Samsung grabs No.1 spot in north U.S. LCD TV mkt in Q4 - iSuppli

Samsung grabs No.1 spot in north U.S. LCD TV mkt in Q4 - iSuppli

By unit shipments, Samsung's market shares rose to 14.2 percent in the fourth quarter from 12.8 percent in the third quarter, while Sony Corp's <6758.t> share grew to 12.5 percent from the third quarter's 10.8 percent, giving the Japanese firm second place in North America, up from fourth during the previous quarter, iSuppli said in a statement seen by Reuters on Thursday. Reuters - 25 minutes ago

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics of South Korea became the top seller of LCD TVs in North America in the fourth quarter of 2007 as low prices helped boost shipments, according to market research firm iSuppli Corp.

After dominating the North American market in the second and third quarters, Vizio, a new TV brand, slipped to third, with its market share falling to 12.4 percent from 13 percent in the third quarter, the research firm said.

"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.

"For example, Samsung in December offered a $300 price discount for its 40-inch models and heavily promoted those sets through leading electronics retailer Best Buy, giving it dominance at that size."

Sony also enjoyed rising sales of its line of more affordable LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs, giving the company the lead in the markets for 46- and 52-inch sets, iSuppli said.

Vizio's pricing was still lower than Samsung's and Sony's in the fourth quarter, but the differential was not great enough to lure as many North American consumers away from the established brands, iSuppli added.