Vizio sues Funai for patent infringement, seeks to stop TV imports
by Richard Lawler, posted May 20th 2009 at 9:34PM 
funai posts
Flat-panel TV sales jump 23% over last year, Vizio leads the way
We'd already heard that Vizio has vaulted back into first place among LCD TV manufacturers, but a new series of numbers compiled by the folks at DisplaySearch is now shedding a bit more light onto how much the flat-panel TV market as a whole has surged over the past year. Apparently, about 7.2 million flat-panel sets were moved during the first quarter of 2009 alone, which represents a sizable 23% increase over the numbers from the first quarter of 2008. DisplaySearch also expectedly reconfirms Vizio's number one status, although its figures are a tad more conservative and peg Vizio's market share at a still impressive 18.9% (as opposed to the 21.6% found by iSupply), which is well above the 8.5% earned by the likes of rival Funai (producer of TVs for Sylvania, Emerson and other low-cost brands). As you might expect, higher-end brands like Sony and Samsung weren't as able to buck the economic downturn quite so easily, and they actually saw their sales decrease compared to the same period last year.
Funai wins order blocking Vizio imports, Vizio maintains business as usual
by Richard Lawler, posted Apr 10th 2009 at 5:14PM
Just when it looked like the long-running patent dispute was tipping Vizio's way, the U.S. International Trade Commission has ruled in favor of Funai, issuing an order to block imports of Vizio HDTVs. According to Bloomberg the ban is still eligible to be reviewed by President Obama while the patent case itself is still being reviewed by an appeals court, but if Vizio wants to keep its shipments flowing it will have to post a bond of $2.50 per television. We've put a call in to Vizio to find out what this means for its immediate future -- and that sweet LED backlit display from CES -- and confirmed that while this order goes into effect immediately, you should still be able to find sets on shelves and they will continue to do business as usual during the presidential review period, but feel free to read its press release in response after the break for more details.USPTO issues final rejection of Funai's patent, VIZIO celebrates
VIZIO looks to FCC to slap Funai's hand
VIZIO files antitrust and unfair competition lawsuit against Funai
[Image courtesy of TooMuchNick / WireImage]
Magnavox NB530MGX Blu-ray player shows up in the wild
Philips revamps Blu-ray lineup with three new players
In all the announcements at CES we somehow managed to miss these new Blu-ray products from Funai Philips. The three new players consist of two that can do BD Live and the entry level BDP-3010 which is still profile 1.1. Both the BDP-5010 and the BDP-7310 have an SD slot for BD Live, but the higher model includes a 1GB SD card. The 7310 will also include support for more audio codecs as well as AVCHD and DivX. Both the 3010 and 5010 will be available in April for $229 and $249, while the 7310 is expected in May for $299.
Funai to acquire Philips' North American Blu-ray / DVD operations
Funai planning tru2way dual-tuner DVR / set-top-box
Check it, timeshifters. Funai is about to make a serious play in the advanced DVR space at CES next month, as word has arrived that it will be showing off a "combined DVR / tru2way set-top-box" in Las Vegas. For those unaware, Funai is the company behind Sylvania, Magnavox, Philco, Symphonic, and Emerson, and if all goes to plan (read: if CableLabs gives the green light), it should start mass production on said boxes in Q3 of next year. At least initially, these two-way-enabled devices will be sold via "retail outlets and MSO partners," but it's going to wait and witness demand before moving the tru2way technology directly into its TV sets. Of note, there are also whispers of a tru2way-enabled BD player somewhere down the line from these guys, and we don't suppose we have to detail our inner excitement on that one.Philips and Magnavox brands licensed to Funai
Magnavox Blu-ray player to be $128 at Walmart on Black Friday
[Via DVICE]
Funai sees operating income jump on sales of BD decks, DTV converter boxes
So, apparently sales of Blu-ray players and DTV converter boxes are on the up and up now that the format war is over and the DTV transition is quickly approaching in the USA -- who would've thunk it? According to reports, Funai's latest quarter saw an operating income increase of 108.8%, and it didn't hesitate to thank sales of Blu-ray players and DTV converters for such a surge. The outfit also proclaimed that sales of CRT TVs and DVD decks were down, and even though the boost from converter boxes will be short lived, it's hoping a deeper adoption of BD and sales of Philips-branded LCD TVs will compensate in 2009. Godspeed, we say.[Via VideoBusiness]
Funai's DivX-compatible B1-M110 Blu-ray player gets outed
Aw yeah, we dig where this is headed. Funai, best known for pumping out inexpensive wares under a variety of brand names, is evidently aiming to push its second Blu-ray player onto the market this October. Slated to launch initially in October in Europe, the B1-M110 will support DivX and, well, who knows what else. Oddly enough, the deck was actually outed courtesy of DivX, thus, we've no other specifications to mull over just yet. With the Insignia NS-BRDVD falling to $229, we can only hope that this unit becomes the first (or second, or third) to smash the $200 barrier.[Thanks, Anthony]
Digital Security Systems files patent infringement suit against major Blu-ray players
[Via FormatWarCentral]
