Sony Corp was overtaken by Vizio Inc in the US flat-panel television market in the fourth quarter as consumers became more price-conscious amid the global recession, an industry researcher said.
Vizio was founded by William Wang in 2002 and has been partly owned by Taiwanese flat-panel TV maker Amtran Technology Co (瑞軒) since early 2005 in a bid to tap into the brand business in North America.
Vizio, based in Irvine, California, shipped 14.3 percent of the country*s flat-panel TVs in the three months ended Dec. 31, passing Sony to win the second-largest share behind Samsung Electronics Co, ISuppli Corp said in a report dated Feb. 19. The 〝Tokyo-〝〝based maker of Bravia liquid-crystal-display (LCD) TVs ranked third with 13.5 percent.
※This is an indication that in the present tough economic climate, consumers are becoming less brand conscious,§ Riddhi Patel, an analyst at the El Segundo, California-based industry researcher, wrote in the report.
Consumers give more consideration to picture quality and price, ※rather than seeking models with a lot of extra features,§ Patel said.
After taking the top spot in the US TV market for the first three months of last year, Vizio tied with Sony in the second quarter and slipped to third place in the following period, Isuppli said. Recessions in Europe, Japan and the US have dampened consumer spending, forcing Sony, Panasonic Corp and Sharp Corp to forecast losses this fiscal year.
Global revenue from LCD TVs will drop 16 percent this year to US$64 billion, the first decline in the industry*s history, researcher DisplaySearch LLC said.
Meanwhile, Japan*s Sharp Corp plans to produce LCD panels in China through a partnership with a major Chinese electronics manufacturer, the Nikkei Shimbun daily reported yesterday.
Sharp, the fifth-largest LCD panel producer, hopes to reach a deal with China*s SVA Group this spring, the business daily said.
The Japanese firm has said it expects its first-ever operating loss this year and will cut 1,500 jobs as revenues from high-end televisions plummet.
AI REVOLUTION: The event is to take place from Wednesday to Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s halls 1 and 2 and would feature more than 1,100 exhibitors Semicon Taiwan, an annual international semiconductor exhibition, would bring leaders from the world’s top technology firms to Taipei this year, the event organizer said. The CEO Summit is to feature nine global leaders from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), Applied Materials Inc, Google, Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc, Microsoft Corp, Interuniversity Microelectronic Centre and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, SEMI said in a news release last week. The top executives would delve into how semiconductors are positioned as the driving force behind global technological innovation amid the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the organizer said. Among them,
When she was in fifth grade, Scarlett Goddard Strahan started to worry about getting wrinkles. By the time she turned 10, she and her friends were spending hours on ByteDance Ltd’s TikTok and Google’s YouTube watching influencers tout products for achieving today’s beauty aesthetic: a dewy, “glowy,” flawless complexion. Goddard Strahan developed an elaborate skin care routine with facial cleansers, mists, hydrating masks and moisturizers. One night, her skin began to burn intensely and erupted in blisters. Heavy use of adult-strength products had wreaked havoc on her skin. Months later, patches of tiny bumps remain on her face, and her cheeks turn
Intel Corp is working with investment bankers to help navigate the most difficult period in its 56-year history, people familiar with the matter said. The company is discussing various scenarios, including a split of its product design and manufacturing businesses, and which factory projects might potentially be scrapped, the people said, who asked not to be identified. Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Intel’s longtime bankers, have been providing advice on the possibilities, which could also include potential mergers and acquisitions, the people said. The discussions have only grown more urgent since Intel delivered a grim earnings report, which sent the
Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said Taiwan’s government plans to set up a business service company in Kyushu, Japan, to help Taiwanese companies operating there. “The company will follow the one-stop service model similar to the science parks we have in Taiwan,” Kuo said. “As each prefecture is providing different conditions, we will establish a new company providing services and helping Taiwanese companies swiftly settle in Japan.” Kuo did not specify the exact location of the planned company but said it would not be in Kumamoto, the Kyushu prefecture in which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) has a