Vizio tops LCD TV rankings, says iSuppli

Vizio in the second quarter shipped 606,402 LCD-TVs in North America, up a stunning 76.4 percent increase from 343,704 in the first quarter, according to iSuppli Corp. This caused Vizio's North American unit market share to rise to 14.5 percent, up from 9.4 percent in the first quarter.

The sales surge also caused Vizio to rise four positions in the North American rankings, going from the fifth-placed brand in the first quarter to No. 1 in the second quarter—passing by Samsung, Philips, Sharp and Sony on the way.

How did Vizio, a brand that was virtually unknown a year ago, manage to eclipse such well-established names? The answer is a combination of low-priced products and high-powered sales channels, iSuppli believes.

"Vizio's success is mainly due to the company expanding its retail presence to Wal-Mart and Sears at the beginning of the second quarter," said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems for iSuppli. "The company already was selling its LCD TVs through the warehouse stores Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale Club—but the addition of the two new retailers gave Vizio's sales a significant lift."

Vizio also is benefiting from U.S. consumers' increased awareness and comfort with LCD-TVs. In the past, because of the newness of the product, U.S. consumers gravitated toward premium, established brands and specialty electronics retailers. Vizio's success selling inexpensive LCD-TV sets through mass-market retailers reflects a major shift in consumer attitudes.

"Americans have grown comfortable with value brands, making Vizio's low-cost sets an alluring alternative to the established names," Patel said.

The attached table presents iSuppli's listing of the top LCD-TV brands in North America in the second quarter, ranked by unit shipments.

iSuppli Table: Top LCD-TV OEM Ranking in North America in Q2 (Ranking by Unit Shipments)

Riding the LCD wave
Vizio's market-share advance came during a period of healthy growth for the North American LCD-TV market. LCD-TV shipments in the region increased to 4.2 million units in the second quarter, up 14.9 percent from 3.7 million units in the first.

The company led in shipments of 32-inch sized LCD-TVs, which is within the most popular size range for such sets in North America in 2007. Vizio also had the most shipments of 37- , 42- and 47-inch LCD TVs.

Patel predicted that Vizio likely would maintain its leadership for at least the next two quarters based on its successful pricing and sales strategies.

Sony's slide; Sharp strikes back
On top of Vizio's rise, the North American market experienced a market-share shakeup among the established premium brands in the second quarter.

Sony slid to sixth place, down three positions from third in the first quarter. The company's shipments declined to 263,377 units in the second quarter, down 36.1 percent from 412,323 in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Sharp gained one position in the North American rankings, rising to third place on a 9.7 percent increase in unit shipments. This marks the first time Sharp has risen in the rankings since it ceded leadership of the North American market in the third quarter of 2006.

Sharp's rise was due to increased availability of panels from its new eighth-generation fab, according to Patel.

iSuppli Corporation is the global leader in technology value chain research and advisory services. iSuppli provides market intelligence services for the EMS, OEM and supplier communities in addition to servicing consumer electronics and media concerns. Services afforded by iSuppli range from electronic component research to device-specific application market forecasts, from teardown analysis to consumer electronics and from display device and systems research to multimedia content and services. More information is available at www.isuppli.com.