Time for a new TV set? Be an informed consumer, as things are not always what they seem. For example; Sharp televisions, considered at one time to be the leader in large format (70, 80 and 90″) sets as little as 2 years ago, made a corporate decision to exit the North American market in 2015. Hitachi and Panasonic had already realized that they could not be competitive in the Americas, and they simply stopped sending TV’s here. In the case of Sharp, they licenced their brand name to the Chinese company Hisense, who are attempting to gain a foothold in the North American marketplace.
Now, Hisense makes a decent TV, but it is NOT a Sharp TV from days gone by! This is not a new concept in the electronic business, many past stalwarts of the television industry have gone the way of Sharp. RCA, GE, Electrohome, are simply licensed brand names, manufactured by another company. So, in a nutshell, before making a sizeable investment in a new television for your family room, know what you are buying!