A recent iSuppli report states that Vizio took the number 1 spot in the competitive LCD TV market in the United States, in part due to its lower-cost TV models.
Vizio saw its LCD TV sales almost double in 2009, which led to the company's rise over Toshiba, Sony and Samsung.
"Vizio continues to benefit from its strong brand recognition among U.S. consumers," said Riddhi Patel, iSuppli director of TV and retail services, in a press statement. "The company already has established itself as the price leader in LCD-TVs. The company played to this strength in 2009 by offering attractive promotions to consumers. Furthermore, Vizio moved to make its LCD-TV products more competitive with premium brands, adding higher-end features such as LED backlights and Internet connectivity."
It wasn't too long ago when Vizio was seen as a second-tier company, but executives were able to shed that image by significantly increasing quality without driving prices higher. Analysts cautioned that Vizio would be able to creep up on No. 2 Samsung, and that's exactly what the company did.
Sony's LCD TV business suffered greatly in 2009, with its marketshare dropping from 15.2% to 11.6%. Sharp shipped just 1.6 million LCD TVs in 2009, a 29.1% drop year-over-year as the company has been unable to keep up with competitors.
Unlike Sony and Sharp, Vizio was joined by several other companies that saw TV sales success last year. Japanese company Toshiba shipped 2.39M units, an 81.7% increase over sales in 2008. Samsung remained the overall flat-panel TV seller, with 6.6 million TVs sold in 2009.
Sony is slowly clawing its way back into TV relevance, while it seems unlikely Sharp will be able to answer back. Samsung will likely continue to lead the industry, while Vizio will rely on a strategy of quality products for lower prices to try to keep its current lead in the market.
