Plasma display sales reach new record level

Austin (TX) - Market research firm DisplaySearch said shipments of plasma display panels (PDP) surged 98 percent to 1.2 million panels in the fourth quarter of 2004. The growth is attributed to strong holiday and Super Bowl demand as well as falling prices for flat-panel TVs and HDTVs.

According to the report released Monday, the 42 and 43" segment continued to be the most popular PDP space with a worldwide market share that increased 73 percent in the third quarter of 2004 to 76 percent in the fourth. Displays smaller than 40 inches gave up two percentage points in the same time frame and now represent eleven percent of the market. PDPs with sizes of at least 46 inches were stable at 13 percent.

54 percent of all 480p PDPs sold in the fourth quarter were 42 inch displays. Four out of five PDP TVs sold in Japan offer HD compatibility while only four out of ten PDP TVs sold in North America and Europe are HD capable. As a result, HD PDP modules fell from a 42 percent to a 41 percent share in the fourth quarter, DisplaySearch said.

By size, Fujitsu-Hitachi Plasma (FHP) led shipments of 32", 37" HD, 42", 43" HD and 55" segments, according to the market research firm. Matsushita was first in production of 37" 480p, Samsung SDI led at 42" 480p, Pioneer led at 50", and LGE led at 60-65", DisplaySearch said.

More than half of all PDPs originated for the first time from Korea and came in at 52 percent in the fourth quarter. Samsung gave up its pole position to LGE as largest manufacturer on a revenue basis, due to LGE’s emphasis on higher resolutions and larger sizes of PDPs.