PC vendors' challenge to monitor vendors will drive PC monitor sales in the Asia/Pacific ex-Japan region in 2005, Says IDC

IDC reports that the total Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) monitor market totaled 25.1 million units* in the first three calendar quarters of 2004, representing a gain of 13.7% from the same period last year.

Looking ahead, total Asia/Pacific ex-Japan LCD monitor sales will steam ahead by a double-digit percentage CAGR through 2008, while CRT monitor sales will remain relatively stagnant.

In 3Q 2004, growth of PC vendors' monitor sales (the OEM monitor market) over the previous quarter was more than three times that of standalone sales (the branded monitor market). In the OEM monitor market, each of the top 6 vendors grew in excess of 20% year-on-year, with Lenovo, HP and Dell also posting double-digit sequential unit growth.

"Some of these PC vendors now also compete with branded monitor vendors in the standalone monitor space, as evidenced by vendors such as HP, selling standalone monitors in IT superstores in Australia." said Reuben Tan, Senior Analyst, IDC Personal Systems Research. "Branded monitor vendors may therefore begin to consider working with channel partners to bundle their offerings with branded PCs in order to counter this trend."

Vendor Rankings
The top 6 branded monitor market vendors together made up 78.4% of the overall standalone monitor sales in the Asia/Pacific region in the first three quarters of 2004. Samsung led with a wide margin, while second and third positions were slugged out between LG Electronics and Philips, with the Korean Chaebol leading by three percentage points. The Taiwanese vendors Viewsonic, AOC and BenQ rounded up fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively. On the OEM market front, Lenovo led the pack, with HP, Dell, Founder, IBM and TongFang following in that order.

Product Migration
Falling LCD prices, which accelerated in 3Q 2004 in line with the TFT panel supply shortage swinging into slight over-supply during that period, prompted double-digit percentage growth rates in the LCD form factor both sequentially and year-on-year. IDC is expecting a faster migration to LCD monitor in both first-time purchases as well as upgrades from CRT display.

This does not mean that the CRT form factor is dead; 19" and larger CRTs are expected to achieve a CAGR of 27% from 2004 through 2008. Performance expectations for corresponding odd sizes in the LCD category will reach even more impressive rates, with unit growth strongest in the 19" size, which is expected to grow by an average of 76.0% from 2004 to 2008. The 17" LCD market will overtake the 15" as the dominant LCD market by 2006, although both sizes are expected to continue to post healthy growth.

Country Outlook
In countries where the level of product saturation is high, performance is expected to be muted. In the coming years, monitor sales in Hong Kong, Korea, Australia, and New Zealand are projected to be relatively flat as the drop in CRT monitor sales in these countries is expected to erode the increase in LCD monitor sales there.

On the other hand, countries like India, the Philippines, and the PRC that hold high growth potential are expected to continue to steam ahead, particularly in the LCD form factor. Indeed, robust demand for LCDs will continue to boost total monitor sales in these countries, with a CAGR of about 60% in both India and the Philippines, and about 30% in China from 2004 to 2008.

"The availability of LCD stock as well as the launch of low-price desktops will jointly continue to buoy growth in both LCD and CRT monitor sales in the region, especially as consumer sentiments improve in line with healthier inter-regional economy," said Mr Tan.

*The above-mentioned figure does not include Vietnam

For more information about the research or to purchase this data, please contact Selina Ang at +65-6228-7717 or sang@idc.com. For press enquiries, please contact Ee-Laine Ng at +65-6228-7769 or elng@idc.com.