Vizio Inc. appears to be losing its grip on the lead spot for sales of liquid-crystal display sets in North America, a segment that helped put the Irvine-based company on the map more than a decade ago.
Samsung Group in South Korea blew past Vizio in the fourth quarter in LCD sales, shipping 3.6 million units for a market share of 28.8%, according to Englewood, Colo.-based market tracker IHS Inc.
Vizio sold 1.8 million LCD TVs during the quarter, good for a 14.3% share.
The difference in units sold and market share was one of the largest since Vizio became a major player in the segment five years ago.
South Korea-based LG Electronics Co. closely trailed Vizio, pulling in more than 1.6 million unit sales for a market share of 13%.
Funai Electric Co. in Japan was a distant fourth, with 1 million LCD sets sold and a market share of 8.3%.
Samsung sales were helped by its popular line of smart TVs, which significantly dropped in price last year as the market hit a saturation point after years of rising adoption.
North America flat-TV shipments, made up mostly of LCDs, were essentially steady from 2011, according to DisplaySearch, a unit of NPD Group Inc. of Port Washington, N.Y.
It bears watching if Vizio rebounded in the recently ended quarter, a trend that played out in previous years. The consumer electronics maker has typically done well in the first quarter following the holiday shopping season, as some cash-strapped consumers may have delayed TV purchases, said Tom Morrod, IHS’ TV systems and technology analyst.
Vizio prepared for the gradual decline of LCD TV sales by diversifying into other segments, most notably sound bars, where it’s the leader.
It sold more than 400,000 tablets with its debut product in 2011 and has since entered the PC and ultrabook segments. The company also plans to roll out a smartphone this year geared for the Chinese market.
An attempt to gain entry into the LED light bulb market hasn’t gained traction.
The Business Journal estimated Vizio posted sales of $3.1 billion in 2012.
Coors Connection
Ladera Ranch-based startup EmiSense Technologies LLC has raised $6.5 million from a strategic investor with ties to the Coors beer dynasty in Colorado.
Recently launched 9th Street Investments, the venture capital arm of advanced ceramics manufacturer CoorsTek Inc. of Golden, Colo., was the financier.
CoorsTek was EmiSense’s initial investor when it was established in 2009 in a joint venture with Innovate! Technology in Irvine.
EmiSense will use most of the proceeds for continued research and development and validation testing with global customers for its commercial line of sensors and systems geared to monitor and minimize emissions in cars, trucks and generators.
About $2 million will go to pay down debt.
EmiSense’s technology is intended to meet a slew of regulatory emission requirements, with the next set slated to take effect in 2014 in California with an aim of curbing soot and smog emission in diesel-powered vehicles.
“No one has been able to make a sensor that the regulators can use to enforce that law,” said Chief Executive Patrick Thompson.
The company has raised $10.4 million to date in its bid to bring its technology to market.
9th Street is led by Doug Coors, the son of Joseph Coors Jr., the eldest of five grandsons of brewery founder Adolf Coors.
Blizzard’s Free Play
Blizzard Entertainment Inc. Chief Executive Mike Morhaime sounded coy when the Business Journal recently asked him about the growing popularity of free video games on smartphones and tablets last month.
“Mobile devices are going to be more and more popular,” he said. “Tablets are great computing and gaming devices. That’s something we’re watching and following rather closely, and I’m sure there will be some opportunities on those platforms for us in the future, but I don’t have anything to announce today.”
Turns out he had a trump card in his back pocket.
The Irvine-based company chose the recent Pax East conference in Boston as the place to announce plans to debut its first free-to-play video game, dubbed Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The card-playing game is geared for Windows, Macs and iPads.
Blizzard, a unit of Santa Monica-based parent Activision, itself part of Paris-based Vivendi SA, is the largest software maker in Orange County, with $1.6 billion in sales last year.
Chris Casacchia can be reached at casacchia@ocbj.com.
