Irvine, Calif. – Vizio said last week that its move to better-featured
products early in the year led to high average selling prices and strong sales
in Q1 2010, according to analyst reports.
Highlighted models in the period include LED TVs and large-screen
(50-inch-plus) HDTVs, which drew 27 percent higher average selling prices for
the quarter.
Vizio said it sold 1.066 million LCD HDTVs in the U.S. for the
quarter, resulting in a 225 percent increase year over year in 50-inch-plus
size HDTVs, FullHD 1080p sales represented more than half of all TV sales, and
120Hz and faster refresh rate SPS XVT series saw a 250 percent increase over Q4
2009.
“Coming off a spectacular
2009, we see continued improvement and acceleration in our premium TV products.
Americans continue to have a strong appetite for high-performance TV products
and are looking more and more to Vizio for these latest technologies,” stated
Laynie Newsome, Vizio co-founder and chief sales officer. “We continue to
remain focused on exceeding our customers’ expectations with exciting and
innovative new products like Vizio Internet apps, connected Blu-ray DVD
players, A/V-optimized wireless Internet routers and other Internet apps-enabled
entertainment systems.”
According to recent iSuppli U.S. TV Market Tracker preliminary
results for the quarter, Vizio ranked second, with 16.3 percent unit share in
the period, following Samsung, which sold 1.149 million sets in the period for
17.6 percent share. Other companies on the list include: No. 3 Sony, with 11.1
percent share on sales of 722,000 units; No. 4 Sanyo, with 513,000 sets for 7.9
percent share; No. 5 LG Electronics, with 500,000 unit sales for 7.7 percent
share; and Toshiba, with 449,000 unit sales for 6.9 percent sales.
According to Quixel Research, Vizio’s strength in the quarter was
driven in part by two of the top three best-selling TVs in the U.S.: the VO320E
(32-inch) and VA26L (26-inch). It also had the No. 1 best selling LED LCD model
— the VM230.
According to DisplaySearch North American TV shipment results, Vizio’s
40-inch-plus TV business continued to grow in part by the success of the 55-inch
and 47-inch TruLED Internet App HDTVs introduced this fall.
Vizio gains in these larger sizes and premium products garnered
the brand a 27 percent increase in average selling price of $588 for Q1 2010
over Q4 2009’s $463 — while at the same time the industry registered only a 6
percent ASP increase, according to DisplaySearch data.
“Vizio continues to see
strong growth in large screen sizes, with the 40-inch-plus segment rising from
21 percent of shipments in Q4 ’09 to 32 percent of shipments in Q1 ’10. Vizio
also had the strongest improvement in average selling price among the top North
America LCD TV brands from Q4 ’09 to Q1 ’10, rising more than 27 percent,”
DisplaySearch said. “This is a direct reflection of improved mix of advanced
technologies like LED and the increase in the 40-inch-plus screen size mix.”
In other news, Vizio said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit in Washington D.C. ruled that certain Vizio “work-around”
digital television products do not infringe U.S. Patent No. 6,115,074 (the “074
patent”) owned by Funai.
The ruling reversed a decision by the International Trade
Commission (ITC) excluding certain Vizio television products from importation
into the U.S. while affirming in part the ITC’s findings on certain “legacy”
products, which are no longer being sold, Vizio said.
The ITC had previously issued an exclusion order that was the
subject of the appellate decision. While the Federal Circuit considered Vizio’s
appeal, U.S. Customs found that certain Vizio products were outside of the
scope of the ITC’s order, resulting in the continued importation of Vizio
products.
