This phenomenon is not specific to South Korea - in October 2011, IHS iSuppli tracked 52 branded models available in the US from retailer Best Buy, 23 under the Dynex brand and 29 under the Insignia brand. Currently Best Buy offers a wider range of TVs than the South Korean retailers, emphasising both the extra financial power of the company and its head start in selling its own branded TVs. Of the Insignia and Dynex TVs on offer in October 2011, both plasma and LCD TVs were available, with sizes ranging between 15 and 55 inches, including some IETV models. To make a broad comparison, the average price of a 32-inch TV available from Best Buy brands in October 2011 was $364 (though it is worth noting that not all of these offers were LED backlit), whilst the average sales price of a 32-inch LCD TV on offer in the USA was $521.

In the case of these "self-branded" TVs, the prices are kept low by limiting the range of models imported direct from OEMS to those with a large economy of scale (32-inch TVs were the most shipped category for LCD TVs in 2011, comprising 38 per cent of the market) and by cutting back on some specifications, such as frequency, brightness and contrast ratio. The strategy here is clear - to target consumers who want an affordable, reasonably large flat-panel TV for the living room, but are not so bothered by all the technical capabilities of the TV. But how much of the market does that comprise? Exact specifics are difficult to state, but according to the IHS iSuppli US TV Consumer preference survey, of all US consumers who purchased new TVs in Q3 2011, 66% were motivated by price and 46% were motivated by screen size. Comparing this to technological features, such as LED, 3D and IETVs (which polled in at 19%, 15% and 14% respectively), we can see that some strong evidence supporting the focus on size and price.