Omdia view
Summary
A voluntary public takeover offer has been made by JD.com for Ceconomy, the parent company of MediaMarkt and Saturn, valuing the business at €2.2bn. The agreement would hand 31.7% of the company to JD.com, but an arrangement appears to be in place with Convergenta (MediaMarkt’s founding Kellerhals family), which will hold 25.4% of the company, providing majority control. The MediaMarkt and Saturn group generated €22.4bn in revenue in its 2023/24 financial year and owns 24.3% of FNAC Darty, a similar business based in France. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including merger control and foreign investment clearances. The closing of the deal is expected to take place in the first half of 2026. The deal is being framed as a strategic partnership. JD.com has committed to maintaining Ceconomy as a standalone business in Europe, keeping its brands (MediaMarkt and Saturn), management team, and a separate technology stack. There are also commitments to respect existing labor agreements and not conduct compulsory redundancies for at least three years.
Why would both sides agree with this?
The strategic agreement between JD.com and Ceconomy AG is a classic example of a partnership where both sides believe they can gain significant advantages they couldn’t achieve on their own.
Why JD.com agrees to this deal
For JD.com, the acquisition of Ceconomy is a major step in its international expansion strategy. It allows the company to rapidly enter the European market and address key challenges it faces outside of China. The deal delivers an immediate European footprint. Ceconomy’s network of over 1,000 stores across 11 European countries gives JD.com an instant, established physical presence. Building such a network from scratch would take years, be prohibitively expensive, and face significant regulatory and cultural hurdles. This is a much faster and more efficient way to establish a foothold.
JD.com is an e-commerce giant with world-class online retail, logistics capabilities, and omnichannel expertise. Ceconomy, with its brands MediaMarkt and Saturn, has a deep understanding of European consumers and a strong physical retail presence. The partnership allows JD.com to integrate its digital prowess with Ceconomy’s physical stores, creating a powerful “omnichannel” platform that is highly valued by consumers.
Ceconomy’s existing supply chain and warehouse infrastructure in Europe are crucial for JD.com’s logistics expansion. This allows the Chinese company to improve its international logistics, shorten delivery times from days to potentially hours, and more effectively distribute Chinese-manufactured products into the European market.
JD.com’s domestic market in China is becoming increasingly competitive. Expanding into Europe helps the company diversify its revenue streams and reduce its reliance on a single market, which is a key component of its long-term growth strategy.
Why Ceconomy and its shareholders agree to this deal
For Ceconomy, the deal comes at a time of immense pressure in the European retail landscape. The company has a strong brand and physical presence, but has been struggling to fully compete with digital-first rivals. Ceconomy has acknowledged that it needs to accelerate its digital transformation to remain competitive. Partnering with JD.com gives it immediate access to JD’s advanced e-commerce technology, AI, data analytics, and logistics expertise. This can help Ceconomy improve its online platform, supply chain efficiency, and customer experience.
While Ceconomy has strong assets, it has faced financial challenges. The acquisition provides a significant cash infusion and the backing of a massive, well-capitalized partner in JD.com. This financial stability can help Ceconomy invest in its future growth without the burden of its previous debt and financial pressures.
This is a favorable offer for shareholders. The takeover bid of €4.60 per share represents a significant premium over Ceconomy’s recent stock price. This provides a strong return for existing shareholders, including the key anchor shareholders that have agreed to the deal. It’s a way for them to realize value from their investment while remaining involved in a potentially revitalized company.
A key part of the agreement is that Ceconomy will remain a standalone European business, maintaining its autonomy and brand identity. JD.com has committed to retaining the MediaMarkt and Saturn brands, the management team, and the workforce for at least three years. This mitigates concerns about cultural clashes and job losses, making the deal palatable to Ceconomy’s leadership, employees, and local stakeholders.
In essence, JD.com is buying an established physical presence and customer base to accelerate its global expansion, while Ceconomy is getting a much-needed technological and financial lifeline to transform its business into the digital age. It’s a deal built on the principle of complementary strengths, where each company provides what the other lacks.
Mirroring the “full-stack retail media network” model that Walmart has established in the US
Based on JD.com’s existing strategy and the details of the Ceconomy deal, it is highly plausible that JD.com could use this acquisition to develop a private-label TV brand and operating system in Europe, mirroring the “full-stack retail media network” model that Walmart has established in the US.
JD.com is not just a retailer but also a technology and supply chain giant. A key part of its business model in China is its “consumer-to-manufacturer” (C2M) initiative. This model uses JD.com’s extensive consumer data to identify market gaps and customer preferences. It then works directly with manufacturers to co-develop products that are highly tailored to consumer demand.
China is the world’s largest manufacturer of televisions, with major brands such as TCL, Hisense, and Skyworth holding significant global market share. JD.com has a deep and long-standing relationship with these manufacturers, often acting as a primary distribution channel and a co-development partner for new products. JD.com already has experience developing its own private-label electronics in China, leveraging its C2M data and supply chain relationships. This gives them the blueprint for sourcing, manufacturing, and bringing a cost-effective, private-label TV to market. This means JD.com has the manufacturing connections and the business model to create a private-label TV brand. The missing piece was a direct and established retail channel in Europe.
The Ceconomy acquisition as the final piece of the puzzle
The acquisition of Ceconomy AG (the parent company of MediaMarkt and Saturn) provides JD.com with the distribution and brand presence it needs to execute this strategy in Europe. It delivers a massive retail footprint. Ceconomy has over 1,000 stores across 11 European countries. This gives a private-label TV brand immediate shelf space, physical marketing opportunities, and a channel for in-store consultation, which is still critical for a high-value purchase such as a television.
The deal gives JD.com access to Ceconomy’s data on European consumer behavior, purchasing patterns, and preferences, allowing it to apply its C2M model to the European market. This combination of JD.com’s supply chain and Ceconomy’s retail channels is a perfect storm for a private-label launch.
The Walmart ONN TV and Vizio OS is an excellent strategy analogy, and it is a likely model for JD.com to follow. Walmart’s ONN brand provides a value-focused TV set. Similarly, JD.com could work with a Chinese manufacturer to produce a private-label TV (perhaps under the “MediaMarkt” brand or a new brand name) that offers solid technical specifications at a lower price point than established brands such as Samsung or LG.
The TV operating system is the key to the full-stack retail media network. Walmart’s acquisition of Vizio and its SmartCast OS gives them control over the software running on millions of TVs. This allows Walmart to collect valuable first-party data on viewing habits and to control the ad inventory on those devices. JD.com could develop its own smart TV OS. This OS would be pre-loaded onto its private-label TVs and deeply integrated with its e-commerce platform. The ultimate goal would be to build a retail media network, which is an advertising platform where brands pay the retailer to place ads. By controlling both the TV and the software, JD.com could enable a new generation of shoppable CTV ads. A user watching a show could see an ad for a product and use their remote to click a link or scan a QR code to buy it directly from MediaMarkt’s website. This model creates a complete, closed-loop advertising ecosystem. JD.com could use its e-commerce data (information on what a user has previously purchased) to target ads on the TV and then track whether those ads led to a purchase ‒ a powerful tool that is far more effective than traditional TV advertising.
The acquisition of Ceconomy AG is not just about expanding JD.com’s retail presence, but also a strategic move to create a vertical ecosystem that controls the supply chain, the hardware, the software, and the ad inventory. By leveraging its relationships with Chinese manufacturers and its deep technological expertise, JD.com is well positioned to launch a private-label TV brand and operating system in Europe, turning Ceconomy’s massive retail footprint into a powerful full-stack retail media network.
Unprecedented access to the European market for Chinese TV brands
Over the past few years, the TV market has been a rich vein of international growth for Chinese companies. Their share of global TV shipments rose from 12% in 2020 to 30% in 2024 (see Figure 1). However, in 2025, there has been an acceleration in political and strategic trade barriers. Chinese companies now face shifting tariffs from the US, and Walmart’s recent acquisition of Vizio shows how the US TV market is becoming more competitive and difficult to penetrate.
Figure 1: Brand share of shipments by origin, Europe
Source: Omdia
By taking a controlling stake in the MediaMarkt and Saturn group, JD.com is potentially opening the door for Chinese TV brands to significantly increase their access to the European market, hedging their bets against further difficulties in the US. The total European TV shipment volume was 43.9 million in 2024, compared to 49.2 million in North America, but the real opportunities go far beyond hardware sales.
In the US, Walmart’s takeover of Vizio highlighted a fast-dawning realization that having access to a large installed base of smart TVs could be highly valuable, particularly to a broad selling retailer. The US market is significantly further ahead than that of Europe ‒ in terms of smart TV advertising value and the sheer size of retailers ‒ but it serves as a clear gauge of where the market could be in the future. For a retailer of JD.com’s scale, albeit mostly in its home market of China, and its expertise in online retailing, this deal could be a catalyst for significant change in the European market.
More pressure on established brands in Europe
Major expenditure on sports advertising from Hisense and TCL, growing market shares, and, more recently, TCL’s partnership agreement with MediaMarkt and Saturn (announced in May this year), were all clear indicators that Chinese brands are focused on the European market (see Figure 2). However, this latest development with JD.com will accelerate the changes to the competitive environment.
Figure 2: Hisense and TCL brand share, Europe
Source: Omdia
Chinese brands are likely to have a much easier route to increasing SKUs through the MediaMarkt, Saturn, and, potentially, FNAC Darty businesses. This will ramp up the pressure on established brands in Europe, many of which have already been struggling to compete with the existing pressure, losing market share in the process. TCL and Hisense have been particularly successful in recent years, through a strategy of offering highly competitive pricing, in particular for larger screen sizes, and by including premium technology, such as mini LED, in affordable mid-range TVs.
Samsung’s move to adopt OLED into its TV range is an indicator that non-Chinese brands have seen one of their best opportunities in this premium technology. Chinese brands have generally avoided OLED, providing a competitive advantage to those that do offer it. However, with the RGB mini LED just being launched, the advantage in premium display technology may quickly shift, levelling the technological playing field. This leaves few options for notably different strategic choices for established brands, beyond focusing on platforms – an area where Chinese brands could be considered weaker due to clear differences in preference and regulations between China and international markets.
What can brands do to protect their market position?
Once JD.com finalizes its deal with MediaMarkt and Saturn, established European TV brands may find themselves in a weaker position. However, this shift isn’t entirely new but part of an ongoing trend. Each year, Chinese TV brands gain more ground, putting increasing pressure on established brands, whose choices ahead remain largely similar:
- Focus on OLED, due to there being no competition from Chinese brands. This is only a small part of the total TV market but offers higher selling prices. The introduction of RGB micro LED may put this tactic at risk in the future.
- Create exclusivity agreements with other retailers and work more closely with small sellers. MediaMarkt and Saturn are major players but Europe also has a significant volume of smaller retailers, which they are well positioned to work with thanks to being well-known brands.
- Leverage platform preferences and ecosystems to lock in and monetize consumers. Samsung and LGE are particularly well placed for this, but other brands have the potential to take this approach through partnerships. Chinese brands have generally offered multiple operating systems, creating fragmentation in the installed base.
Fundamentally, Chinese TV brands have a major advantage in the global TV industry, thanks to advanced manufacturing hubs, a huge local market, and government support for the industry. This creates a challenging environment for all established European brands, but particularly for the likes of Sony, Philips, and Panasonic, which no longer have the global scale that they once had. These brand names still carry brand recognition, which offers opportunity; however, this latest move from JD.com is now forcing them to act fast to avoid potential wipeout from the European market.
Appendix
Author
Matthew Rubin, Principal Analyst, Consumer TV
