Seasonal first quarter decline takes toll on Philips, iSuppli says

Amid weak seasonal conditions for LCD TV sales in the first quarter, Philips Electronics posted the worst performance among the world’s top five brands, with a 26 percent slide in sales, causing it to fall to third place in the market, down from second in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to iSuppli.

Global LCD TV shipments declined to 13.99 million units in the first quarter, down 8 percent from 15.2 million in the fourth quarter. Such a first-quarter decline is typical following the peak holiday selling season in the fourth quarter.

All of the top five LCD TV brands suffered sequential declines in shipments during the first three months of the year. Philips of the Netherlands, however, fared the worst among these companies, with its shipments dropping to 1.7 million units, down from 2.3 million in the fourth quarter. Philips’ global LCD TV market share dropped to 12.2 percent in the first quarter, down from 15.1 percent in the fourth quarter.

Though Sony also underperformed the market in the first quarter with a 13.7 percent decline in shipments, it did much better than Philips, allowing the company to take the No. 2 position from its European rival.

Samsung held the top spot on the list with Sharp and LG Electronics occupying the fourth and fifth positions, respectively.

For more information, visit www.isuppli.com.