Irvine’s Vizio Inc. is back on top of the liquid crystal display TV market. The company retook the No. 1 spot for the most popular type of flat TVs in the first quarter, according DisplaySearch, an Austin, Texas- based unit of market researcher NPD Group Inc.
Vizio, known for selling less expensive TVs, lost its grip on LCDs in late 2007 when big electronic makers started offering low-cost sets of their own.
LCD TVs account for the majority of U.S. flat-screen TV sales.
Booming first-quarter sales helped grow Vizio’s market share to 19%, up from 13% in the fourth quarter.
In North America, some 7 million LCD TVs were sold during the first quarter, up 23% from a year earlier, according to DisplaySearch.
“The first quarter was pretty good relative to our expectations as we came out of a fairly lackluster holiday season,” said Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV research for DisplaySearch. “Vizio is benefiting from some extremely good timing.”
Retailers kept the holiday spirit going by extending lower prices and promotions into January and February, which prompted consumers to take advantage of historically low TV prices.
For more on this story, read the May 25 issue of the Business Journal.
