• Brandweek, Tuesday, September 4, 2007 11:15 AM

While the various manufacturers of high-definition TV sets have long claimed superiority over each other in their pricy ad campaigns, many of the top brands are pretty much the same -- with almost all the target of recent patent infringement litigation.

One thing to come out of this expensive legal morass is that many components for rival brands are made by the same people at the same factories. These "copycat" aspects are being revealed by suits including one against Samsung by Sharp Electronics, which wants some Samsung products yanked from store shelves, while the company also sues HannStar Display, a Taiwanese firm over patent violations.

"I don't think people realize there probably isn't as much difference between premium and value brands as you might think," says technology analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif. "The one major difference is premium brands carry a lot better margins."

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