The Japanese entertainment and electronics conglomerate reported a net loss of ¥159 billion ($2.09 billion) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a net profit of ¥72.3 billion in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell 17% to ¥1.822 trillion during the quarter.

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Samsung, the world’s biggest maker of flat panels, memory chips and flat-screen televisions, and the world’s second-largest handset maker after Nokia Corp., said it estimates fourth-quarter operating profit of between 5.0 trillion won ($4.3 billion) and 5.4 trillion won.

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Sony, a consumer electronics bellwether for Japan and maker of iconic products like the Walkman music player, recorded a net loss of ¥15.5 billion ($198.7 million) in the quarter ended June. That compared with a net profit of ¥25.7 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Operating profit for the quarter was sliced by more than half to ¥27.5 billion from ¥67.02 billion a year earlier. Revenue declined about 10% to ¥1.49 trillion from ¥1.66 trillion.

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The inventory build-up of liquid crystal display televisions is the result of a surge in production by global TV makers this year following a period of reduced output in the aftermath of the financial crisis, when consumer spending plunged. The flood of new models has heaped additional pressure on TV prices, which routinely experience 20 to 30 percent price declines annually.

The build-up has filtered down the supply chain. The market for large-sized LCD panels, which was experiencing shortages several months ago, has now swung in the opposite direction, forcing panel makers to scale back output and slash prices to clear out inventory.

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Industry bellwether Best Buy Co. said Tuesday that revenues grew and earnings quadrupled for its third quarter ending in November, citing higher sales of inexpensive netbook computers and smaller flat-panel televisions. But even Best Buy (BBY), the nation’s largest electronics chain by sales, is feeling the pinch of gadget deflation.

The Richfield, Minn., retailer warned that its fourth-quarter profits as a percentage of revenue could disappoint because buyers are gravitating to less expensive electronics that offer slim profits. Its shares tumbled 8.5 percent, or $3.84, to $41.53 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange trading, after hitting a 52-week high on Monday.

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But according to Scott Birnbaum, vice president of Samsung’s LCD unit, its sales are benefiting from “vidification,” a term he uses to describe consumers trying to create a big-screen experience at home.

“When you went to the movie theater, you had this incredible picture and sound,” he says, and makers of televisions, PCs and even cellphones are all looking for ways to offer a similar viewing environment.

For PCs, manufacturers are quickly adopting a 16:9 aspect ratio, the length-to-height ratio that has been a standard for HD television screens, Mr. Birnbaum says. That means that laptops are becoming less boxy and more like wide-format TV screens, a trend that computer makers have capitalized on to goose sales. When one of these laptops is side-by-side with an older model, he says, “people are gravitating to the new format very quickly.”

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The evidence suggest that people’s views on devices such as televisions, notebook computers and mobile phones are changing, says Shawn DuBravac, economist for the Consumer Electronics Association. Through November of 2008, 17.22 percent of total durable good purchases were tech goods, the highest share in 50 years, he says.

“While these are typically discretionary purchases, consumers are treating them like nondiscretionary purchases,” says Mr. DuBravac.

That doesn’t mean that consumers aren’t making cutbacks. In fact, in many categories, consumers seem to be gravitating toward lower-priced items for varying reasons. For example, coming out of the 2007 holiday season, nearly 50 percent of all flat panel sales were over 40 inches. Today, Mr. DuBravac says, that numbers stands closer to 35 percent.

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