Irvine-based Vizio Inc., which designs and markets digital TVs and related accessories, was hot on the tail of South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. for market share during the second quarter.
Samsung’s lead as the top maker of liquid-crystal display TVs in the U.S. was less than one percentage point over Vizio, according to the most recent data from El Segundo-based market tracker iSuppli Corp.
Samsung’s lead during the second quarter was tiny—it amounted to an additional 24,000 TVs sold.
During the first quarter, Samsung had a lead of 1.3 percentage points over Vizio.
Overall TV shipments rose 13% in the second quarter to 7.4 million units, up from 6.6 million in the first quarter, iSuppli’s data showed.
Samsung’s shipments grew twice as fast as the market, rising 26% from the first quarter to 1.45 million units.
Vizio also grew even faster, rising 31% to 1.39 million units.
“Companies are competing intensely to secure every point of market share—with the most closely fought battle occurring between South Korea’s Samsung and U.S.-based Vizio,” Riddhi Patel, an analyst at iSuppli, said in a statement. “The two companies have swapped quarterly leadership multiple times during the past few years, and now are virtually tied in the race for market leadership.”
The rest of the world’s TV makers are small fries compared to Samsung and Vizio.
Trailing them is No. 3 Sony Corp., No. 4 LG Electronics Inc., No. 5 Sanyo Electric Co., No. 6 Toshiba Corp., No. 7 Panasonic Corp. and No. 8 Sharp Electronics Corp.
Vizio’s TVs sell for hundreds of dollars less than competitors and see big sales from retailers such as Costco Wholesale Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
The company runs lean: It designs and markets TVs and has them made by Taiwanese contract electronics maker AmTran Technology Co., a Vizio investor. It also outsources almost all other parts and production, save for customer service.
Vizio sold about 6 million TVs in 2009, nearly double from 2008. It recorded sales of $2.5 billion last year, up 25% from 2008.
