Vizio Leads in U.S. LCD TV Market in 2010

Taipei, March 3, 2011 (CENS)--Vizio Inc. of the U.S., which is in partnership with Taiwan-based AmTRAN Technology, Co. Ltd., maintained its leadership in the U.S. market for liquid-crystal display televisions (LCD TV) in the fourth quarter as well as for the entire year in 2010, according to IHS iSuppli research.

The major display-market research firm's data showed that Vizio in the fourth quarter of 2010 shipped 2.9 million LCD TVs, up 78.9% from 1.6 million in the third quarter. This gave the company a 27.6% share of unit shipments, up from 19.5% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ). Vizio's lead over the No. 2 Samsung expanded to 7.4 percentage points in the fourth quarter, up from 2.1 percentage points in the third quarter.

Topped by a strong fourth-quarter performance, Vizio padded its leadership of the U.S. LCD TV market for 2010. Company market share amounted to 21.3% in 2010, up from 18.3% in 2009. Vizio's lead expanded to 2.5 percentage points over chief rival Samsung, up from 1 point in 2009.

Riddhi Patel, director, television systems, attributed Vizio's market share gains in the U.S. LCD TV market in 2010 to the strong consumer demand for the company's LED-backlit sets.

Vizio in the fourth quarter of 2010 also managed to displace Samsung for leadership in the U.S. market for flat-panel televisions, a category that combines the LCD TV and plasma segments. With its strong business in both plasma and LCD sets, Samsung historically has led this area. However, Vizio captured the lead because of aggressive shipments of feature-rich LCD TVs at attractive pricing through its distribution network.

Vizio had a 23.9% share of the U.S. flat-panel market in the fourth quarter, up from 16.6 percent in the third quarter, while Samsung's share rose to 21.5% in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from 18.8% in the third. While its share rose, the increase of Samsung's share was not sufficient to keep it from falling to second place in the U.S. flat-panel TV market.

However, because Samsung led Vizio in flat-panel TV shipments during the first three quarters of 2010, it maintained leadership for the year as a whole. Samsung accounted for 20.1% of U.S. flat-panel shipments in 2010, compared to 18.4% for Vizio.