(Yicai) Feb. 25 -- Skyworth Group will take control of Panasonic Holdings' television business in Europe and North America to hasten the Chinese consumer electronics maker’s global expansion, an insider at the Japanese company said.

Panasonic will transfer its TV sales operations in the two regions to Shenzhen-based Skyworth in April as part of its ongoing corporate restructuring, the source at the Japanese firm told Yicai yesterday, adding that the deal will not result in any new staff layoffs or plant downsizing.

Facing sustained financial pressure in recent years, Osaka-based Panasonic announced last year that it would restructure and consider exiting underperforming businesses such as televisions. The company also disclosed plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs globally, about 4 percent of its workforce. Earlier this month, the firm unveiled plans to expand the redundancies to 12,000.

Panasonic did not rank among the world’s top 10 TV manufacturers by shipments last year, according to data from Sigmaintell Consulting. Skyworth shipped 8.2 million units, securing sixth place globally with a 3.7 percent market share.

Panasonic ships about two million TVs a year, with less than half sold in Europe and North America, according to Zhang Hong, deputy general manager of the large-size display business research department at Sigmaintell. After integrating these regional operations, Skyworth’s annual TV shipments are expected to reach about nine million units, lifting its global market share to 4 percent, he said.

Skyworth is pursuing a cost-efficient global expansion strategy for its TV division. As part of that approach, the company acquired the operating rights for the Philips TV brand in North America last year, founder Huang Hongsheng said last month.

The global TV market has been sluggish in recent years because of intensifying competition, Wang Xianming, director of TV industry chain research at Runto Technology, told Yicai. As a result, many electronics firms have divested this business, accelerating consolidation across the sector, he added. Leading Chinese brands, which have strong resource integration capabilities and supply chain advantages, are quickly growing their market shares, Wang noted.

Skyworth is not alone among Chinese TV makers in acquiring the assets of Japanese peers. TCL Electronics, the world's second-largest TV manufacturer by shipments, announced on Jan. 20 that it will partner with Sony to take a majority stake in a new joint venture that will control the Sony's home entertainment business. Hisense Group, the world’s third-largest TV shipper, acquired Toshiba's TV business in 2017.

Skyworth’s shares [HKG: 0751] closed 1.9 percent lower at HKD7.22 (92 US cents) in Hong Kong today. The stock has gained 54 percent since the end of last year.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione