Japanese brands exit the global television market

By Elizabeth Matsangou | Tuesday, February 10th, 2015

Japanese brands such as Toshiba, Panasonic and Sony once dominated the global television market, but consumers have since turned their attention to South Korea and China's products

Not long ago, Japanese brands such as Panasonic, Toshiba and Sony, dominated the global television market with shiny models that were the envy of many Western homes. In a rapid change to consumer demand, buyers around the world have turned their backs against Japanese-made sets in favour of cheaper, high-spec versions from South Korea and China.

As a result of mounting price pressure, in February, Panasonic announced that it would pull out of overseas markets. Panasonic’s lower-end product, Sanyo, which is sold in Walmart stores across the US, will be bought by Japanese counterpart, Funai Electric, in return for royalties. Toshiba will also stop making and selling televisions in North America from March for the same reason of being unable to compete with specifications and price. Conversely, Sony Corp is spinning off its television division into a separately operated subsidiary.

Chinese brands have won a greater market share due to a focus on low prices and slim
profit margins
“The reason the Japanese players are suffering is down to strategy. Japanese brands such as Sony and Panasonic have also emphasised quality, but given that they have little actual capability in making the LCD and LED panels, they are not able to bring anything differentiated to market. Add to this typically convoluted and costly business structures and it’s hard for the Japanese vendors to make significant returns”. Peter Richardson, Research Director at Counterpoint market research firm explains to The New Economy.

Panasonic and Toshiba will refocus their efforts on the domestic market, as the demand for their high-margin, large-screen models remains, albeit not as ferociously as it once was. Brand loyalty for Japanese televisions is strong and enables a 90 percent share of the domestic market; LG on the other hand has only a two percent share, while Chinese brands are virtually non-existent in Japan. Although Japanese brands are not contending with a price war as elsewhere, revenue has shrunk in the domestic market also, with unit sales dropping from 24.8m in 2010 to 5.6m last year.

Filling the recently engineered void of Japanese-made televisions are South Korean companies, such as Samsung and LG. For example, competitive prices and an aggressive marketing campaign by LG have caused worldwide sales to increase from 800m to 174bn won from last year. “The Korean brands, Samsung and LG prioritise quality and leading edge technology thanks to their in house development capability. This means they’re able to charge a premium and generate reasonable rates of return on investment,” says Richardson.

Chinese brands on the other hand, have won a greater market share due to a focus on low prices and slim profit margins. “There are a number of Chinese domestic brands launching affordable smart TV with high definition and quality, such as Xiaomi TV and Leshi TV. They are very competitive to the international rivals, especially these relatively expensive brands,” says Ivy Jiang, China-based Research Analyst for market research firm Mintel.

The evolvement of technology and home entertainment has also attributed to a change in the global market, with consumer demands adapting to the new systems on offer, yet for lower prices than ever before. “Mintel consumer data show that the Chinese TV ownership is rapidly moving from standard definition TV to HDTV and internet enabled TV, presenting 55 percent and 36 percent of surveyed consumers having HDTV and internet enabled TV compared to the 33 percent ownership of standard definition TV in 2014,” Jiang tells The New Economy.

The feat of surpassing global leaders in television sales is truly impressive given the pressure facing South Korean exports, which are currently competing with a strong won against a weak yen. As a surprising twist to the challenges facing the South Korean economy, one of the world’s most reliant on exports, in the battle for the global share of televisions, South Korea has won. Japanese counterparts are receding wholly to the domestic market; something no one could have predicted a decade ago when they dominated worldwide sales. With such a withdrawal, it is unlikely that Japanese televisions will ever make a comeback, leaving the market open for other manufacturers, such as Samsung and LG. The lesson learnt from this drastic transformation for any electronics company is that with a strategy based on cutting-edge technology, competitive prices and dynamic promotion – any market can be theirs for the taking.

Source: https://www.theneweconomy.com/technology/japanese-brands-exit-the-global-television-market

TV Brands Aren't Always What They Seem-Consumer Reports

You might be surprised to find out who made your set

By James K. Willcox, Last updated: August 12, 2016

For many shoppers, there's comfort in choosing a familiar brand. But before you go out and buy a new TV set, there's something you should know: Even if it carries a brand name you recognize, the TV might have little connection to the company that built that brand.

For example, RCA, one of the most iconic TV brands in American history, now appears on sets produced by a Korean firm named On Corporation. Sharp TVs? They're manufactured by the Chinese TV brand Hisense, which also bought Sharp's TV manufacturing plant in Mexico.*
"For many years, TV making was limited to the few large consumer electronics companies that could afford the investment," says Paul Gagnon, who monitors TV manufacturing for San Diego-based IHS Markit Research.

But that barrier to entry has been lowered significantly, which in turn decreased the margins, creating a landscape far too competitive for the industry's titans. "For some brands," says Gagnon, "the TV business was not profitable anymore."

Companies such as Sharp, JVC, and Toshiba exited the U.S. market, licensing their brands to lesser-known firms. And companies in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan eagerly adopted those brands, hoping their products would enjoy greater recognition and credibility in the U.S.

What Does This Mean for Consumers?

Just because a TV carries a licensed brand, it doesn't mean it's poorly designed. But it's hard to predict how it will perform.

"Some companies choose to license their brands to manufacturers, mostly from China, who will then build the products based on their own technology," Gagnon explains. "This isn’t always the case, though. In some instances, the licensing brands still have a lot of input into the design of the product and performance requirements as a part of the agreement."

In fact, some Hisense-made Sharp sets did well in our testing—though none yet rivals the top models in our ratings. And some Westinghouse-branded sets scored poorly. To protect yourself, you should probably purchase the new TV with a credit card that doubles the manufacturer's warranty. A retailer such as Costco will grant you the same cushion. This will safeguard you if the TV stops working or needs repair.

Keep in mind that it might be more difficult to get the set serviced, especially if it requires parts from overseas.

You can also ask retailers for a 30-day guarantee that allows you to return the TV if you're unhappy with the picture quality. As you might imagine, it's not always easy to find reviews and information on licensed-brand models.

At the end of the day, your best option is to consult our ratings, which feature TVs that have been put through the paces by our testers.
So which company made the TV in your living room? Or, more to the point, which company made the set you're thinking about buying? We recently did some digging to learn more about the corporations that use the common TV brands of today. Here's what we discovered.

Before you choose a new set, you might want to check out this list.
Brand

Details

Element - first came to our attention during Walmart promotional events. The manufacturer earned some press a few years back for touting that its TVs were assembled here in the U.S., first in Detroit, now in South Carolina, though much of the part production was done in China. But since then the American company has been quietly acquired by Chinese manufacturer TongFang, which also owns the Seiki and Westinghouse TV brands.

JVC Since late in 2011, the JVC TV brand has been licensed to the Taiwan manufacturer AmTRAN. The company's U.S. arm, AmTRAN Video, is also known for producing TVs sold under the Vizio brand.

Magnavox Once a U.S. market leader, the Philips-owned Magnavox brand is now licensed by Funai Electric. The Japanese manufacturer also controls the U.S. licenses for the Emerson, Philips (see below), Sylvania, Sanyo, and Symphonic brand names. Funai recently created a stir by announcing it would stop producing VCRs. It goes down in history as the last company to make them.

Philips This one's licensed to Funai via a subsidiary called P&F USA. The deal, which also includes the Magnavox name, runs through the end of 2018.

Polaroid
The once-venerable Polaroid name has become something of a cautionary licensing tale, at least as it pertains to TVs. In 2001, the genuine Polaroid declared bankruptcy but reorganized and licensed its brand to the Petters Group Worldwide, which bought the name outright in 2005. But Petters Group filed for bankruptcy protection three years later after an FBI investigation concluded the company was being run as a multi-billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. In 2009, a group of investors snapped up the Polaroid brand and launched a company called PLR IP Holdings, which now administers the licenses. The current U.S. licensee is Empire Electronics.

ProScan Once the premium sub-brand of RCA TVs, the ProScan name is owned by Technicolor, which controls RCA as well. The brand is currently licensed in North America by Curtis International, an Ontario, Canada, manufacturer and distributor of value-based consumer electronics products.

Quasar
Ask your grandfather about the Quasar name and he'll probably remember it fondly. This TV brand launched by Motorola was acquired by Matsushita (the parent company of Panasonic) in the '70s, but the little-used trademark expired in 2007. About three years ago, though, Panasonic re-registered it. And now, Quasar TVs can be found in a few retail outlets, including B&H Photo and BrandsMart.

RCA
One of the most significant consumer electronics brands in American history (the original company helped develop the NTSC standards for color televisions) is today owned by Technicolor. Over the past decade, the trademark, which stood for Radio Corporation of America, has gone through several TV licensees, including TCL a few years ago. But the U.S. brand is currently licensed to On Corporation, a Korean TV manufacturer.

Sanyo Two years ago, Panasonic agreed to license the Sanyo TV brand to Funai Electric. Today, Sanyo TVs seem to turn up mostly in Walmart stores, almost as a private label for the retailer.

Seiki Seiki, which gained some prominence in the U.S. by offering early 4K TV sets at very low prices, is another TV brand controlled by TongFang. (See Element and Westinghouse.)

Sharp No company did more to develop and commercialize LCD TV technology than Japan's Sharp Corporation. Despite owning one of the most advanced LCD plants in the world, the company yielded to market pressures here in the U.S. and decided last year to license its brand to Chinese TV manufacturer Hisense.

Toshiba Joining the growing list of Japanese TV manufacturers that have found the U.S. market too competitive, Toshiba pulled the plug on its U.S. TV business last year, licensing its brand to Taiwanese manufacturer Compal.

Westinghouse The Westinghouse TV brand, still controlled by a CBS subsidiary called Westinghouse Electric Corporation, is now part of TongFang Global's growing portfolio of TV brand names. The Chinese electronics manufacturer sells those Westinghouse-brand TVs through a subsidiary called Westinghouse Electronics. It acquired the rights to do that following the dissolution of prior licensee Westinghouse Digital.

Source: https://www.consumerreports.org/lcd-led-oled-tvs/tv-brands-arent-always-what-they-seem/