The issue is that to remain competitive in the market they have had to drop prices as competitors such as Vizio have stepped up with displays which are inexpensive and look very good. While people may be willing to pay a few hundred bucks more for a Panasonic or Sony, they rarely are willing to pay $1,000 more. What I'm not sure of is if Samasung is also losing money on TVs, because they definitely have some outstanding looking displays.
So, if Samsung makes a profit and has great looking displays, then that's where the bar is set. If Sony, Panasonic, and others can't beat their price, and only look marginally better, then they will be in trouble on sales.
Pioneer, is a prime example of this. As expensive as their TVs were, they still lost millions of dollars every year from their TV manufacturing division, and this is what ended up killing that brand.