Sony is finally turning around in the US LCD TV market after falling behind throughout most of 2009, according to iSuppli. In the fourth quarter of last year, Sony was the best performer with a 13.2% market share, a dramatic rise from 7.7% a quarter earlier. As we all know, price erosion in the LCD market has been rampant and Sony responded with great promotions and pricing schemes. As you may recall from the recent Executive Roundtable, Sony stated that in collaboration with Best Buy, they sold 12,000 BRAVIA TV bundles that included a PS3, one game and a Blu-ray movie late last year. It was the best bundle deal Best Buy has ever done and that Sony has ever done. Sony also mentioned one day record sales with another bundle during Fall of last year, where they sold a BRAVIA TV and a PS3 at SonyStyle for a great price, which helped Sony move three times more TV’s than the prior year.
Despite these initiatives and growth from the previous quarters, Sony ranked in third place based on sell-in numbers throughout 2009.
Vizio was the leading LCD TV brand in the US in 2009 – their shipments nearly doubled throughout the year at 5.9 million units, up 92.1% from 3.1 million in 2008. They were third place in overall sales ranking in 2008, and is Sony’s strongest competitor in the USA. During the US recession, Vizio has established itself as a price leader in the market for LCD TVs, and continues to offer attractive promotions that hurt the higher priced premium brands.
Another strength for Vizio is the fact that they are incorporating premium features in their products, such as LED backlighting, high framerate (120hz, 240hz, etc) technology, and Internet connectivity. When a consumer compares specifications between a Vizio and a Sony, and sees that the lower-priced Vizio has many of the same features, suddenly the word “premium” becomes a blur. Vizio also is preparing a very strong line-up of affordable 3D TVs that will most certainly disrupt pricing strategies for Sony and other premium brands later this year.
Samsung was the overall US flat-panel leader in 2009, which is a segment that includes LCD’s and Plasma sets. Samsung’s overall shipments were 6.6 million units in 2009, which is a 22.6% increase from the 5.4 million units in 2008. This contributed to a steady 18.4% market share, virtually unchanged from the year prior.
We must note that iSuppli bases their information on sell-in information, which is not point of sale information. Technically, “sell-in” isn’t even shipped. It’s any TV that Sony has taken an order for, including the ones still sitting in their own warehouse. The only source of POS information is the NPD, but Walmart, Costco and other major retailers do not report to them so their numbers are skewed as well.
