Once unheard-of LCD-TV maker Vizio held on to its title as North American market leader in the third quarter, fending off a strong market-share advance by one-time leader Samsung Electronics, a market research firm said Tuesday.

California-based Vizio accounted for 13% of LCD-TV shipments, down slightly from 13.7% in the second quarter, iSuppli said. Despite the drop, Vizio managed to stay a 0.2 percentage point ahead of Samsung of South Korea. Vizio had led Samsung by 2.9 percentage points in the second quarter.

Samsung came on strong in the third quarter, increasing its share to 12.8% from 10.8% in the previous quarter. But the comeback through new model introductions for the holiday season wasn't enough to beat Vizio's success through a combination of low-cost products and high-profile sales channels, iSuppli analyst Riddhi Patel said.

"The addition of a prominent sales campaign has helped Vizio to establish itself firmly in the awareness of North American consumers," Patel said in a statement.

Vizio surged to the top of the North American market in the second quarter, toppling Samsung and passing by other well-known brand names including Philips, Sharp and Sony. Competitors, however, are striking back, with all the top six brands increasing market share in the third quarter while Vizio's declined.

Other brands have increased promotions in answer to Vizio's charge. To support anticipated sales over the holiday season, most major manufacturers have increased inventories to the five- to seven-week level, thus the boost in shipments in the third quarter. Vizio still maintains three to four weeks of inventory at its retail channels.

Rounding out the top six LCD TV vendors are Sharp, with 12% of the market; Sony, 10.1%; Polaroid, 9.1%; and Philips, 9%, iSuppli said.

Competition is expected to intensify as major brands battle for control in the marquee North American LCD-TV market, iSuppli said. Sales are expected to be strong in the fourth quarter. Besides being the peak shopping time, the holiday season traditionally offers consumers the best deals.

In addition, the softness in the U.S. economy is expected to motivate manufacturers to offer additional discounts to promote their brands.

Sales trends indicate LCD TVs are the future champions of the worldwide television market, gradually pushing other technologies to the sidelines, according to iSuppli. While CRT TVs are still the market leaders today, their dominance is expected to slip to declining prices for large-screen LCD TVs, which also surpass other flat-screen technologies in sales. Those include plasma screens.