San Diego — Sony won the top position for total U.S. TV market share in 2006, according to retail tracking figures released by market research firm, The NPD Group.
Sony’s TV sales were paced by its high-definition BRAVIA LCD TV line and its Grand Wega SXRD rear-projection microdisplays.
Sony beat the next closest competitor by 5 percent in total television dollar market share, while also holding the advantage in overall TV unit sales.
Steve Baker, NPD industry analysis president, said, “Sony’s leadership position in television in 2006 has been consistent over the past few years. What makes this performance impressive is the number of competitors in the TV space continues to grow at a staggering pace.”
The latest 2006 figures continue a trend of Sony’s No. 1 share in total TV dollar sales which it has held year to year since 2003 — as evidenced by NPD’s most current monthly data set which dates back to 2003, Baker said.
“When you combine the key digital TV categories, specifically LCD and microdisplay, Sony’s overall dollar share outpaced the closest competitor by 21 percent for January 2006 to November 2006,” Randy Waynick, Sony’s home products division marketing senior VP, observed.
Sony’s LCD flat-panel televisions had an 8 percent dollar share lead over the next closest competitor in the United States for 2006 (January through November), according to NPD. Sony also led in unit share in both the LCD flat-panel and microdisplay categories. In microdisplay, it had a 21 percent greater dollar share than the next closest competitor.
