How to Tell If Your TV's a VESTEL

C

chrisr1949

Guest
HOW TO TELL IF YOUR NEW (or old) TV IS MADE BY VESTEL



There has been a lot of talk about the large previously high market brand names taking the easy way out and using companies like Vestel of Turkey to produce for them.

There are plenty of fallacies regarding re-badgeing or re-packaging. Vestel manufacture the complete product right down to the brand badge on the front and the branded carton that it comes in. Send Vestel a cabinet design and they will mould you up a cabinet and use their standard range of chassis according to the specification required.

Brand names such as Toshiba, Hitachi, Sharp, JVC, Bush, Alba and now, shock horror, Panasonic are using Vestel totally, partially or in the case of Panasonic just to service their lowest ranges. Others like TPV of Poland, a Chinese company, have been seen to produce for Philips, Toshiba, Sharp and Bush and also under their own brand name of AOC. For the UK Vestel is by far the largest player. Vestel also produce for a plethora of other brand names and own brands from chain outlets and supermarkets.

The brand names put the contract to build and supply TVs out to a number of, usually cheaper producers, Vestel is only one. Because the Technica you buy from Tesco is a Vestel one year you cannot rely on the Technica you buy the next year being a Vestel, it could be Chinese.

It is very simple to identify a TV produced by Vestel.

From the pictures below of the product labels attached to the back of the TV you will see a barcode with a series of numbers above it, about the centre you will see that four of these numbers have a black rectangle around them, this is the year and month of production eg; 1109 = September 2011.

Vestel product labels are always paper, never plastic and are the only manufacturer to box off four digits in this manner, if you see this style of label then it’s a sure thing that it’s a Vestel.



Here are a few examples,



Hitachi.jpg


Tosh.jpg

Goodmans.jpg
Sanyo.jpg


Pana.jpg


For the non-believers, this is an inside pic of the TV above.

Pana int.jpg



The Panasonic branded Vestels are the TX**A300B models (*insert screen size), there may be others. The label states “assembled” in Turkey, no lie, but it fails to state the truth that it is fully designed and produced in Turkey by Vestel using one of Vestel’s off the shelf chassis which may equally be fitted to an Alba. The 400’s appear to be Panasonic’s own product.

I hope this clarifies these issues around the use of Vestel by what were regarded 20 years ago as top Japanese Manufacturers.

ChrisR
 
This isn't news, the simplest way is to look for a mention of Turkey.
 
W
This isn't news, the simplest way is to look for a mention of Turkey.
They do have manufacturing facilities outside of Turkey. You've got to admire the success of this company which has beaten the Chinese at their own game.

It's a much used practice to manufacture parts of TVs in one part of the world, then ship them elsewhere to be assembled as you would a kit. Sony has popped up in Slovakia, Spain and previously Wales yet everyone associates them with Japan. Labels saying "Assembled in" mean just that. Often it is to use a cheaper labour force or to manipulate import duties which may be lower on, for example, an untested circuit board, but higher on finished goods.

This kind of practice is not new. More years ago than I would care to think of I worked for a major UK TV manufacturer, now defunct, who put the same chassis in four different brands which were sold at widely different prices.
 
Last edited:
These Panasonics are not Panasonic kits assembled in Turkey, as I stated they are off the shelf Vestel designs with Vestel screen panels.
 
W
They do have manufacturing facilities outside of Turkey. You've got to admire the success of this company which has beaten the Chinese at their own game.

It's a much used practice to manufacture parts of TVs in one part of the world, then ship them elsewhere to be assembled as you would a kit. Sony has popped up in Slovakia, Spain and previously Wales yet everyone associates them with Japan. Labels saying "Assembled in" mean just that. Often it is to use a cheaper labour force or to manipulate import duties which may be lower on, for example, an untested circuit board, but higher on finished goods.

This kind of practice is not new. More years ago than I would care to think of I worked for a major UK TV manufacturer, now defunct, who put the same chassis in four different brands which were sold at widely different prices.

Before admiring their success you have to question how they achieve this success. If it's by paying people pennies and flogging them on 16 hour shifts then no, I wouldn't admire that.
 
Before admiring their success you have to question how they achieve this success. If it's by paying people pennies and flogging them on 16 hour shifts then no, I wouldn't admire that.
I think you will find that Turkish industry is somewhat different from that practised in China where the workforce operates sometimes in appalling conditions for very low wages. Turkey has a minimum wage policy, recently raised, and a contributed social security system similar to our own which is imposed by the Government. Difficult as it is to do I avoid, as often as I can, buying anything that is made in China particularly because of the damage they do to the environment.
 
Last edited:
Don't know for sure but at this price point does it matter . Vestel produce some excellent products and you would not be disappointed with the results in any way
 

I suspect it is as I've read elsewhere that Panasonic model types EX ABC where B and C are zeroes, i.e. 300, 400 etc point to it being Vestel. It does seem to correlate price wise.
I bought one at RS a couple of years ago and took it back as it was so glitchy, rather un Panasonic like in my experience, it was only later I found out its provenance.
 
I suspect it is as I've read elsewhere that Panasonic model types EX ABC where B and C are zeroes, i.e. 300, 400 etc point to it being Vestel.

That pattern just denotes Panasonics 4K LCDs. E is 2017 and X is 4K. S is FHD and Z is OLED.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone.

No it's not, Panasonic seem to have learnt after there CX400 range a couple of years ago. The EX700 is a Panasonic model through and through

Thanks Andy. Can I ask how do you know this? As I tried to research / Google around but couldn't find much...just would like to learn your tricks of the trade :)
 
I work with all the 4 major TV brands and the Panasonic reps themselves admit they dropped the ball and hurt their reputation a bit with the Vesel sets released a couple years ago, so they brought it all back in house to try and recover and ensure that people who are buying Panasonic are buying a genuine Panasonic TV.
The simplest way to check is both with the remote (it is a classic Panasonic TV remote whereas the Vestel made sets have a vastly different remote) and the TV software itself (it is using the same operating system as their OLEDs whereas the Vestel sets used a more rudimentary smart system/operating system.
As far as I am aware, none of the big four (Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and LG) use Vestel to make any of their sets anymore
 
I work with all the 4 major TV brands and the Panasonic reps themselves admit they dropped the ball and hurt their reputation a bit with the Vesel sets released a couple years ago, so they brought it all back in house to try and recover and ensure that people who are buying Panasonic are buying a genuine Panasonic TV.
The simplest way to check is both with the remote (it is a classic Panasonic TV remote whereas the Vestel made sets have a vastly different remote) and the TV software itself (it is using the same operating system as their OLEDs whereas the Vestel sets used a more rudimentary smart system/operating system.
As far as I am aware, none of the big four (Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and LG) use Vestel to make any of their sets anymore

i did also read you could tell the Vestel sets by the connections available on the back of the set. The Vestel unit is always the same rudimentary set of connections.
Also that Vestel put a box around 4 digits of a series of numbers on the serial number label on the back of the tv that signify the date and month the set was assembled. (oops mentioned higher up in this thread).
I do hope they have brought it back in house, as I mentioned the Panasonic set I bought was not up to the usual standard (software wise) although the picture was fine.
 
Last edited:
I work with all the 4 major TV brands and the Panasonic reps themselves admit they dropped the ball and hurt their reputation a bit with the Vesel sets released a couple years ago, so they brought it all back in house to try and recover and ensure that people who are buying Panasonic are buying a genuine Panasonic TV.
The simplest way to check is both with the remote (it is a classic Panasonic TV remote whereas the Vestel made sets have a vastly different remote) and the TV software itself (it is using the same operating system as their OLEDs whereas the Vestel sets used a more rudimentary smart system/operating system.
As far as I am aware, none of the big four (Panasonic, Sony, Samsung and LG) use Vestel to make any of their sets anymore
 
I've just bought a so called Panasonic from richer sounds and lo and behold it's a Turkish product tx49fx550b £399 with 6 year guarantee hopefully might not need it, we shall see
 
I've just bought a so called Panasonic from richer sounds and lo and behold it's a Turkish product tx49fx550b £399 with 6 year guarantee hopefully might not need it, we shall see
I took a "Panasonic" of Turkish manufacture back to RS a few years ago. The picture was fine but the software was incredibly flakey and made the TV virtually unusable. I used to swear by Panasonic but i'd think twice about getting any of their cheaper tv's in future.
 
Does anyone know if the TX65GX800B is made in Turkey ?
Asking , as Brother inLaw has just ordered one from one of our favourite dealers.
 
Does anyone know if the TX65GX800B is made in Turkey ?
Asking , as Brother inLaw has just ordered one from one of our favourite dealers.

The GX800 series is most definitely a Panasonic TV (not a Vestel)- and a great one at that :)
 
Actual Vestel tv branded Panasonic are till 550 serie for 4k tv so from 6xx serie are genuine Panasonic. For HD and HD ready tv (2019 series GS and F and G) all are made by Vestel.
Other way to be sure your tv is an original Panasonic made is to watch the label with model and serial, all Panasonic tv made have a serial with 2 letters and 7 numbers like FX-2133212 also all original Panasonic tv for Europe are made in Czech Republic (it is typed on the tv back cover).
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom