The following is a list of the major players, by geographical region, in the flat-panel TV industry. This is a supplement to the article that appears in the Fall 2005 issue of Digital TV & Sound magazine.

China, Inc. In mainland China today, most manufacturers focus on selling the product for the lowest price possible while still squarely hitting the main feature requirements. In flat-panel TVs, this means an attractive, simple design with a straightforward on-screen display. The overall quality of the box and the build is fair––but remember, the main point is to be the least expensive product on the market. Chinese companies tend not to worry too much about minor technical flaws. And after the sale, service organizations may be a bit skimpy.  For example, companies such as Xoceco, Shinco,  and Konka don’t usually sell their TVs under their own name. They re-sell to companies that are primarily marketing organizations that study the target market. Usually, these marketing companies have relatively high-level specification requirements. They often leave the choice of video processing chips and display devices to the OEM.

Taiwan, Inc. Many companies in Taiwan have a similar style to companies in mainland China. There is often a strong focus on video quality, industrial design, on-screen display, and innovation. This is probably due to the close working relationships with Japanese and U.S. vendors. Japanese consumer equipment manufacturing companies typically demand the highest possible quality even if they are not making the TV themselves. This is reflected in the way that Taiwanese companies operate.

Often times, a Taiwanese company will develop a TV on spec. That is, they will identify some key feature that they believe is compelling and design a TV around it. Once the system is complete, they will shop it to various Japanese TV makers. If a Japanese TV manufacturer picks up the design, it is usually tweaked to give the TV the personality that the Japanese firm desires. Typically, this is kept to a minimum. Other times, a Japanese TV manufacturer will go to Taiwan and select a TV manufacturing house. Together, the Japanese company and the Taiwanese company will develop the TV. The Japanese TV manufacturer supplies the overall know-how––usually one or two engineers that manage the project while the Taiwanese company provides the dozens of engineers it takes to design and manufacture the various subsystems needed in complex flat-panel designs. In a third business model, a large Taiwanese manufacturing company will design a TV in Taiwan, and then manufacture it in China. This may be an independent design, or it may be for a Japanese or American firm. There are numerous Taiwanese companies trying to break into the U.S. markets such as, Tatung, LiteON, BenQ, and Quanta.

Korea, Inc. Samsung and LG control everything in Korea’s TV market. These enormous companies have equally large partners. LG is partnered closely with Philips, while Samsung is often partnered with Sony. Samsung and LG account for a large portion of the PDP and LCD panels that are manufactured today. However, the Taiwanese companies are close behind. Korean companies strive to make high quality systems––often with equally high price tags. As you well know, these companies have a large presence in the United States already. In Korea, there are a number of small design houses as well. These are usually tiny spin-offs from the two main behemoths. Korean systems can often go toe-to-toe with the best TVs in the world.

Japan, Inc. The bulk of the know-how to build flat-panel TVs is still in Japan. The highest quality systems tend to come from Japan, but tend to be expensive as well. These TVs often have an MSRP of $10,000 and go up from there as far as the eye can see.

However, most (if not all) of the mid to low-end systems are manufactured in Taiwan or China. These contract TVs are based on Japanese designs, though, and the projects are typically managed by Japanese project managers.

Europe
In Europe, there are many design houses. In fact, the largest TV company in the world is TTE, a French consortium consisting of Thomson (France) and TCL (China). Philips designs and builds its high-end systems in Europe, too. Most of the manufacturing for European companies is done in Asia. However, a considerable amount of the development and manufacturing is done in Turkey.

America
Sadly, there is no real television design or original equipment manufacturing (excluding assembly) occurring in the United States.