S. Korean TV makers claim largest market share in Q1

SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korean TV makers claimed the largest market
share of the global TV market during the first three months this year, widening
their lead over Japanese and Chinese competitors, a report showed Monday.
According to market researcher DisplaySearch, South Korea's Samsung Electronics
Co. and LG Electronics Co. together gained a market share of 33.4 percent in the
first quarter of 2009. They had a large margin over the 23.3 percent held by
Japanese TV makers Sony Corp., Sharp Corp., Panasonic Corp. and Toshiba Corp.
During the same period last year, South Korean makers held a 29.0 percent market
share, while Japanese counterparts followed with 20.3 percent.
Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics also beat out Chinese TV makers TCL Corp.,
Skyworth Digital Holdings Co. and Hisense Electric Co.
The Chinese companies held a 12.4 percent market share, a drop of 1.7 percentage
points on-year.
East Asia-based TV makers grabbed a 69.1 percent market share in total for the
quarter. The Netherlands' Philips Electronics N.V., with 4.1 percent market
share, was the only company not from East Asia to make it into the world's top 10
TV makers.
Market watchers attributed the dominance of the South Korean electronics
companies to their marketing strategies, which focused mainly on premium TVs.
They expected the presence of South Korean-made TVs to further expand throughout
the year, as some reports said that LG Electronics ousted Sony from second place
in the April-June period.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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