The news that investment firm Orix has halted its €800 million deal with Panasonic came as a surprise. Now, the future of Panasonic's projector business is unclear. AV research firm Futuresource explains why the deal was on shaky ground from the start.
Panasonic’s Canceled Deal with Orix: Why Now and What’s Next?
At the time of writing, a number of outlets are reporting that the deal for Panasonic to sell its Projector division to Japanese investment firm Orix has fallen through. It was originally announced just less than a year ago that Panasonic Connect and Orix would launch a new company, with Orix holding 80% of shares and Panasonic Connect holding the remaining 20%, in a deal worth a reported 800 million euros at the time. Since then, the Projector division was spun off into a new company, Panasonic Projector & Display. A new sub-brand was also launched recently at Infocomm, called Mevix. However, the future of this rebrand is now unclear, given the news today of the Orix deal falling through.
Panasonic had originally sought to find a buyer as it looked to streamline its operations and prioritise higher growth areas of the business. What was clear was that Panasonic had a strong presence and well-earned reputation in the projector market, but was not prioritising projection, and so spinning off projection into a new company, with investment from Orix seemed a sensible move. However, reports today suggest disagreements over forecasts and other financial projections have led to a breakdown in the talks between the two parties.
The competitive landscape continues to tighten, with projection facing continued competition from I/FPD and growing competition from LED. Additionally, Chinese manufacturers like XGIMI, JMGO and Anker have driven aggressive pricing pushes, disrupting the home projector market, while dominant brands like Epson have looked to consolidate market share. Panasonic however, is particularly strong at the higher-cost, higher-spec end of the market, providing a significant share of projectors for large venues and installations. It ranked as second behind Epson for total value sold in CY2024 and sixth for volumes sold. The data for the market as a whole though, shows clear declines, with Futuresource reporting a global year-on-year decline of 11.5% in volumes sold in Q1 of CY2025.
While there are clear pockets of growth in developing regions such as parts of Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and South America, as well as some growth in some vertical niches such as large-scale projection mapping and sports simulation, mainstream corporate and institutional uses of projection in the traditionally largest markets of the US, China and EU are declining. And if the EU ban on mercury lamp-based projectors, coming into effect in 2027, is not delayed, then declines in Europe will accelerate. These factors may have created uncertainty for Orix in investing in projection.
What’s next for Panasonic and Orix is unclear. The seemingly failed acquisition will likely prompt Panasonic to reassess its projector division, and work to consolidate its place in the market before finding a new buyer. Panasonic had already announced plans to sell its projector division before the initial Orix deal was announced, so it seems there is already commitment from Panasonic to divest this part of its business, especially given the establishment of Panasonic Projector & Display as a new company. Of course, talks between Panasonic and Orix could also always be reopened and given that the news of the breakdown in the acquisition is only just coming out, this story could look very different within the next few days or weeks.
