Sony Tops LCD TV Market

[Deepak]

Link

Sony leapt to first place from fourth place in the LCD-TV market during the final three months of last year, knocking rival Sharp off the top spot for the first time ever, according to market researcher DisplaySearch.

In what may mark signs of a revival for Sony, the company's Bravia series of LCD-TVs led it to the first place spot in the fourth quarter of last year in both units and revenue, along with its LCD panel capacity from its TFT-LCD panel joint venture with Samsung Electronics, DisplaySearch said.

 

[Bobbler]

Well deserved.

I'm hoping this is a sign of what's to come from Sony -- back to the high quality (yet high priced, still) stuff they used to be famous for. Doesn't hurt the consumers to have a solid competitor back in the market, that's for sure!

 

[Geo]

We bought a Sony LCD in the last month anyway.

What's the difference between the Grand Wega and the Bravia, with the Bravia being so much more expensive?

 

[booomups]

i just read a review on the net and the sony got real bad response times........ (one should see this by gaming on it, they said)
else it got ok test results, xcept an also not so good blacklevel




how happy are you with your sony lcd?

 

[Geo]

Well, I don't game with it. It's a fine general HDTV.

 

[booomups]

well... i'd love a 40" sony anyway.

 

[Sxotty]

Well deserved.

I'm hoping this is a sign of what's to come from Sony -- back to the high quality (yet high priced, still) stuff they used to be famous for. Doesn't hurt the consumers to have a solid competitor back in the market, that's for sure!

Back to the best in DRM which won't allow you to use your new equipment with any of the old. Bravo for the pioneers known as sony may they fester and swell.

 

[NANOTEC]

Well deserved.

I'm hoping this is a sign of what's to come from Sony -- back to the high quality (yet high priced, still) stuff they used to be famous for. Doesn't hurt the consumers to have a solid competitor back in the market, that's for sure!

The stronger sales may not even be attributed to better quality and/or performance. The SONY name along with cheap prices are usually enough to spark sales. Believe it or not you can find SONYs for very cheap prices nowadays. It doesn't have to be cheaper than the competition, it only has to be cheap enough for people to go "Hey I can get a SONY for that price? I'm sold!".

 

[London Geezer]

The funny thing with the Bravia HDTVs is that the main hero of the situation is the Wega Engine: amazing processing, but it's OFF when in HD mode. It's just an engine to make SD sources look much better. Works like a charm, but in HD mode it's not needed and therefore is OFF.
Still, the sets are really really good, 8ms, amazing colour reproduction, good design, good build... Only in Europe they messed them up and took the VGA port out of the top of the range ones (The V-Series with the WEGA Engine), but left them on the lower range ones (the S-series which don't have the WEGA Engine)... go figure...

 

[Bobbler]

Back to the best in DRM which won't allow you to use your new equipment with any of the old. Bravo for the pioneers known as sony may they fester and swell.

Last time I checked the Bravia's don't have any DRM, so if you're going to take swipes at what I said, you may want to provide some sort of valid response.

In Sony's hayday (walkman/discman era) DRM was almost non existant, so I'm not really sure what your DRM hyperbole is really aiming for. Hate on Sony/BMG all you want, but that has little to do with Sony's LCD/TV products.

 

[Bobbler]

The stronger sales may not even be attributed to better quality and/or performance. The SONY name along with cheap prices are usually enough to spark sales. Believe it or not you can find SONYs for very cheap prices nowadays. It doesn't have to be cheaper than the competition, it only has to be cheap enough for people to go "Hey I can get a SONY for that price? I'm sold!".

Well, considering about the only thing that has changed for Sony in the LCD TV market is the Bravia's, I'd consider that the reason for it's success. And the Bravias are a fantastic LCD TV.

 

[karlotta]

Well, considering about the only thing that has changed for Sony in the LCD TV market is the Bravia's, I'd consider that the reason for it's success. And the Bravias are a fantastic LCD TV.

Yes they are a nice LCDTV but volume sales are from price and marketing. "Sony has been aggressively slashing prices of its Bravia series, and pumped up its marketing in the final months of last year ". Good for them.

 

[Geo]

The funny thing with the Bravia HDTVs is that the main hero of the situation is the Wega Engine: amazing processing, but it's OFF when in HD mode. It's just an engine to make SD sources look much better. Works like a charm, but in HD mode it's not needed and therefore is OFF.
Still, the sets are really really good, 8ms, amazing colour reproduction, good design, good build... Only in Europe they messed them up and took the VGA port out of the top of the range ones (The V-Series with the WEGA Engine), but left them on the lower range ones (the S-series which don't have the WEGA Engine)... go figure...

Well, thanks, but I'm still not quite getting it. What does Bravia bring to the table beyond this http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/ProductDetailDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=1001598 (ie. KDFE42A10). Which is the one in my home office, btw. I'm just curious, as there seemed to be a sizable price difference and it wasn't readily apparent to me why.

 

[NANOTEC]

Yes they are a nice LCDTV but volume sales are from price and marketing. "Sony has been aggressively slashing prices of its Bravia series, and pumped up its marketing in the final months of last year ". Good for them.

Heh I was right and I didn't even read the article before I posted. Also, "Its strong name brand was the biggest boost, a DisplaySearch analyst says.".

 

[karlotta]

Well ya the brand is big. In the Tv section of any US store, there are alot of choices and cool stuff going on. Also it was the sports time of the year.. "need to get HDTV", " Time to get a thin display, the cool adverts from Sony on the Braiva line, then you see the mark down! WOW i can get that uber name for same as the others who are not on sale...SOLD. Wega is a great display.

 

[Bobbler]

Well, thanks, but I'm still not quite getting it. What does Bravia bring to the table beyond this http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/ProductDetailDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=1001598 (ie. KDFE42A10). Which is the one in my home office, btw. I'm just curious, as there seemed to be a sizable price difference and it wasn't readily apparent to me why.

I can't visit the link, but...

I think it's a matter of paying a lot for that last 10%, which may not even be apparent or fully realized depending on the source material (likely a vast majority of possibly source material you could have at the moment).

 

[randycat99]

Isn't Bravia also the 3 LCD design, or is that present on their other Sony models, as well?

 

[Ty]

The funny thing with the Bravia HDTVs is that the main hero of the situation is the Wega Engine: amazing processing, but it's OFF when in HD mode. It's just an engine to make SD sources look much better. Works like a charm, but in HD mode it's not needed and therefore is OFF.
Still, the sets are really really good, 8ms, amazing colour reproduction, good design, good build... Only in Europe they messed them up and took the VGA port out of the top of the range ones (The V-Series with the WEGA Engine), but left them on the lower range ones (the S-series which don't have the WEGA Engine)... go figure...

I don't know if I would say the main hero is the scaler because the CCFL is always used and thus the wider color gamut is always there.

 

[NANOTEC]

Isn't Bravia also the 3 LCD design, or is that present on their other Sony models, as well?

No, the Bravia line only consists of direct view LCDs while the Grand WEGAs are rear projection LCDs.

Well, thanks, but I'm still not quite getting it. What does Bravia bring to the table beyond this http://www.sonystyle.ca/commerce/servlet/ProductDetailDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&productId=1001598 (ie. KDFE42A10). Which is the one in my home office, btw. I'm just curious, as there seemed to be a sizable price difference and it wasn't readily apparent to me why.

Bravia's are direct view LCDs. Grand WEGA's are rear projection LCDs that use 3 LCD panels, one for each color. The Grand WEGAs need to have the Xenon bulbs replaced every so often. Grand WEGAs are similar to DLP.

 

[Geo]

Thanks!