AUSTIN, TEXAS: The North American TV brand sell-in rankings were shaken up again in Q3'07 with Sharp on top in LCD TVs for the first time since Q1'05, as per DisplaySearch. Sharp led the North American LCD TV market with an 11.3 percent share, rising from #3 in Q2'07, on 65 percent Q/Q and 88 percent Y/Y growth. Its strong growth can be attributed to:

* Rapidly growing internal panel capacity--Sharp had the fastest sequential TFT LCD supply growth of any panel supplier, up 36 percent Q/Q, as it continues to ramp its 8G fab.
* Growing LCD TV focus--Sharp's worldwide LCD TV panel shipments rose from 56 percent to 64 percent of its total large-area TFT LCD volume, taking share from notebook PCs.
* Significant emphasis on smaller sizes where demand is strong and supply is tight--Sharp's <32" volume rose 77 percent Q/Q, rising to 40 percent of its Q3'07 volume. Sharp was #1 in 19" and 26" and also led at 52".
* Increased emphasis on the North American LCD TV market--North America rose from 24 percent to 34 percent of Sharp's worldwide Q3'07 LCD TV volume.

Other LCD TV highlights
* Vizio fell to #2 despite 334 percent Y/Y growth; it had the slowest Q/Q growth of the top five. Its slower Q3'07 sequential growth can be explained by the less seasonal nature of its primary sales channel: the warehouse club channel. Nonetheless, it was #1 in 32" and larger volume and in LCD HDTV volume. It also led the 32", 37" and 42" markets.
* Samsung fell from #2 to #3 despite 33 percent Q/Q and 79 percent Y/Y growth. It was #2 in 40"+ volume.
* Sony had the fastest Q/Q growth of the top five brands up 108 percent Q/Q and 84 percent Y/Y, as it rolled out a number of compelling new products later this year than last year, while also targeting mass merchants like Wal-Mart through the new M series. As a result, Sony's unit ranking rose from #7 to #4, and it jumped from #3 to #1 in revenues. Sony had the highest focus on 40" and larger LCD TVs which accounted for 67% of its volume. It led at 40- 42" and 46-47".
* Funai fell from #4 to #5 in units and led at 15" and 20".
* Preliminary totals for LCD TVs rose 34 percent Q/Q and 82 percent Y/Y to a new record high of 6.6M units. LCD TVs rose to 88 percent of flat panel TV volume vs. 78 percent in Q3'06.

In plasma TVs, Panasonic continued to lead. Panasonic earned a 30 percent share on 11 percent Q/Q growth. However, on a Y/Y basis, Panasonic's volume was down 28 percent after it shipped an excessive number of plasma TVs into North America a year ago when the European market stalled after the World Cup. With Panasonic down, the total plasma TV market was down 17 percent Y/Y to a preliminary total of 866K units.

Some other highlights include:

* Samsung and LGE each gained share on significant growth at larger sizes and also enjoyed success with new 1080p products.
* Vizio fell from #4 to #7 as it exited the 42" plasma market to focus on 42" LCD.
* Hitachi enjoyed the fastest Q/Q growth on more than a 100 percent increase in 50", rising from #6 to #4.
* Panasonic led at 42", 50" and 55-59" and in all 1080p products. LGE led at 60"+.

Based on the total LCD and plasma volume, in the flat panel TV rankings, Samsung overtook Vizio to earn the #1 position due to strong growth in both LCD and plasma TVs. Sharp, Sony and Funai remained at #3 - #5 with each gaining share.