Sony Corp. was overtaken by Vizio Inc. in the U.S. flat-panel television market in the fourth quarter as consumers became more price-conscious amid the global downturn, an industry researcher said.
Vizio, based in California, shipped 14.3 percent of flat-panel TVs in the United States in the three months that ended Dec. 31, passing Sony to win the second-largest share behind Samsung Electronics Co., ISuppli Corp. said in a report Thursday.
The Tokyo-based maker of Bravia liquid crystal display 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 ISuppli, wrote in the report. Consumers give more consideration to picture quality and price, "rather than seeking models with a lot of extra features."