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Anh T. Huynh's new VU42LF for $1050 from Costco  (Source: DailyTech)
LCD TVs sold in Costco, Wal-Mart make best-seller in North America

When it comes to household names in cutting edge televisions, the first that come to mind are Sony, Philips, Sharp, and in recent years, Samsung. But all those companies have recently been elbowed aside by a relatively unknown newcomer.

According to a recent report by iSuppli, Vizio in the second quarter shipped 606,402 LCD-TVs in North America, up a stunning 76.4 percent increase from 343,704 in the first quarter. The sales surge caused Vizio to jump from the fifth-placed North American brand in the first quarter to top in the second quarter.

In comparison, Japanese electronics giant Sony slipped from third place to sixth place, with the company’s shipments declining to 263,377 units in the second quarter, down 36.1 percent from 412,323 in the first quarter. Sharp, on the other hand, gained a position to hit third, though iSuppli believes that is due to an increased availability of Sharp’s eighth-generation panels.

ISuppli analysts believe that Vizio’s mass-market retail approach is what gave it the edge over the electronics veterans.

“Vizio’s success is mainly due to the company expanding its retail presence to Wal-Mart and Sears at the beginning of the second quarter,” said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems for iSuppli. “The company already was selling its LCD TVs through the warehouse stores Costco, Sam’s Club and BJ's Wholesale Club—but the addition of the two new retailers gave Vizio’s sales a significant lift.”

On the whole, the entire LCD TV market experienced growth throughout the year. LCD TV shipments increased to 4.2 million units in the second quarter, up 14.9 percent from 3.7 million units in the first. Vizio leads LCD TV sales in sets that are 47-inch and smaller – with the 32-inch model being the most popular size in North America.

When LCD technology first launched in the TV market, North American consumers gravitated towards the trusted brands of established electronics makers. As the technology becomes more familiar to consumers, iSuppli believes that consumer attitudes shift to become more price sensitive.

“Americans have grown comfortable with value brands, making Vizio’s low-cost sets an alluring alternative to the established names,” Patel said.

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How long will they last?
By mal1 on 8/22/2007 9:39:43 AM , Rating: 3
I wonder what the failure rate of these budget LCDs is compared to higher end sets.




RE: How long will they last?
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 8/22/2007 9:44:00 AM , Rating: 2
As long as it lasts 3-4 years at which time I can find something newer that is better.

Hell I have a Westinghouse O_o


RE: How long will they last?
By mdogs444 on 8/22/2007 9:46:14 AM , Rating: 2
I have two westinghouse's: a 47" 1080P in the family room, and a 32" 1080i in the bedroom. Both have exellent image quality, color, and contrast. The 32" has been going strong for about 1 year, and the 47" is only about 2 months old. As far as affordability goes, they are one of the tops in my book.....but side by side, i think the color and image on them is on par if not better than many of the more expensive models.


RE: How long will they last?
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 8/22/2007 9:53:50 AM , Rating: 3
I've also got a Westinghouse. 32" unit in my bedroom -- heck, it was even a refurbished unit and it still looks and works great.

The price difference between the Samsungs and Sonys of the world aren't worth the cost difference IMHO. For others, it doesn't factor that way.


RE: How long will they last?
By FITCamaro on 8/22/2007 10:16:37 AM , Rating: 2
I'll stick with quality Samsung units. Of course I wouldn't buy an LCD. I'll stick to the far cheaper for the size, but with just as good image quality, DLP sets. Samsung 50" 1080p DLP sets can now be found in the $1500 range. 60" sets can be found for under $2000. I really could care less about hanging it on a wall.


RE: How long will they last?
By mdogs444 on 8/22/2007 10:20:10 AM , Rating: 2
Samsung DLPs have a pretty nice picture...but not a big fan of the maintenence that you are responsible with them. If i pay over $1000 for a tv, i do not buy it with the expectations that i have to give routine maintenece on it like a car.


RE: How long will they last?
By Adul on 8/22/2007 10:42:52 AM , Rating: 3
That's why I bought the LED version of the DLP sets. Bulb life should good for 5 to 6 years


RE: How long will they last?
By lumbergeek on 8/22/2007 6:16:40 PM , Rating: 2
The only thing I don't like about the DLP sets is the side-angle picture blows.


RE: How long will they last?
By FITCamaro on 8/23/2007 8:01:45 PM , Rating: 2
I paid $900 for mine($600 off). ;)

And I got the service plan on it from best buy that covers tha bulb. So in 3 years 11 months, I'll call in the warranty and get the bulb replaced.


RE: How long will they last?
By omnicronx on 8/22/2007 11:28:37 AM , Rating: 2
I'm with you, ill stick with quality units too. You can notice the difference, its just lcds have hit the point where the average user just doesnt care for the extra quality at the expense of a whole lot of money. and the fact most people are watching digital cable or analogue cable on their HDTV's. If you dont order HD content, more expensive models are useless to most people.


RE: How long will they last?
By MADAOO7 on 8/23/2007 2:29:17 AM , Rating: 2
I recently bought a new Westinghouse 32" LCD as well. The price was right for a student budget and the picture is pretty good. I'm very happy with the TV.

However, at the same time, I think you'd have to be blind not to see the difference between a Westinghouse vs. a Samsung or Sony. The difference is HUGE .

The blacks are much deeper and the whites are much brighter. Playing Gears of War (a great game to judge the quality of a tv since it has a bright sky and a gritty foreground) on the 360 on a Samsung or a Sony, you'll see 10x more grades of black, and hence more detail. The Westinghouse blurs the blacks together. It's a great tv since it costs 50% as much, but it's simply not a comparison side by side.


RE: How long will they last?
By Samus on 8/23/2007 7:16:23 AM , Rating: 2
I've been satisfied with Syntax LCD's, but I'll admit my friends Sharp is WAY nicer, albeit twice as expensive.


RE: How long will they last?
By Samus on 8/23/2007 7:14:15 AM , Rating: 2
I was in TigerDirect the other day and they have nothing but truck loads of 32", 37", 42", and 47" Vizio LCD's. All refurbished.

My roommate works at Circuit City and says Vizio LCD's AND Plasma's take the cake for most returns of any other PRODUCT in the store due to defects, mostly unacceptable pixel defects and lighting problems like backlight failure.

They're also rated below average in all LCD categories in Consumer Report.

You apperantly get what you pay for. Just make sure you pay for it at Costco and don't mind making frequent trips to the store to exchange it.

Tim


RE: How long will they last?
By darkpaw on 8/22/2007 9:45:27 AM , Rating: 2
Don't know, I bought a Vizio as my first HD TV in February and have been very happy with it. I also got it before Costco changed their TV warranty so if anything does happen I'll be covered.

Its not perfect, there is some bleeding (especially with bright reds), but for the $800 I paid for it I'm extremely happy with the results. My family and I watch a ton of movies and play a lot of games so it has been well worth it. Considering I've paid half that much for video cards I usually get two years or so out of, I think it is quite worthwhile.

I do see a lot of returned ones at Costco though so either they have a fairly high failure rate or a lot of people just don't know what they are buying when it comes to HDTVs. I'd probably lean toward the second since there is always a lot of returned HDTVs stacked up in the return area at Frys.


RE: How long will they last?
By glitchc on 8/22/2007 10:21:57 AM , Rating: 2
It could also be people returning TVs after buying them for one-shot use i.e. for a family gathering or a function of some kind (birthdays/anniversaries with tribute videos come to mind). They never planned on owning the HDTV anyways. Just wanted to take advantage of the return policy of many of these major chains.


RE: How long will they last?
By darkpaw on 8/22/2007 10:26:14 AM , Rating: 2
Yah I'd definately agree here. There is always a ton of returned sets rights after events like the Super Bowl.


U.S.A.! U.S.A!
By DCstewieG on 8/22/2007 10:28:10 AM , Rating: 4
And the States finally get back into the electronics industry. Yes it's a budget brand but it's cool to see some home grown stuff again.




RE: U.S.A.! U.S.A!
By grampaw on 8/22/2007 11:34:37 AM , Rating: 3
Two comments from a satisfied Vizio 47" LCD 1080p owner:

The warehouses sell way more of these than the Big Brands models - so of course there a lot more returns.

You get what you pay for - so of course the SONY picture is better, however the Vizio picture is Good Enough for 90% of the people.

Also I understand Phillips makes the Vizio LCD panels.


RE: U.S.A.! U.S.A!
By Spivonious on 8/22/2007 12:59:19 PM , Rating: 2
I could have sworn that Vizios were made in China...shows what I know.


RE: U.S.A.! U.S.A!
By Oregonian2 on 8/22/2007 6:26:22 PM , Rating: 2
Made in China or Korea, but grown in the U.S.

We got an Olevia for the bedroom that on sale was even cheaper than Visio for the same feature set (slightly). Not the greatest on an absolute scale, but great for the price. Easy to spot aberrations that a good set wouldn't do, but not serious (for a bedroom set). Of course even spendy sets have things one can spot too. :-)


RE: U.S.A.! U.S.A!
By Suomynona on 8/22/2007 1:27:07 PM , Rating: 2
I'm curious how much of the engineering work is done here though. Both Vizio and Westinghouse seem to have fairly small staffs in the US and contract a lot of their work out to Taiwan. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the work is done over there while mostly just the business headquarters are here in America.