Only 1 in 5 PC Monitors Sold in Asia-Pacific is Traditional CRT, Says IDC

Sept 27, 2007 10:17 Nikkei Electronics Asia

According to IDC, the Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) PC monitor market totaled 25.9 million units in 1H 2007, representing an increase of 6.5% over 2H 2006, and a 22.5% over 1H 2006.

Almost all countries exhibited a growth in sales over 2H 2006, except HK, Taiwan and Vietnam due to seasonal factors. While total CRT sales continued falling, posting a 38% decline compared to 1H 2006, total LCD sales in 1H 2007 were 20.5 million units, a 23% increase over 2H 2006. Monitors bundled with a new branded desktop accounted for 44.3% of total monitor sales, while the standalone monitor market captured 55.7% of all monitor sales in 1H 2007.

"Despite the price hike of LCD monitors due to the higher panel costs, CRT-LCD migration continued to be seen in the developing countries, while the increasing popularity of larger wide-screen LCDs also led to another round of strong monitor replacement in 1H 2007," said Yoong Siat-Siah, senior analyst of Asia-Pacific Personal Systems Research at IDC. "The PRC, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam all posted a huge LCD uptake, with sequential growths ranging from 29% to 59%. However, Taiwan and HK's already high penetration of LCD monitors resulted in a saturation of growth in 1H 2007, and a decline over 2H 2006."

The top six PC monitor vendors contributed 61.1% of overall PC monitor sales in the APEJ region in 1H 2007, a slight increase from the 59.6% in 2H 2006. Among the top six vendors, four were standalone monitor vendors (Samsung, LG, ViewSonic and AOC), while two were PC vendors (Lenovo and HP).

In the LCD space, the 17-inch display remained the mainstream size; despite unit shipments falling 2.9% over 2H 2006 as several countries (Australia, Korea, New Zealand, the PRC and Taiwan) already saw the 19-inch size outselling the 17-inch in 1H 2007. Wide-screen LCDs accounted for 5.7% of all 17-inch sales in 1H 2007, compared to only 0.3% in 2H 2006.

The proportion of wide-screen LCDs in 1H 2007 reached 38.4% of total LCDs, an increase of 22 percentage-points over 2H 2006. The huge growth was also due to more players launching wide-screen LCDs in smaller sizes (15W and 17W) to capture the CRT market, especially in developing countries. In the commercial market, although the acceptance of wide-screen monitors is still relatively low, it is still growing due to the surge of wide-screen notebooks in the corporate environment, which also heralds a change in the mindset of IT managers.

As Reuben Tan, research manager of IDC's Asia-Pacific Personal Systems Research, noted, "A significant portion of larger wide-screen LCD buyers are upgrading from a first-generation LCD monitor (thicker bezel, smaller screen), and not just from the CRT form factor. Such LCD-LCD upgrades resulted in the sustained growth of LCD volumes across the region, where this growth exceeds the decline in CRT sales."

IDC expects total PC monitor sales this year in almost every country to post a growth over 2006, except for a dip in HK, and a flat showing in Korea. Other matured markets such as Australia, Singapore and Taiwan are expected to continue growing in 2007 over the previous year, and developing markets such as the PRC, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam will post the strongest growth this year.

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