Panasonic to sell projector business for an estimated $640m

Publications across the AV industry are now reporting that Panasonic has found a buyer for its projector division. This follows weeks of speculation after it was first reported in May that Panasonic was looking to exit from projection. Japanese financial services group Orix is believed to be paying 100 billion yen (£490m, $639m, €580m) for Panasonic’s projector division, with Panasonic being one of the most well established and highly regarded brands within the industry, particularly for large-scale, high brightness projection.

Why would Panasonic sell?

Panasonic has a huge portfolio of electronics products across various sectors, including cameras, home audio products and home appliances. Within the category of displays, Panasonic sells professional, and consumer flat panel displays as well as, of course, professional projectors.

With this context, the sale of the projector division becomes easier to understand. Within the projector industry, Panasonic is a huge player, however, as part of its overall business, projection is a small, albeit reportedly profitable, segment of Panasonic.

With the deal believed to be worth $639m, these funds could be used to bolster or expand other parts of the business, or to fund acquisitions Panasonic may feel it needs to make in other areas.

Why would Orix buy?

Futuresource has forecast for short to medium term decline in the projector sector as a whole with stabilisation in the long term. The forecasted declines will be driven by strong competition from LCD and mounting competition from LED. However, Futuresource has also identified pockets of growth, notably in the Installation & Large Venue projectors segment, in which Panasonic held a 29% market share for global sales volumes in 2023, second only to Epson. Within this segment, which requires very high spec projectors for use cases such as projection mapping onto public buildings, immersive exhibitions and theme park experiences, Panasonic has become a leading brand.

It was recently reported that Panasonic will be installing 130 projectors for the upcoming Paris Olympics, which is the largest-ever projector deployment in competition venues at an Olympics and Paralympic Games. This illustrates the excellent reputation of Panasonic projectors and would have made the takeover all the more attractive for Orix.

Orix is a financial services group with headquarters in Tokyo and Osaka. On its website, Orix describes its businesses as falling into ‘10 business categories’. These include Real Estate, Banking & Credit and Environment & Energy, with no clear previous dealings in the Pro AV industry. The corporation is also prominent in the aviation industry, with a 45 year contract (since 2015) to operate two airports in Osaka.

What’s relevant about Panasonic’s pending deal with Orix is that this is a takeover by a financial investor rather than a strategic buyer, so notable changes in branding, product offerings and distribution should not be expected in the short term.

How will this affect the projector market?

According to Futuresource data, global sales for projectors in 2023 (excluding Screenless TVs) reached $5.3 billion. Panasonic made up about 4.5% of the volume of sales in the market last year, however, as mentioned previously, Panasonic offers a range of high spec projectors, making it one of the leading brands in terms of revenue.

While important details are yet to emerge, it is likely that competitor brands will look to further grow or consolidate their own market shares in light of this news. Orix’s position as a financial investor, managing assets for a return on investment rather than driving day-to-day business decisions, will mean Panasonic’s branding for projectors will almost certainly remain the same. However, Panasonic Projection may lose an advantage in its current ability to leverage channel partners across the entire Panasonic portfolio to sell projectors. Relations between Orix’s Panasonic Projector division and Panasonic Corporation will be strong at first but will inevitably weaken over time. This may prove the most costly disadvantage of this takeover for Panasonic Projectio

About the author

David Thompson

David Thompson joined Futuresource as the Lead Analyst for Projection in January 2024. He is responsible for the delivery of Futuresource’s quarterly Front Projector Market Reports and Online Projector Market Tracker, as well as worldwide forecasting for the projector market. David previously spent four years working within the Opportunity Markets and Global Strategy teams at Sony, building a strong experience of analytical reporting in the technology sector before joining Futuresource.