Austin, TX–DisplaySearch, the flat panel display (FPD) market research and consulting firm, indicated in two recent reports that global 10-inch and larger LCD TV shipments grew 125 percent while falling 13 percent to 3.15M units in seasonally weak Q1’05. The statistics related to year to year figures and quarter to quarter, respectively.
Driving the growth was significant reductions in prices supported by significant cost reductions from new fabs optimized for larger LCD production. From Q1’04 to Q1’05, prices for the majority of LCD TVs 20-inch and larger fell at least 20 percent–with a number of sizes experiencing 40 percent ASP reductions. At the same time, larger sizes continue to gain ground due to their more attractive prices enabling revenue growth to outpace unit growth, so that it rose 141 percent Y/Y while falling 5 percent Q/Q to $4.1B. In Q1’05, the average LCD TV diagonal was 12 percent larger than the Q1’04 diagonal at 22.6-inch, and the percentage of LCD TV shipments 30″ and larger rose particularly rapidly, up 254 percent Y/Y to achieve a 23 percent share, up from 15 percent in Q1’04.
LCD TV demand surged worldwide, but was particularly robust in China where shipments grew 55 percent Q/Q and over 400 percent Y/Y to a record 200K units. China’s share of the worldwide LCD TV market jumped from 3.6 percent to 6.4 percent, with Chinese brands having a 67 percent share of their domestic market. China’s TV shipments are seasonally strong in Q1 due to the March Festival, which supports the large share gains. The European LCD TV market rose the second fastest up 188 percent Y/Y while falling only 8 percent Q/Q to 1.27M units. With this growth, Europe remained the largest LCD TV market with a 41 percent share of the worldwide LCD TV market, up from 38 percent in Q4’04.
Due to their emphasis on smaller TV sizes and desire for thinner form factors, LCD TV penetration continues to rise in Europe. North America had the largest Q/Q decline, down 31 percent but rising 102 percent Y/Y, to 648K units and a 21 percent share, down from 26 percent in Q4’04. The large decline in North America can be attributed to seasonal size preferences. Q4 TV buying emphasizes smaller displays, and Q1 TV buying patterns supports larger screens. Japan remained the #2 region with a 26 percent share, down from 27 percent in Q4’04, on 66 percent Y/Y growth and a 17 percent Q/Q decline to 82m4K units. The Japanese LCD TV market remained larger than North America’s, and gained significant share vs. other technologies in Japan in Q1’05 due to their emphasis on form factor and smaller sizes.
In terms of growth by size, all size categories declined sequentially except for 35-39-inch and 40-44-inch which are just becoming more widely available. 10-14-inch, 15-19-inch and 22-24-inch all declined at least 20 percent sequentially due to lower prices at larger sizes along with seasonal buying habits. 20-21-inch overtook 15-19-inch to become the single largest category with a 25 percent share, up from 23 percent. 15-19-inch fell to #2 with a 21 percent share, down from 25 percent, while 30-34-inch jumped from 18 percent to 20 percent.
Branded TV shipments are provided for 34 different brands by region by size: Audiovox, BenQ, Changhong, Daewoo, Dell, Gateway, Haier, Hisense, Hitachi, Hyundai, Ingram, JVC, Konka, LGE, Loewe, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Philips, Relisys, Sampo, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Skyworth, Sony, SVA, Sylvania, Syntax, Tatung, Toshiba, TTE, ViewSonic, Westinghouse and Xoceco.
In Q1’05, Sharp remained #1 worldwide with a 21.0 percent share, down from 21.9 percent, as shown in Table 1. Sharp remained the #1 LCD TV brand in North America and Japan, was #2 in ROW, #3 in Europe and #4 in China. Philips remained #2, although its unit share dropped from 14.7 percent to 10.9 percent. It remained #1 in the dominant European market, but fell to #5 in North America. Samsung overtook Sony and nearly caught Philips for the #3 position with a 10.8 percent share. Samsung led in ROW, rose to #2 in North America and remained #2 in Europe. Sony dropped to #4 with a 10.0 percent share, holding #2 in Japan and #6 in North America, while falling to #5 in Europe. In China, Hisense held onto the top position followed by Skyworth and Xoceco.
By size category, Sharp continued to lead at 10-14-inch, 20-21-inch, 25-29-inch, 35-39-inch and 45-inch -plus and overtook Sony at 30-34-inch. Samsung overtook Philips at 15-19-inch, Philips overtook Sony at 22-24-inch and Sony continued to lead at 40-44-inch. DisplaySearch’s historical LCD TV shipment data along with its rolling 16-quarter shipment forecast can be found in its Quarterly LCD TV Shipment and Forecast Report available from $5995 or its Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report which covers all TV technologies for $8995.
For more information on any of these reports, please contact Carl Steudle at 408-459-1192, or [email protected].
