Domestic shipments of CRT-TV (cathode-ray tube television) sets plunged 19.7% year on year to 5,754,000 units in 2004 for the fourth straight year of decline because of the growing popularity of LCD TVs and plasma display panel TVs. While the top three companies saw their market shares rise, the fourth- and fifth-ranked firms suffered declines. Sharp ranked first with a 3.2% increase in market share to 19.8%, replacing last year's market leader Sony. Second-place Sony increased 1% to 17.8% on its strong brand name recognition, extensive product line-up, and low prices. Matsushita, whose market share grew 1.6% to 17.8%, was tied for second with Sony. The share of fourth-ranked Toshiba decreased 1.8% to 13.9% and that of fifth-placed Mitsubishi fell 2% to 9.0%, both due to high-end makers who tried to boost their share, and makers with expertise in lower-priced models, including Funai.

 

Japanese Cathode-Ray Tube Television Sets Shipment Share Ranking, 2004
Rank	Company	2004 Volume Share	Annual Growth of Share (Perc. Points)
1	Sharp	19.8%	3.2
2	Sony	17.8%	1.0
3	Matsushita	17.8%	1.6
4	Toshiba	13.9%	-1.8
5	Mitsubishi	9.0%	-2.0
Source: JEITA; compiled by MIC, August 2005