In a report of fourth quarter flat panel TV sales from DisplaySearch, Sony shipments of LCD TV's rose to a number one ranking for the first time in their history in the category. Sony's share of LCD TV shipments in Q4 2007 jumped to 12.8% from the previous quarters 9.7%. Sharp Corp. saw their share of the shipments over the same period decline causing them to lose their number one positioning, even though their sales showed 2% growth.
Samsung also improved their position moving into the number two slot with 12.3% of shipments, coming in only a half point behind Sony. DisplaySearch attributes Sony's success to focusing on the North American market and aligning themselves with key big box retailers in screen sizes over 40" and with 1080P resolution.
Preliminary totals indicate that LCD TV TVs rose an overall 38% quarter-to-quarter and 64% over the previous year.