DisplaySearch’s World-Class Analysts To Speak On The Display Supply Chain’s Hottest Topics At DisplaySearch’s Tenth Annual US FPD Conference

[The following is a release from DisplaySearch]

March 5, 2008

At its upcoming US FPD Conference, DisplaySearch’s world-class analyst team will present the latest results, insights, forecasts and outlook for the display supply chain’s leading and emerging market segments and display technologies including TVs, desktop monitors, notebooks, mobile phones, digital signage, mobile phones, numerous other handheld products, flexible displays, touchscreens, TFT LCD manufacturing equipment, TFT LCD materials, TFT LCDs, plasma, OLEDs and more. “DisplaySearch analysts are known for their vast amount of insight and knowledge for their respected market segments. Their presentations at the US FPD Conference will provide a closer look at these sectors. Attendees will have access to tens of thousands of dollars worth of market data and insight from their presentations at this year’s conference,” noted Ross Young, DisplaySearch Founder & Chief Research Officer. Analysts presenting at this year’s conference include Ross Young, Founder & Chief Research Officer Paul Gagnon, Director of North American TV Research Chris Connery, Vice President of the PC and Large Format Commercial Display Market Research Group John Jacobs, Director of Notebook Market Research Chris Crotty, Director of Small and Medium Displays Research Charles Annis, Vice President of Manufacturing Research David Barnes, Vice President of Strategic Analysis Barry Young, Senior Advisor & Consultant Here’s a glimpse of some of the analysts’ presentations: “Flat Panel Display Market and Profitability Outlook - Smooth Sailing or Rough Seas?” Ross Young, Founder & Chief Research Officer Ross Young will start the industry outlook session by examining display supply chain performance in 2007, lessons learned and the outlook for 2008 and beyond. 2008 should be a strong year for the equipment, materials and panel suppliers and a challenging year for brands and retailers as under-investment limits cost reductions while inflation and economic weakness increase pricing and margin pressures. Other topics covered include when the next over-supply is likely to occur, what companies in each layer of the supply chain need to do to maximize profits, profit margin forecasts by category, revenue forecasts by category, panel price and cost forecasts and supply chain investment opportunities. “The Maturing FPD TV Market and Global TV Outlook,” Paul Gagnon, Director of North American TV Research Gagnon will present DisplaySearch’s latest findings from the Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report with an emphasis on the flat panel TV results. He will also examine the how the developed regions of the world have reached a plateau in annual FPD penetration and point out opportunities for strong growth in emerging markets. Which sizes and resolutions are enjoying strong growth and which brands gained share in Q4’07? What were the sell-through results of LCD during Holiday ’07 and Super Bowl? What about the next big flat panel technology, OLED TV, which is poised for explosive growth with new prototypes being shown and alliances being formed? These questions will be answered by Gagnon. “The Next Big Display Market: Digital Signage,” Chris Connery, Vice President of the PC and Large Format Commercial Display Market Research Group The LCD and PDP markets continue to look at Digital Signage as the “next big market” but have found this market difficult to define and difficult to get their arms around. DisplaySearch will present its findings in regards to the WW large-format flat-panel display market which focuses on commercial/professional use. Included in this analysis will be brand, size and technology worldwide shipment history as reported by brands, but also a unique analysis of the market which can only be gained at the sell-through level. This analysis will bring into focus displays which are defined, developed and even marketed as one device but actually sold and used for another purpose. The pros and cons of this trend for the industry will be presented as will the DisplaySearch forecasts about this trend. “TV Display Technology Advances,” Ross Young, Founder & Chief Research Officer This presentation examines the developments expected over the next 2-5 years in LCDs, plasma and OLED TVs. For each technology, this presentation will aggregate supplier roadmaps from both a performance improvement and cost reduction standpoint, identify advantages and disadvantages, reveal the capacity outlook, determine critical obstacles and present both cost and price forecasts. He will also identify what price points and associated margins are likely this holiday season based on DisplaySearch's proprietary cost and margin models. “Notebook PCs Brand Growth, Mobility Drivers & Emerging Markets,” John Jacobs, Director of Notebook Market Research Jacobs will present DisplaySearch’s latest research regarding the notebook market, highlighting the various degrees of success that major brands have had over the past several quarters in gaining market share. Paying particular attention to the growing influence and buying power that consumers are bringing to the notebook market, he will highlight some of the current trends and strategies that brands are employing to be successful. Finally, Jacobs will reveal some never-before seen insights into growing segments within the mobility space including initial analysis of the UMPC category and the Emerging Market Notebook PC categories. “Desktop Monitors: A Market of Never-Ending Growth?” Chris Connery, Vice President of the PC and Large Format Commercial Display Market Research Group Connery will present DisplaySearch’s latest findings on the entire world wide desktop monitor market, including brand and regional results from Q4’07, as well as all of CY2007 and an outlook through 2011. Main areas of concentration will be on emerging and LDC (Lower Developed Countries) thatshow near-term promise for growth along with Commercial markets in more mature regions that are also poised for growth as B2B markets finally begin their transition to Vista (with new display purchases to accompany that transition). Also highlighted will be the impact that displays have on “Green IT” and the major initiatives that institutions have around supporting such initiatives through new product purchases. Trends such as transitions by region from standard aspect ratios to wide and from 16:10 wide to 16:9 wide will be presented. “Beyond Voice: Smart and Music Phones Re-create the Mobile Phone Market”, Chris Crotty, Director of Small and Medium Displays Research Mobile phones are the largest application for small and medium displays. Accounting for 50% of all small and medium display shipments between 2008 and 2012, mobile phone displays will grow from 1.67 billion units and $13.1 billion in 2008 to 2.08 billion units and $15.9 billion in 2012. Crotty will examine the overall growth of the mobile phone market, key product and technology trends, and how those trends are affecting the mobile phone display market. He will also focus on how mobile phones are quickly evolving into multi-function devices with powerful multimedia and information capabilities. For example, music, navigation, photography, gaming, and video are all helping to reshape both the form and function of handsets. “OLEDs & Flexible Display Technology—When, Where and How,” Barry Young, Senior Advisor & Consultant Samsung SDI in 2007 was the first company to mass produce AMOLED displays, and their products have been very successful as evidenced by the 2X selling price vs. TFT LCDs. In 2008, Chi Mei EL, and LG Display are expected to enter the AMOLED mass market. Moreover, Sony plans to continue shipping small volumes of its world famous AMOLED TV, the XEL-1. New suppliers in China are expected to join RiTdisplay, Samsung SDI, Pioneer, TDK, Univision and others shipping PMOLEDs. Young’s presentation will describe the existing market and the market leaders by application, define the challenges to growth and forecast the future use of OLEDs thru 2012, in terms of applications, shipments and revenue. In addition, Young will provide an assessment of the flexible display market today and what are the future growth prospects. “FPD Materials & Equipment Outlook,” Charles Annis, Vice President of Manufacturing Research Annis will provide an overview of planned TFT LCD factory investments and their relationship to equipment and materials markets. Revenue for the entire TFT LCD materials and components industry will be forecast and detailed forecasts for key components such as glass, color filters, liquid crystal and backlights will also be provided. Capital equipment will be forecast by a variety of metrics such as segment, region and glass size. Furthermore, the presentation will analyze manufacturing technology trends and how they affect both panel costs and performance. “Towards a Stable Industry Structure,” David Barnes, Vice President of Strategic Analysis At last year's conference, Barnes explained why large TFT LCD prices and profits would increase during 2007-2008 and why more alliances would develop between display makers, product assemblers and product brands. Now that these trends are evident, he will look forward to how the display industry structure might become more stable in the next few years. Barnes will explain past crystal cycles, identify where we are in the present cycle and describe how the industry might stabilize by serving distinct markets. The presentation will combine insights from DisplaySearch data with Herfindahl and Lanchester analysis to postulate a new industry structure. Analysis of operational and financial data will inform ideas for segmenting the industry into smaller, more profitable segments. “Towards a New User Interface,” Barry Young, Senior Advisor & Consultant Multi touch as implemented by the Apple iPhone and the Touch iPod has changed the way we think about user interfaces. Virtually every major mobile phone maker has or will introduce a multi touch user interface and Microsoft will be trying to steal Apple’s thunder with Windows Mobile 7 sometime in the next year or so. Young’s presentation will cover the various approaches to implementing touch technology, both by the display makers and by the touch companies. He will also discuss the pros and cons of each approach by application, ranging from small to very large displays. The existing market for touch will be defined and then forecast by sq. meter of glass for a ten-year period based on the evolving adoption rate of each touch technology. DisplaySearch’s US FPD Conference will be held March 10-13 in La Jolla, California. New this year, DisplaySearch will offer "Meet the Analyst" sessions. These are one-on-one sessions customized to your business, whether it's validating market forecasts that your company has compiled or seeking input for strategic decision-making. US FPD Sponsors Platinum: Dolby, Corning, 3M Vikuiti and Samsung Silver: Nova Chemicals, SRS and the LCDTV Association Media Sponsors: HDTV Magazine and Veritas et Visus

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