Strong holiday sales made Vizio the second best selling flat panel TV brand in the U.S, new research shows.

Samsung remains the top-seller, followed by Vizio, Sony and Panasonic.

“The demand for Vizio products has never been stronger,” stated Laynie Newsome, Vizio Co-Founder and VP Sales & Marketing Communications. “Even during times when tier one competitors drop their prices (and lose millions of dollars in the process) the American Consumer clearly recognizes Vizio as a preferred consumer electronics brand.”

The news comes on the heels of Vizio’s decision to stop manufacturing plasma TVs. Pioneer is leaving the TV market completely.

“The current sales environment is obviously difficult for all television makers due to the slowdown in consumer spending; retaining position and achieving growth in these challenging times is an accomplishment,” says Riddhi Patel, principal analyst at research firm iSuppli.

Vizio increased holiday sales (November 24 - December 31) by 52 percent over 2007 levels.

Vizio also fared fairly well in a couple of recent HDTV reliability studies.