DisplaySearch Forecasts Flat Panel Market Size Over $100B In 2007 And TFT LCD Market Over $100B In 2008 On Strong Demand, Tight Supply And Emerging OLED Products

October 4, 2007

DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting, has released the Q3'07 Quarterly Worldwide Flat Panel Forecast Report database indicating that flat panel display (FPD) revenues increased 15% Q/Q and 16% Y/Y to 24.2B in Q2'07. TFT LCD technologies generated 90.1% of this revenue with sales rising 18% Q/Q and 24% Y/Y to $21.8B. PDP technology generated 4.8% of FPD sales, but PDP revenue fell 14% Q/Q and 36% Y/Y to $1.2B for the quarter. OLED technologies generated 0.5% of FPD sales with revenue growth of 13% Y/Y to $0.1B. For 2007, DisplaySearch expects OLED revenues will exceed $0.7B. For 2008, DisplaySearch predicts OLED sales could more than double to $1.7B. The report predicts that PDP sales will stay flat from 2007 to 2008 as price decreases offset shipment increases. DisplaySearch forecasts TFT LCD revenues will rise 14% from $90.7B in 2007 to $103.9B in 2008, putting TFT LCD over the $100B mark for the first time. The report indicates total FPD sales will grow 12% from $90.9B in 2006 to $101.9B in 2007 and then grow 13% more to $115.4B in 2008. In contrast, the report showed sales of CRT technologies will fall 32% from $7.5B in 2006 to $5.1B in 2007 and then fall another 21% to $4.0B in 2008 as displays go from fat to flat. "The visual impact of organic LED displays has always been exciting, and now they are going into real products, even an 11" TV set," according to David Barnes, VP of Strategic Analysis at DisplaySearch. "The OLED industry has a lot of infrastructure to develop, however. OLED will not challenge LCD TV in the mid term. Despite this, the delay of a single mobile phone product launch can affect our forecast. The OLED business will grow product by product over the coming years. The good news for producers is that OLED is selling at a premium to TFT LCD as supplies remain tight," he explained. Most sales growth came from LCD TV panels and mobile phone panels. In the PC world, the report shows PC monitor panel sales leveling out and then declining as the market matures, but it shows continued growth for notebook PC panel revenues. Shipments of LCD TV panels rose 32% Q/Q and 64% Y/Y to 19.4M units in Q2'07. The average unit price for LCD TV panels fell 3% Q/Q and 16% Y/Y. Shipments of PDP TV panels increased 1% Q/Q but decreased 3% Y/Y to 2.2M units. The PDP price fell 14% Q/Q and 35% Y/Y. Shipments of mobile phone panels fell 2% Q/Q and were flat Y/Y at 333.3M units, while the unit price fell 4% Q/Q and 15% Y/Y. Shipments of PC monitor panels rose 21% Q/Q and 46% Y/Y to 46.5M units. Notebook PC panel shipments grew more slowly at 18% Q/Q and 49% Y/Y to 27.0M units in Q2'07. ASPs for monitor and notebook panels declined less than usual on strong demand, falling 3% and 11%, respectively, from Q2'06. The following table shows the revenue share and growth of the leading FPD technologies relative to all displays and to the flat panel market. The report segments 21 technologies and 44 end-product markets by sales, shipments and prices from 2005 through 2011.

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