It's a question that's always asked during downturns, but we actually believe there's a remote possibility of it happening this go 'round. A recent
Wall Street Journal report suggests that industry experts anticipate only the top-tier brands -- Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp, LG and Toshiba, for example -- making it through the current economic slowdown without
consolidation. They also suggest that everyone else could be "forced to either pull out of the TV business or join forces with a surviving entity." Quite frankly, we feel that's probably a bit extreme, as we can't imagine names like Insignia and VIZIO vanishing (or crazier still,
merging) when it's price that matters most. Still, we
can appreciate that the big firms could likely outlast the others in terms of coping with weak sales, but we still refuse to believe that Westingneer is even close to becoming a reality.
posted Jan 22nd 2009 11:05AM
On one hand you see Sony laying off people and closing plants, and Pioneer buying panels from Panasonic. On the other hand you need to realize that a lot of people have purchased new displays during the past 24 months. Supply and demand will always shape the electronics industry.
Don't get us STDV owners wrong, most of us would LOVE to buy a big HDTV. The darn things are just too expensive to buy, especially when a lot of us are in danger of being laid off.
I feel like it is a stretch to name the companies that will make it. Vizio is definitely climbing up the HDTV ladder. I don't see them going anywhere but up.
Westingneer haha, or worse, Samzio.
I love the graphic btw.