That would be a shame, they have made some very good TVs, always been a choice between Panasonic and Sony. In another life I serviced many of the National/Panasonic CRT models along with VCRs and hifi products, good gear. 

Growing up all we ever had were Panasonic TVs, even got a Panasonic OLED tv currently

Sorry to hear this. I have a Panasonic GZ1000 OLED which has been my Man Cave movie TV for the last five years or so. Great TV.

On the plus side, we may get some good prices on their clearance stock.

Someone posted a letter they got about it on Reddit: No More Panasonic TV’s : r/newzealand. April 1 2026 is the cutoff and doesn't affect other lines of products, just Consumer TVs.

Here's the official word from Panasonic NZ:

 

The Panasonic brand in New Zealand has always been strongly associated with traditional AV categories in particular televisions and Panasonic New Zealand have enjoyed a strong history of supplying electronics dealers and their customers with quality consumer televisions. As a Panasonic sales company we have always outperformed in the television category compared to many other Panasonic markets.

 

Globally the Panasonic brand reaches far wider than traditional AV categories, into home appliances, industrial, automotive, energy, heating and cooling. We (Panasonic NZ) have reviewed our portfolio to align with the global Panasonic direction to focus on our home appliances, personal care, heating, cooling, energy products and more!

 

This will be an exciting opportunity to bring a wider range of quality products into New Zealand for kiwi homes.

 

Customer service, spare parts and support for Panasonic televisions already sold in NZ will continue, however sales of any new consumer televisions will cease as of March 31st 2026.

 

This has been coming for a while. They want out of the TV market globally.

I wonder what this means for the TV market more generally. There used to be a huge selection of Japanese brands that have since pulled out of the TV market or disappeared altogether; Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Toshiba, etc. Are we all going to be buying Korean or Chinese TVs in the future, or is there a generational shift happening whereby young people are preferring to watch contents on iPhones, iPads, etc. and traditional TVs are slowly becoming irrelevant? 

I've been a long time advocate for Panasonic TVs. My first was bought back in 1994 when I first moved out of home. This is dissapointing but not unexpected, the writing was on the wall when they withdrew from the AU market a few years back. Thankfully I'm not in the market for a new TV anytime soon.

It seems that China are becoming a leading player in premium LED TV’s. I am actually looking at buying the TCL 75” C8K for my Man Cave. 
Reviews are exceptionally good for the four size .models in the range and pricing is very competitive compared to Sony.

alasta:

 

I wonder what this means for the TV market more generally. There used to be a huge selection of Japanese brands that have since pulled out of the TV market or disappeared altogether; Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Toshiba, etc. Are we all going to be buying Korean or Chinese TVs in the future, or is there a generational shift happening whereby young people are preferring to watch contents on iPhones, iPads, etc. and traditional TVs are slowly becoming irrelevant? 

 

I hope Sony remains here. 

alasta:

 

I wonder what this means for the TV market more generally. There used to be a huge selection of Japanese brands that have since pulled out of the TV market or disappeared altogether; Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Toshiba, etc. Are we all going to be buying Korean or Chinese TVs in the future, or is there a generational shift happening whereby young people are preferring to watch contents on iPhones, iPads, etc. and traditional TVs are slowly becoming irrelevant? 

 

There is currently a huge rationalisation going on in the "Panel" industry , 

There is simply little growth in the "big" panel market,  as you say, phones and tablets are where growth is...

https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/business/companies/20230731-126521/

alasta:

 

I wonder what this means for the TV market more generally. There used to be a huge selection of Japanese brands that have since pulled out of the TV market or disappeared altogether; Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Toshiba, etc. Are we all going to be buying Korean or Chinese TVs in the future, or is there a generational shift happening whereby young people are preferring to watch contents on iPhones, iPads, etc. and traditional TVs are slowly becoming irrelevant? 

 

Samsung/LG sell a lot of TVs.

All of the Panasonic TV range has just been built by another company (primarily TCL Electronics and Vestel) for the last few years. Very little of the product range had any Panasonic engineering at all - I gather it was mainly the OLED range - and even then Panasonic dont make panels anymore.

The Japanese manufacturers have not been able to compete for quite a long time now. Most of those brand names have gone bust and often the brandname has been flicked off to be used by one of the huge Chinese manufacturers.

The Japanese car industry is now facing the same problems. Mitsubishi is a shadow of its former self. Nissan is on life support. Toyota is the second most indebted company in the world.

Rise and fall of empires?

Really sad news and probably why we see specials like the current Z90B 77" for $3499 which is 68% discount off RRP.

My GZ has been great for 5+ years now