LCD market grows despite shortages

The Australian monitor market grew by 20.7 percent in Q1 over Q4, 2003 despite LCD panel shortages, according to researcher IDC.

Michael Sager, market analyst at IDC Australia said the strength of the post Y2K refresh was continuing to help the monitor market grow.

'This growth should continue through to the end of the financial year during the second quarter,' he said.

IDC found that LCD share of the market has increased to a ratio of 53/47 LCD to CRT. The growth is even more evident in the branded market where the ratio is 55/45. This is in the face of shortages in LCD panels over the period.
 
Sager cited the main causes for the shortage to be from an increased demand for notebooks, LCD TVs and the overall growth of the LCD market creating a larger than forecast demand for LCD panels from factories in Korea and Taiwan.

The effect has been more prevalent in OEM market and has helped increase branded share by 2.6 percent of the total market on its way to 54.4 percent for the quarter.

Lisa Coggan, product manager for multimedia displays at Philips, said the vendor had experienced 'surprising' growth in the LCD segment, increasing 30 percent over Q4, 2003.

However, Sager was reserved about continuing growth saying the future of the monitor market was not as positive as the growth experienced over the past five quarters.

'Growth in notebook sales and the longer lifespan of LCD displays will cannibalise the potential monitor market sales.'

Coggan was more confident though, highlighting that size upgrades would drive future sales.

By vendor, LG captured the number one spot in the total monitor market with a 17.8 percent share, followed by Samsung (16.4 percent) and Philips (11.9 percent). Mitsubishi (11.6 percent) and BenQ (11.3 percent) rounded out the top five.

In the LCD market, Samsung captured the top spot with a 20.9 percent share, BenQ came second with 15.7 percent and LG third with 11.7 percent of the market. Mitsubishi was fourth (10.6 percent) and Viewsonic fifth (8.3 percent).