Who Made My TV?

Find out which brands own other brands

TV Brand Owner	Owner Country	TV Brand Names Sold in US	Notes
Funai	Japan	Emerson
		Sylvania
		Symphonic
		Funai	Funai makes many house brands for national retail chains.
Hitachi	Japan	Hitachi
JVC Kenwood	Japan	JVC	JVC’s used to be a subsidiary of Panasonic. A 2007 rearrangement leaves Panasonic with a majority share but a JVC/Kenwood holding company in control.
LG	Korea	LG Electronics
		Zenith
		GoldStar
Mitsubishi	Japan	Mitsubishi
Orion	Japan	Orion	Orion makes TVs for many other brand names, including Toshiba and retailer house brands. Most TVs are made in Thailand.
		Sansui
		Various	House brands for Walmart, Best Buy, Target
Panasonic	Japan	Panasonic
		Quasar
		Technics
Philips	Netherlands	Magnavox
		Philco
		Philips
Petters Group Worldwide	USA	Polaroid	Polaroid doesn't actually make TVs. LCD TVs bearing the Polaroid name are made by other companies, including XOCECO in China.
Samsung	Japan	Samsung
Sanyo	Japan	Sanyo
		Fisher
Sharp	Japan	Sharp
Sony	Japan	Sony
		AIWA
Syntax Brillian	US, Taiwan	Olevia	Syntax Brillian, which was technically a US company had a strong partnership with the Taiwanese manufacturer of its TVs, Taiwan Kolin Co. Syntax Brillian filed bankruptcy in July 2008 so its corporate future is unclear.
Tatung Electronics	Taiwan		Makes some models for retailer house brands and other licensed names.
Toshiba		Toshiba
Thomson TTE	China	RCA
		Pro Scan
		GE
		THOMSON
AmTran Technology LTD	Taiwan	Vizio	Vizio is a US company that is the sales arm of the Vizio brand made by AmTran in Taiwan. Vizio has risen from an unknown brand to gaining a significant market share of LCD sales in the US, leading all others in one quarter in 2007.
Unclear – Likely Chi Mei Optoelectronics	Taiwan	Westinghouse	Westinghouse Digital Electronics licenses the use of the Westinghouse name from Westinghouse Electric, which is owned by CBS. Westinghouse Digital has very close ties to a Taiwanese company called Chi Mei Optoelectronics.

US Retailer House Brand Televisions

Retail Chain	House Brands Owned	Who Makes Them?
Walmart	iLO	Funai makes at least some of the iLO TVs
Walmart	Durabrand	Funai makes at least some of the Durabrand TVs
Best Buy	Insignia	Various companies make Insignia TVs.
	Best Buy
	Dynex
Target	TruTech
Circuit City	Element	Owned by the Petters group, the same that owns Polaroid.
Radio Shack	Radio Shack
	Tandy
	Realistic
	Accurian
	Pocket Vision
	Optimus

Press Coverage

A Program to Certify Electronic Waste Recycling Rivals an Industry-U.S. Plan

New York Times

04-15-10 -- In addition to outlining safe domestic handling and disposal practices for old televisions, computers and other electronic devices, the system would effectively bar participating recyclers from exporting toxic, nonfunctional electronic waste to developing nations. The program will compete directly with a less stringent standard recently developed by industry and the federal government that companies and recyclers say makes more economic sense.

Electronics Recycling - Who’s Responsible?

Recycling Today

12-29-09 -- As the lawsuit challenging New York City’s electronics take-back law prepares for opening arguments in mid-January, industry associations and electronics recycling advocates wonder what effect the court’s ruling will have on the future of producer responsibility.

A Green Way to Dump Low-Tech Electronics

The New York Times

06-30-09 -- The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 99.1 million televisions sit unused in closets and basements across the country. Consumer response to recycling has been enormous in states where the laws have taken effect.