Big-name flat-panel TVs face shortages

TOKYO — Makers of slim TVs are struggling with higher inventories, but the extent of the problem depends on each company’s position in the market: Smaller names are facing a glut of flat-panel screens while most of the top players say they’re playing catch-up to avoid shortages.

The contrasting fates underline how some companies have successfully jockeyed to gain an edge in liquid-crystal-display TVs by strengthening their brands and exercising control over the production of flat panels used in their sets.

Both brand and control over production helped when this summer’s World Cup failed to generate as much demand as had been expected. Electronics makers had timed the introduction of new sets to the matches, and retailers launched aggressive campaigns to sell new TVs.

Sony Corp. and Sharp Corp. of Japan as well as South Korea’s Samsung Electronics fared well while AU Optronics Corp. of Taiwan and LG Electronics of South Korea struggled. The Netherlands’ Royal Philips Electronics NV, which has an LCD panel partnership with LG, also stumbled.

“There were winners and losers, depending on the manufacturer,” said Yoshio Tamura, senior vice president of the research firm DisplaySearch Japan.

Tamura pointed to Sony, Sharp and Samsung as examples of companies that have greater control over the panels that are a key — and very expensive — component of a TV set. They can raise or lower production to meet demand as well as fine-tune their sets to offer more fashionable features.

Those high-end features also reinforce the brand and allow the big names to charge higher prices.

“What it boils down to is brand power,” said Toshiaki Nishimura, senior analyst at Yasuda Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, adding that TVs such as Sharp’s Aquos and Sony’s Bravia command greater global respect than those from Philips and other manufacturers.

Despite the World Cup woes, analysts expect about 40 million LCDs to ship this year.

Although prices are dropping on flat-panel TVs, they’re still steep compared with the cathode-ray-tube models. And buyers spending a couple of thousand of dollars on a 40-inch or larger TV, aren’t about to snatch up just anything, said Mikio Katayama, who oversees Sharp’s LCD business.

Samsung and Sony, which have an LCD-making joint venture, are also expanding production in the fall of next year. They will be boosting production of 50-inch TVs that will be sold under both the Samsung and Sony names.

It’s another story for lesser-known brands.

Last month, Philips reported a 69 percent plunge in earnings for the quarter through June, blaming poor performance at its LCD joint venture with LG. Europe’s largest consumer-electronics maker said the business had problems selling panels to other manufacturers that aren’t part of the big-four brands.