The bold expectation from analysts that the cellphone industry will be able to ship about 1 billion phones this appears to have been too conservative after all: According to a report released by market research firm Displaysearch, display manufacturers shipped about 274.6 million main cellphone displays in the traditionally weak first quarter of the year. Compared to Q1 of 2005, shipments are up 43%.

In terms of technology, a-Si displays represent the majority of cellphone displays with a share of 50.9%, followed by CSTN displays (22.8%) and p-Si units (22.5%). Samsung continues to dominate the segment with 45.9 million displays shipped and a market share of 16.7%. Sanyo Epson came in second with 36.8 million displays and a share of 13.4%, followed by Philips with 34.6 million displays and 12.6% market share.