Vizio loeses ground in LCD TV sales, beaten by Sony and Samsung

El Segundo (CA) – Samsung and Sony came out in force in the fourth quarter LCD TV sales this year, causing Vizio to lose its market leadership in the U.S.

Market research firm iSuppli estimates that Samsung took over the lead in Q4 2007, claiming a unit share of 14.2%, up from 12.8% in Q3. Sony also showed strong gains, improving its share 10.8 to 12.5%. Both companies surpassed Vizio, which saw its units share dropping from 13.0% in Q3 to 12.4% in Q4. Vizio made headlines in Q2 and Q3 2007, as the company was able to outsell both Sony and Samsung during this timeframe, according to iSuppli.

“Samsung and Sony employed very aggressive pricing and promotion strategies to take advantage of the key holiday buying season,” said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems for iSuppli, in a prepared statement. “For example, Samsung in December offered a $300 price discount for its 40” models, and heavily promoted those sets through leading electronics retailer Best Buy, giving it dominance at that size.”

In contrast, iSuppli said that Vizio did not offer as many pricing deals as Samsung did in the fourth quarter, although it maintained its leadership in the 32”, 37” and 42” sizes. The market research firm believes that the price advantage of Vizio systems was not big enough to lure more North American consumers away from the established brands.

“Consumers in the television industry are not as brand conscious as they once were, as evidenced by the popularity of Vizio,” Patel said. “However, when the difference in pricing between a value-brand television and a premium-brand set is within the 10% range, consumers often will go for the premium brand.”

Other LCD TV manufacturers with increasing share included Polaroid (#4), which was up to 9.4% and LG (#6), which ended the year with a 7.8% share. Sharp lost a lot of traction and saw its share declining from 12.0% in Q3 to 8.3% in Q4.