Meko Press Releases

LCD Market Stalls In Europe

DATE: 18^th September 2002
European monitor market research specialist Meko has just published its latest DisplayCast CRT and LCD reports. The new research indicates that European desktop monitor market volume declined by 20.9% quarter-on-quarter and by 2% year-on-year. The decrease matches the well-reported declines in the PC market. By technology, CRT unit sales fell by more than 20% year-on-year, reflecting the strong shift toward LCD monitors. As a result of the rise in LCD monitor pricing during the first two quarters of 2002, LCD monitor sales volumes declined sequentially for the first time. The total sales volume of LCD monitors in Europe was just under 1.9m units, down 15.9% compared to Q1 2002. year-on-year sales were up by more than 130%, reinforcing the technology's continuing popularity in the market.

"Underlying these top-level trends, we noticed that in some countries the LCD share of the market by volume also declined", commented Bob Raikes, Meko's managing director and head of market research. "For example, in France, Spain and the UK, the penetration rate went down quarter-on-quarter. In other territories where the adoption rate has historically been high, such as Switzerland, we saw a marked slow-down in the growth of the LCD sector", he added.

In Switzerland, LCDs have represented more than 50% of the market by volume since Q2 2001. In the same period in 2002, LCD share was 79.8% but in Q2 this rose only slightly to 82.2%. Other countries that experienced rapid take up of LCD monitors as a result of price reductions throughout 2001 have also seen a slow-down in growth. Italian monitor buyers were keen to take on the stylish new products at the end of last year but as prices have risen again, the cost conscious country has seen sales growth slow in Q2.

As a result of rising prices, the 15" segment has been particularly badly affected, with sales down more than 18% sequentially. LCD panel makers in the Far East have moved more production to larger screen sizes in order to keep average selling prices and margins as high as possible. However, prices for 17" LCD monitors have continued to fall as Samsung in Korea, and a number of Taiwanese panel makers, increased availability of this screen size. As a result, sales of 17" LCD monitors grew sequentially - the only category to do so. The lower prices and continued improvement in performance of 17" LCD monitors has caused buyers to move away from the 18" segment. Sales in this category fell by more than 29% sequentially and by only 82.8% year-on-year.

"A decrease in the number of large volume projects due to a slow-down in corporate spending, particularly in the UK, France and Germany, has also hampered sales of 18 inch LCD monitors", said Raikes. "It is only in some of the developing markets in the East of Europe that we saw growth in this category".

Another factor that helped to squeeze the 18" segment is the growing number of 19" LCD monitors that are available. "At the high end, the market is becoming increasingly complex, with many new screen size and resolution combinations. We believe that in the 19 inch category, monitors with a resolution of 1.9 megapixels (1600 x 1200) will win in the end because they increase the visual bandwidth for the user", Raikes said.

By vendor, the new HP was the largest supplier by volume in the LCD market, followed by Samsung, Dell, Philips and Fujitsu-Siemens. In the CRT sector, Samsung further extended its lead at the top of the table with a 17.4% share. The new HP moved up into second place, with Dell, LG and Philips below it.

The latest edition of Meko's Display CRT and LCD reports are available to existing subscribers now. For more information on becoming a subscriber to the reports, please contact Bob Raikes on +44 (0)1276 22677.

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Editorial notes:

A executive summary of the LCD and CRT reports is available to editors only, on request (see below for contact details). A graphic to accompany this release is also available on request.

For more information contact:

Bob Raikes
email: bobr@meko.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1276 22677

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