Vizio, the Austrailan distribution of which has been screwed up by the principlals of DTV Technology and Vizio Pty Ltd, was the fastest growing plasma brand in the world this year, according to the latest display research.
The future of the Vizio TV brand is looking very shaky in Australia, with the distributor, Vizio Pty Ltd, admitting it is in financial trouble despite the fact that Vizio overseas is now the world’s seventh-biggest plasma brand.
Vizio Pty Ltd is facing potential legal action from marketing company, Robot Blonde, which claims it is owed tens of thousands of dollars in non payment of accounts relating to major advertising and marketing campaigns.
The director and former director of Vizio Pty Ltd are husband and wife team Stefan Wisniewski and his wife Theresa Mary Wisniewski. They are also the operators of Digital Video Technology, a Company that could also come under threat because of its close relationship with Vizio Pty Ltd.
Overall, worldwide plasma sales are also up 87 percent, according to research group Display Search however in the last quarter slipped.
According to their latest Plasma report, shipments decreased by 26 per cent quarter on quarter to 1.7 million units, due to traditional seasonal weakness, new model transitions, and supply constraints. However, plasma remained dominant in the 40” to 44” category in comparison to other TV technologies, dropping slightly to 65 per cent share compared to 68 per cent in the previous quarter. Plasma gained four per cent market share in the 50” to 54” category, rising from 29 per cent to 33 per cent. In terms of revenue, plasma TV was up three per cent from 16 per cent in Q1 2005 to 19 per cent; but down from 20 per cent last quarter.
In North America, plasma TV shipments rose 85 per cent year-over-year, but fell 17 per cent quarter-over-quarter. North America represented 32 per cent of the global plasma market; up from 28 per cent last quarter. Leading the category was 42” to 43” high-definition models (42 per cent share), followed by 50”, which had three times higher share than in any other region. In fact, North America accounts for 64 per cent of the world’s 50” plasma TV shipments, DisplaySearch reports.
Japan has just 6.1 per cent share, as shipments rose 77 per cent year-over-year, but fell 51 per cent quarter-over-quarter. Europe’s share declined from 41 per cent to 35 per cent, as shipments were up 102 per cent year-over-year and down 36 per cent quarter-over-quarter. The share for high-definition models, however, rose from 37 per cent last quarter to 44 per cent in Q1 2006.
Australia make up 1.5% of plasma sales.
China experienced the slowest year-over-year growth of 10 per cent while falling 15 per cent quarter-over-quarter. The country has nine per cent marketshare, up from eight per cent in the previous quarter, but down from 15 per cent in Q1 last year.
For the rest of the world, plasma TV shipments increased two per cent quarter-over-quarter, and jumped 141 per cent year-over-year; representing 18 per cent market share (compared to 13 per cent last quarter). Forty-two-inch ED remained the most popular product with 56 per cent share; but HD plasma TVs rose from 37 per cent to 44 per cent.
According to DisplaySearch, by size and resolution, 42” ED plasma TV is the most popular. The 50″+ share increased from 12 per cent to 14 per cent; and the worldwide HD share rose from 49 per cent to 56 per cent.
When it comes to brands, Panasonic led the pack with 22 per cent market share, down from 26 per cent. The top five brands remained unchanged from last quarter: Panasonic, LG, Samsung, Philips, and Hitachi (in that order). Panasonic remained No. 1 in Japan and North America, overtook Philips for No. 1 in Europe, but fell behind Hitachi for No. 1 in China. LG led in the rest of the world.
By major product category worldwide, LG was No. 1 at 42″ ED, while Panasonic led at 42″-43″ HD and 50″.
Vizio was the fastest-growing brand, rising to No. 7 worldwide on over a 150 per cent quarter-over-quarter increase.
