Samsung, Panasonic Lead TV Shelf-Share Placements In March

SAN DIEGO — March retail shelf-share rankings of top TV display brands saw little movement among the flat-panel leaders, but Samsung showed continued strength in rear-projection TV after maintaining its grasp of the top slot over lame-duck Sony, according the March Display Shelf Share Report from The NPD Group.

In LCD, NPD showed Samsung continuing to pace all leaders with 14.15 percent share of retail placements, followed by Sony with 11.52 percent.

Sharp managed to move up to No. 3 with an 8.78 percent share followed by Vizio (8.02 percent) and Philips (7.99 percent) at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. Vizio managed one of its highest showings of the year.

In March plasma TV placements, Panasonic continued to hold a substantial lead over rivals Samsung (17.86 percent), Hitachi (11.15 percent) and LG (10 percent), with a 29.43 percent share of retail placements in the category.

Pioneer took fifth place with 9.91 percent of placements while category lame-duck Philips showed up sixth with 6.60 percent.

In rear projection TV, Samsung registered 31.92 percent share to extend its lead over former category leader Sony, which placed with 25.89 percent. Mitsubishi followed third with 16.41 percent share, followed by RCA with 16.12 percent.