LCD sales surpass CRT sales for first time

Monday december 15, 2003

IDC flagged a milestone in the evolution of the desktop when it released the Australian monitor market results for Q3 (July to Sept) 2003: the third party (Branded) market saw LCD screens outsell CRT screens with 51.5% versus 48.5% of unit shipments for the quarter.

'IDC has found that migration to LCD displays is being aided by the decreasing cost of the technology, the post Y2K enterprise PC refresh, and acceptance by key markets such as the demanding gaming segment,' said, Michael Sager, IDC Analyst.

'LCD displays are increasingly being sold into the digital home concept and used in applications outside of their traditional PC realm. Branded market vendors have been smart to note this trend and introduce features such as wide screen technology, detachable displays, integrated speakers, TV tuners, and on higher-end models zero pixel policies to meet the demands of the end-user, added Mr Sager.

While LCDs have now outsold CRTs in the branded market, CRTs still maintain a narrow lead in the OEM (supplied with systems) space with 56% share of units shipped during 3Q 2003.

'The market in 3Q 2003 was highly competitive and there were changes in market rankings. LG Electronics was able to maintain number one position in the local market with 17.8% share but it gave up ground to the competition.

Samsung gained notable share during the quarter to stay in second place but moved closer to the top position to finish with 17.2% share. For the first time in two years Philips has cracked the top three and has taken the third position with 12% market share.
In the branded LCD market, Samsung continued its lead of six consecutive quarters claiming 19.9% share. LG finished in second position with 15.3% share of the market followed by BenQ with 10.1% share in third place.