Vizio Surrenders LCD TV Lead to Samsung and Sony

[Woochifer]

It was huge news a few months ago when Vizio, a company that didn't even exist a few years ago, took over the top spot in the HDTV sales rankings. At that time, some writers were crowing about an "American" company vaulting to the top of the sales charts, all the while ignoring that none of Vizio's TVs were American made or even made by Vizio. On another thread, I compared Vizio with Apex Digital, because both companies basically operated as virtual companies that rebadged products made by outsource manufacturers. I also predicted that Vizio would probably fade back once the price points for more established brands began to erode Vizio's price advantage.

Fast forward to Q4 2007 - iSuppli has now projected that both Samsung and Sony vaulted ahead of Vizio during the holiday shopping season. Both brands were very aggressive with their promotional pricing over the holidays, and it apparently paid off. Samsung is now the leading LCD TV producer with a market share of 14.2%, while Sony's market share went up to 12.5%. Vizio's market share fell from 13.0% in Q3 to 12.4% in Q4.

I don't see this changing because Samsung and Sony both maintain their own manufacturing facilities and produce their own LCD panels (although I think that Sony's LCDs are made thru a joint venture with Samsung). Vizio has no control over their outsource vendors. Vizio can lower their price points, but their outsource manufacturers might wind up cutting a lot of corners to meet Vizio's bid price and specs.

Shockingly, (to me at least) Sharp had a huge market share decline. Their market share went from 12.0% to 8.3%. At one point, Sharp was the best positioned LCD manufacturer in the business -- they were already multiple generations in when most companies were entering the LCD flat panel market, and they had the most manufacturing capacity. I haven't checked their price points as of late, but I have to assume that they've not been able to match Samsung and Sony's price points.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36053/118/

[Rich-n-Texas]

On another thread, I compared Vizio with Apex Digital, because both companies basically operated as virtual companies that rebadged products made by outsource manufacturers.

Yes, you did, and then that thread went straight to he!! didn't it.

I also predicted that Vizio would probably fade back once the price points for more established brands began to erode Vizio's price advantage.

The natural order of things I would say. Dog eat dog and all that.

[filecat13]

Sharp's problem was quality control. The amazing 42", 46" and 52" models they came out with had amazing blacks, super sharp pictures, and excellent colors, all rendered positively useless by rampant horizontal and vertical banding on a far too large a percentage of the TVs. The initial enthusiasm for these models faded faster than Paris Hilton's acting talent and was just as ugly.

Sharp attempted to handle the problem through a generous replacement program, but even the replacements had the banding, and soon diehard customers lost faith. They warned others to stay away, and anyone who bought one anyway in the hope that he would get lucky was usually deeply disappointed.

I really wanted one of these TVs, but after following the deepening crisis and seeing it first hand in display models in stores, I was not willing to take the chance. I bought a new projector instead.

BTW, the screens for these models came from a brand new state of the art facility. Very sad for Sharp.

[filecat13]

This caused me to start thinking about the Sharp banding issues again. A simple search like "banding on sharp lcd screens" brought up a huge number of hits. According to several sites (that were posted to after I moved on), the problem appears to have been caused by a stuck spray valve or valves at the new factory that were depositing excessive amounts of a coating to the rear of the panel.

I don't know how credible this is, but apparently with all the reported problems no one thought to check the application of coatings to the screen?

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

It was huge news a few months ago when Vizio, a company that didn't even exist a few years ago, took over the top spot in the HDTV sales rankings. At that time, some writers were crowing about an "American" company vaulting to the top of the sales charts, all the while ignoring that none of Vizio's TVs were American made or even made by Vizio. On another thread, I compared Vizio with Apex Digital, because both companies basically operated as virtual companies that rebadged products made by outsource manufacturers. I also predicted that Vizio would probably fade back once the price points for more established brands began to erode Vizio's price advantage.

Fast forward to Q4 2007 - iSuppli has now projected that both Samsung and Sony vaulted ahead of Vizio during the holiday shopping season. Both brands were very aggressive with their promotional pricing over the holidays, and it apparently paid off. Samsung is now the leading LCD TV producer with a market share of 14.2%, while Sony's market share went up to 12.5%. Vizio's market share fell from 13.0% in Q3 to 12.4% in Q4.

I don't see this changing because Samsung and Sony both maintain their own manufacturing facilities and produce their own LCD panels (although I think that Sony's LCDs are made thru a joint venture with Samsung). Vizio has no control over their outsource vendors. Vizio can lower their price points, but their outsource manufacturers might wind up cutting a lot of corners to meet Vizio's bid price and specs.

Shockingly, (to me at least) Sharp had a huge market share decline. Their market share went from 12.0% to 8.3%. At one point, Sharp was the best positioned LCD manufacturer in the business -- they were already multiple generations in when most companies were entering the LCD flat panel market, and they had the most manufacturing capacity. I haven't checked their price points as of late, but I have to assume that they've not been able to match Samsung and Sony's price points.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/36053/118/

I am sorry......LOLOLOL....that "other thread" was the funniest thing I have read in a while...LOLOLOL.. Pix and Perv...what a raggity pair they are...LOLOLOLOL

[pixelthis]

This caused me to start thinking about the Sharp banding issues again. A simple search like "banding on sharp lcd screens" brought up a huge number of hits. According to several sites (that were posted to after I moved on), the problem appears to have been caused by a stuck spray valve or valves at the new factory that were depositing excessive amounts of a coating to the rear of the panel.

I don't know how credible this is, but apparently with all the reported problems no one thought to check the application of coatings to the screen?

Sharp has always had a rep for low quality products, I have seen some of their VCR'S
literally fall apart. I would never buy anything with that name.
Recently they have tried to refurbish their image, but its like trying to dress up the whore from the bowling alley and take her to the prom.
As for Vizio they make a quality product at a cheap price, but they aren't really in competition with Sony and other highline brands, so its probably unfair to compare the two, both cater to different markets. The fact that they outsold sony for awhile just shows that saving a buck is more important to most than PQ, something that I have always known.
I bought Vizio because you couldn't beat the picture and features at the price point.
A floorworker at Sams (where I bought mine) told me that they would get in pallets of the things and couldn't keep them in stock.
I will probably be getting Sony as soon as I can afford it, but I will heartily recomend
Vizio to anybody on a budget who wants a decent pic without breaking the bank.
Mine has been nothing but an enjoyable experience, but Sony has always been my brand

[pixelthis]

I am sorry......LOLOLOL....that "other thread" was the funniest thing I have read in a while...LOLOLOL.. Pix and Perv...what a raggity pair they are...LOLOLOLOL

You'd better get to bed or you'll miss homeroom

[Rich-n-Texas]

I bought Vizio because you couldn't beat the picture and features at the price point.

That's funny, I bought my DLP TV because you couldn't beat the picture and features at the price point.

[pixelthis]

That's funny, I bought my DLP TV because you couldn't beat the picture and features at the price point.

I THOUGHT you bought your TV because you got a insider yuppie deal where you work.
Actually I know you think I hate DLP, and I do think its future is limited to front projection,
but if you are HT savy (or even if you're rich) a DLP RPTV is the best value in HT these days.
And the absolute best is the RCA model thats on sale at Walmart.
998$ for a 50in TV with a good picture , even with the compromises inherent in
the DLP form factor you cant go much wrong, I mean, we're talkin a weeks pay for a lot of peeps.
And even if its headed for the tech tar pit, you will still get some use outta it.
And, if, like Rich no woman is dumb enough to marry you you don't have to worry about the WAF , mainly trying to convince the "boss" that theres a place for a TV the size of the box the UN building came in

[JSE]

Sharp's problem was quality control. The amazing 42", 46" and 52" models they came out with had amazing blacks, super sharp pictures, and excellent colors, all rendered positively useless by rampant horizontal and vertical banding on a far too large a percentage of the TVs. The initial enthusiasm for these models faded faster than Paris Hilton's acting talent and was just as ugly.

Sharp attempted to handle the problem through a generous replacement program, but even the replacements had the banding, and soon diehard customers lost faith. They warned others to stay away, and anyone who bought one anyway in the hope that he would get lucky was usually deeply disappointed.

I really wanted one of these TVs, but after following the deepening crisis and seeing it first hand in display models in stores, I was not willing to take the chance. I bought a new projector instead.

BTW, the screens for these models came from a brand new state of the art facility. Very sad for Sharp.

The banding issue were a huge factor in my decision "NOT" to buy the Sharp 52" Aquos LCD.

Back in November, I was searching for a 50-ish inch LCD and had narrowed it down to Sony, Samsung and Sharp. I crossed off Sony because I have personally had horrible past experiences with Sony products. I was not up for the trouble again, especially at this price point. So, I narrowed it down to Sharp and Samsung. I went a viewed both sets withing about 15 feet of each other and the Samsung clearly had the better picture. Better than Sony and Sharp. I also actually saw the banding issue reported while viewing the Sharp Aquos so that sealed the deal for the Samsung. I also read a ton of reviews from actual users and the banding issue seemed to pop up quite a bit. I discovered the banding issues with about 5 minutes of internet research so you can bet a ton of others are as well.

BTW, I have had my Samsung 52" LCD for a few months now and could not be happier.

JSE

[pixelthis]

The banding issue were a huge factor in my decision "NOT" to buy the Sharp 52" Aquos LCD.

Back in November, I was searching for a 50-ish inch LCD and had narrowed it down to Sony, Samsung and Sharp. I crossed off Sony because I have personally had horrible past experiences with Sony products. I was not up for the trouble again, especially at this price point. So, I narrowed it down to Sharp and Samsung. I went a viewed both sets withing about 15 feet of each other and the Samsung clearly had the better picture. Better than Sony and Sharp. I also actually saw the banding issue reported while viewing the Sharp Aquos so that sealed the deal for the Samsung. I also read a ton of reviews from actual users and the banding issue seemed to pop up quite a bit. I discovered the banding issues with about 5 minutes of internet research so you can bet a ton of others are as well.

BTW, I have had my Samsung 52" LCD for a few months now and could not be happier.

JSE

I have had two Samsungs, and they were fine TV sets.
A friend has one and it still works fine. I wouldnt sell anything to a friend if I didnt think it was good.
You don't know how big a bullet you missed not buying sharp.
Sony had some problems with flat CRT, their wegas were a mess.
But Sharps problems, like toshiba, are deeply imbedded and more permanent