Taiwan LCD TV brands shine in North America

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 16, 2006. It reports that Taiwan's liquid crystal display (LCD) TV makers are gaining and increasingly solid foothold in the competitive North American market. Specifically, in the fourth quarter of 2005, three Taiwan brands entered the top-12 LCD TV supplier list in North America. These three brands are Olivia, Vizio and Maxent.

According to DisplaySearch, a flat panel display (FPD) market research and consulting firm, the top-five LCD TV brands in North America in the fourth quarter of 2005 were Sharp, Sony, Philips, Panasonic and Samsung. These five companies together accounted for about a 50-percent share of the market. Other smaller brands, such as Westinghouse, LG, Olivia, Hitachi and Toshiba, grabbed a combined 25-percent share. The remaining 25 percent was for budget-priced models.

In 2005, various top LCD TV brands decided to cut their prices and reduce the price gap between their products and those made by smaller brands. This put considerable pressure on smaller brands, including Taiwanese makers. These smaller brands were therefore forced to adjust their marketing strategies - instead of confronting fierce competition in the most competitive 20- and 32-inch segments, they are now promoting 26-, 37- and 42-inch models as their products.

Industrial analysts have predicted a rapid rise of smaller LCD TV brands in North America. These newcomers are expected to grow stronger in 2006 by completely deploying their sales network in the market.

More significantly, the Internet has also helped boosting the development of smaller LCD TV brands in North America. Intensive consumer and media tests and evaluation reports posted on the Internet have enabled more buyers to recognize the new brands.

According to representatives from the Taiwan office of the aforementioned DisplaySearch, North America has a higher acceptance of new brands when compared to other markets. It is a welcoming market for newcomers in the LCD TV business.