LCDs account for three out of four monitors sold

Chicago (IL) - Increasing availability and falling prices have made LCDs the desktop monitor technology of choice over recent years. According to a report released by DisplaySearch, 2005 shipments of LCDs have grown 54% in 2005. LCDs currently outsell traditional CRT monitors at a 3:1 pace.

Despite concerns of glass substrate shortages and price hikes especially for the 17" segment of LCD monitors, LCD manufacturers posted yet another record year in 2005 and doubled their production volumes since 2003. According to DisplaySearch, 106.2 million LCDs were shipped in 2005.

Throughout the year, the segment posted continuous and strong growth from quarter to quarter. In the first quarter, LCDs were estimated to have landed at a 56.2% market share, while CRTs came in at 36.4%. By year-end, LCDs commanded a 74.1% share, pushing CRTs down to 24.7% (the remaining 1.2% are held by LCD PCs). In Q4, manufacturers shipped a total of 28.4 million desktop LCDs, according to DisplaySearch.

Dell currently has the upper hand on the segment, in North America and worldwide. The command is estimated by the market research firm to hold a market share of 35.4% and 17.1%, respectively. A solid second is Samsung with a global share of 11.5% (11.3% in North America), with HP following in third place (8.6% and 5.2%). However, both Samsung and HP were outgrowing Dell in the second and third quarter of 2005 on a worldwide basis. While Dell posted just a 1.4% increase from quarter to quarter, Samsung, HP and Aver achieved 26.6%, 10.2% and 20.8%, respectively. In the US, the fastest growing brands were HP (+21.2%) and Acer (+25.0%).

According to Chris Connery, vice president of desktop monitor market research at DisplaySearch, the LCD market showed was driven by continued price declines, even if a shortage in resource materials caused a slight movement up in Q1 and Q2 of 2005. These declines caused a sharp discrepancy in shipment and revenue growth : While shipments were up 54%, revenues increased by just 18%, Connery said.

17" monitors remain the most popular LCD segment, with 19" LCDs showing the biggest growth. According to Connery, 2006 and beyond will reveal an increasing focus on wide-screen technology, even if the segment accounted for only 2.9% of LCDs sold in 2005 and is expected to reach just 19% in 2009. Wide-screen is a supply-side driven segment that simply exists because of the growing popularity of wide-screen notebooks as well as the fact that there are several new LCD plants out there that focus on the production of LCD TV panels and also produce desktop LCDs with similar display ratios.

Wide-screen LCDs are not expected to replace 19" LCDs as the fastest desktop LCD segment, but 2006 and especially 2007 will bring many new models in the 19" (1440x900 pixel) and 20" 21" (1680x1050 pixel) as well as 23" and 24" models. Especially Windows Vista could be a growth driver for these screens, as it will bring a "resolution independence" feature that will eliminate the need for users to install new graphics drivers to support the new resolutions.

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