Flat Panel, Thin Margins

Like just about everyone else checking out the flat-panel TVs at Best Buy in Manhattan, graphic designer Roy Gantt came in coveting a Philips (PHG), Sony (SNE), or Panasonic (MC). But after seeing the price tags, he figured a Westinghouse might be a better buy. At $800, the Westinghouse 32-in. set seems like a steal compared with $950 to $1,400 for better-known brands. Plus, the name sounds comfortingly familiar. "I think they make home appliances—things like that," says Gantt.

He's right, but that's a different Westinghouse. In fact, the name didn't appear on U.S. TVs for more than three decades. Then in 2003, a startup founded by two Taiwanese-American entrepreneurs licensed the brand and distinctive W logo from CBS Corp. (CBS) subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Corp. Today, Westinghouse Digital ranks No. 5 in liquid-crystal-display TVs in North America, with 7.7% of the market, according to researcher iSuppli Corp. But it is just one of more than 100 flat-panel brands jamming the aisles of retailers such as Best Buy (BBY), Target (TGT), and Costco (COST). The names on the sets range from the obscure (Sceptre, Maxent) to the recycled (Polaroid).