Samsung increased its market share to 18.4 per cent for 2009, while Vizio surged to 16.8 per cent, which is up from 12.6 per cent a year earlier.

In contrast, Sony reported a 1 per cent decline in shipments, with the Japanese company only being able to hold onto 10.3 per cent market share, which is down from 12.8 per cent a year ealier.

Vizio, which started off selling plasma TVs, achieved a 92 per cent increase in LCD sales to 5.9 million, topping Samsung's 5.6 million. Vizio's LCD market share in the U.S. was 18.7 per cent.

iSuppli reported that Samsung sold 6.6 million units in 2009, a market share of 18.4 per cent. The number marked a 22.6 per cent increase from the same time last year.

"Samsung maintained its overall leadership in the U.S. flat panel television market due to the continued success of the LED-backlit LCD TVs and its strong price competitiveness in both value and premium TV segments," Riddhi Patel, director of television systems and retail services for iSuppli, said as part of the announcement.

In Australia Sony Bravia TV sales slipped 35 per cent according to week 5 of 2010 GFK sales data. Sony had 15 per cent of the market while Samsung had 30.5 per cent.