EL SEGUNDO, CA – After six months of domination by the once unknown brand Vizio Inc., the North American LCD-TV market in the fourth quarter saw the return of more established names to the top sales ranks, says iSuppli Corp.

For the quarter, LCD-TV shipments in North America rose 41% sequentially to 7.9 million units. Plasma set demand rose 36% to 1.3 million units.

Samsung Electronics became the No. 1 seller of LCD-TVs in North America, with its unit shipment market share rising to 14.2%, up from 12.8% in the third quarter. The company was ranked No. 2 in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Sony increased its share to 12.5% in the fourth quarter, up from 10.8% sequentially, good for the No. 2 spot in North America, up from No. 4 during the previous quarter, says the research firm.

Vizio, which had shocked the North American television market with its rise to No. 1 in the second and third quarters, fell to third with a 12.4%, down from 13% sequentially.

Vizio had risen to the top spot because of a combination of low pricing and high visibility sales channels. However, Samsung and Sony struck back in the fourth quarter, according to iSuppli.

“Samsung and Sony employed very aggressive pricing and promotion strategies to take advantage of the key holiday buying season,” said Riddhi Patel, principal analyst, television systems for iSuppli.

He added, “Consumers in the television industry are not as brand conscious as they once were, as evidenced by the popularity of Vizio,” Patel said. “However, when the difference in pricing between a value-brand television and a premium-brand set is within the 10% range, consumers often will go for the premium brand.”

Panasonic padded its dominance of the plasma market with a share of 37.1%, a 9.