its own TV business — and how TCL went from betting everything on tube TVs to running Bravia. You'll see: • Why your TV throws most of its light away — and what RGB backlights do differently • The Sony Qualia 005: the $10,000 TV Sony built in 2004 • How TCL nearly went under after buying into Thomson and RCA • The 25-billion-yuan screen factory bet that changed everything • How Hisense and TCL overtook Samsung and LG • Exactly what TCL bought — and the one thing Sony refused to hand over CHAPTERS 00:00 The $10,000 TV Sony invented 01:42 Your TV throws most of its light away 03:50 Sony built that TV in 2004 07:23 TCL bet on the tube — and nearly died 11:15 Then the scoreboard flipped 14:28 Red, green and blue came back 18:11 Exactly what TCL bought 21:35 What Sony kept — and what isn't settled 25:21 The whole story, end to end Sources include TCL Multimedia annual reports (HKEX), Sony and TCL deal announcements, Omdia shipment data, Display Daily, Bloomberg, Japan Times, Notebookcheck and retailer listings. Prices and figures are as reported at the time of publishing. Parts of this video use AI-generated visuals for illustration. #Sony #TCL #RGBTV