Sony goes from 4th to 1st in LCDs
By Richard Lawler 
posted Feb 23rd 2006 1:12PM
posted Feb 23rd 2006 1:12PM
In the kind of comeback that
might make many Olympic competitors look twice, Sony has leapfrogged everybody and become a leader in the LCD market,
as rated by DisplaySearch. Powered by their BRAVIA line and their
partnership with Samsung, they went from an 8.7% market share in
the third quarter of 2005, to a market leading 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Suddenly Dwyane Wade scoring his teams last 17
points FTW (for the win) doesn't look so tough.Why did they go so far so fast? Focusing on sizes above 32" more than their competitors, they had 900% growth in 40", and 175% growth at 32", in comparing sales over both quarters Who lost? Sharp, who went from first to third in total units due to supply problems despite the high quality of their AQUOS line. It's pretty obvious why Samsung and LG are investing so heavily in increasing production as well, whoever makes the most can control pricing and sell the most.
We'd say consumers are winning however, as LCD prices continued to drop an average of 16% in the fourth quarter alone. Any HDBeat readers go out looking for an AQUOS this Christmas and come home with a BRAVIA instead?
Strange Sony is having so much success, when their entire lineup is still 40" and under and at 1366x768. With HD-DVD almost here, XBOX360 1080p mania, media center PC gaining steam (cablecard tuners hurry up!) ideally at 1080p, and all networks (almost) broadcasting 1080i (maybe to become 1080p in the future?) --- you'd think the Sharp 1080p units and a max size of 45" & 65" would still be market leading by far given their exceptional quality/image (short inventory issues of course)?
What do people think about Sony's new upcoming line (due March 06) compared to their current Bravia offerings?
Can you imagine how many more of these they would sell if they came out with a 1080p Bravia? I know I was disappointed to see that the 2006 Bravia line didn't have this upgrade and as a result I will be considering other mfrs.
I'm thinking about the Samsung LED DLP... then switching to an SED once Toshiba gets things figured out.
I did exactly that. Went out to get an Aquos and ended up with a Bravia. Happy with it too.
This isn't a suprise. I work at Sears and we sold tons. All people asked for was the Bravia. It is definitely the best tv out there and its due to the backlighting they use. The sharp was a close second but if you want easy to use and a great picture with a wife pleasing design. YOu will get the Bravia.
To the first reply, Xbox 360 is not capable of true 1080p (all games are rendered internally at 720p), PS3 will likely not have any true 1080p games (you have to design a game to run fast at 1080p and 720p, it's just not good sense to design a game to look good at a res 5% or less of the public can run). Currently there are zero 1080p sources, and HD-DVD and Blu-ray will offer some, but not all movies at 1080p, this remains to be seen. As for cable, they are out of bandwidth now, both satellite and cable providers, so don't expect to see any channels in 1080p for a LONG time. Time Warner working on a new local switching technology to free up bandwidth is the only hope for 1080p broadcast content, ever.