Six out of ten notebooks shipped in the second quarter of this year integrated a wide-aspect ratio screen, according to a report released today by Displaysearch. The penetration of widescreens appear to be especially high in the U.S. : Retail stores are reporting that up to 98% of their sales are widescreen notebooks, the market research firm said. Large corporations are slower to adopt the new technology, which can be attributed to legacy compatibility requirements and general PC refresh cycles.

Displaysearch said that one of the most important contributors to this trend is pricing : While wide LCD notebook PC panels once commanded "substantial premiums" over standard aspect ratio (4:3) displays, "prices for wide panels are now on par with standard panels, thanks to improved manufacturing efficiencies." The most popular wide sizes are in the 14.x" and 15.x" size segments with 15.4" accounting for a market leading 34% share of Q2 2006 shipments on a global basis. 15" displays are in 15% of all widescreen notebooks, 14.1" in 23% and 17" in 4%.