Forecasts $3B Market for FPD Public Displays by 2009; PDPs Out-Ship LCDs 3 to 1 in Q2’05

DisplaySearch. Worldwide shipments of large flat-panel displays for non-TV applications reached a worldwide total of 87K units in Q2'05. While this number was slightly down from the Q1'05 worldwide total of 96.4K units, recent price reductions in both plasma (PDP) and large-format LCD (26"+) panels are forecast to accelerate this market to over 400K units for 2005, and double-digit unit Y/Y growth is forecast through 2009 to reach 1.8M units. Conservative estimates of the worldwide market show the total Compound Annual Growth (CARG) rate for PDPs used in such applications to be as much as 10% from 2004-2009 with LCDs forecast to have an even larger CARG of 82% from 2004 to 2009, resulting in an overall explosive 36% CARG for the flat panel public display market. With production gearing up for larger flat panel displays for the consumer TV market, the exploding Public Display market is benefiting from these economies of scale with similar displays used for non-TV applications such as Point of Sale Signage, Flight Information Displays, Electronic Menu Boards and even corporate conference room displays. The two most popular technologies for the out-of-home Public Display environment are LCDs and PDPs, both of which continue to push the technology envelope in size, resolution and price points. LCDs as large as 55" are now commercially available worldwide, while PDPs as large as 71" are now available for commercial applications with signs that these two technologies will both gain ground in this emerging space. Q2'05 results show that the most popular size and technology for Public Display applications was the 40-43" PDPs with a 63.6% share; lower resolution ED versions of 42" PDPs had a 38.8% share alone. The 40-43" PDP category was followed by the 50" PDP size, which had a 12.3% share of the worldwide shipments of Public Displays in Q2'05. LCD based 40" Public Displays were the third best selling size and technology with an 8.0% share for the quarter. While PDP products currently rule the Public Display market place, large-format LCDs (26"+) have shown the greatest Q/Q shipment growth since Q2'04 with positive Q/Q growth in all quarters surveyed with the exception of Q2'05, with explosive growth projected to be reported for Q3'05.

Quarterly Public Display Shipment and Forecast Report Publ 20051201