Samsung Ranks #1 for Preliminary Worldwide LCD Monitor Market Share for Q1’08; Dell Grows Stronger in US Retail but Still Drops Share to Samsung

Sort Date: 05212008

AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 21, 2008—Samsung beat out Q4’07 market leader Dell to regain top market share for worldwide LCD monitor shipments in Q1’08, according to preliminary figures complied by DisplaySearch. Desktop monitors are the world’s largest market for large-area LCD displays, superseding the TV market by 1.8x in unit volumes. These preliminary numbers are being released, with greater details coming in the forthcoming Q2’08 Quarterly Desktop Monitor Shipment and Forecast Report.

Table 1 Q1’08 WW Top Ten LCD Monitor Unit Volume Shares and Growth*

Rank	Brand	Q1’08 WW Unit Shipments	Q/Q Growth	Y/Y Growth
1	Samsung	6.3M	4%	21%
2	Dell	6.1M	-1%	9%
3	HP	4.5M	-13%	18%
4	LGE	4.1M	0%	29%
5	Acer**	3.5M	15%	13%
6	Lenovo	1.9M	-19%	17%
7	AOC	1.8M	51%	72%
8	ViewSonic	1.7M	-7%	-15%
9	BenQ	1.2M	12%	2%
10	Philips	1.1M	0%	-10%

* Preliminary
** Does not include Gateway or eMachines Brands

Key trends noted for Q1’08 include

• Samsung overtook Dell for the top worldwide market share position mostly due to significant increased shipments in emerging markets like (up 42% Q/Q), Latin America (up 25%) and Asia Pacific (up 21%).
• Although North American shipments dropped 16% from Q4’07 to Q1’08, Dell shipments in this region only declined 5% due to expanding distribution into US retail.
• HP LCD monitor shipments were down 13%, seeing fewer units shipped into all regions with the exception of Japan, which is the world’s smallest market for LCD monitors.
• AOC continued to rise in the rankings, moving from #8 in Q4’07 to #7 in Q1’08 attributed to renewed interest from TPV (the owner of the AOC and Envision brands) with its own-brand products. AOC’s growth came in emerging markets with the brand realizing sequential growth rates for unit shipments into Asia Pacific (222%), China (75%) and Latin America (18%).

With the US economy remaining soft, many vendors are looking to other markets for growth in personal computing sales. An exception to this rule is Dell, which continues to expand its distribution into new regions and continues to gain market share from competitors with expanded presence in US retail. This was most evident in the actual US sell-through data captured by DisplaySearch parent company The NPD Group’s Retail Tracking Service, which showed that Dell had the best-selling LCD monitor for the last month of the quarter, outpacing HP, which has typically held this top spot.

In terms of LCD monitor sizes, 19”Wide and 22”Wide continue to gain share, with 19”Wide now being the best-selling size/resolution display worldwide. There still remains a considerable gap between the preference of consumers and the needs of commercial buyers, with the key dividing line at the moment being wide vs. standard aspect ratio displays. Consumers around the world have quickly migrated their purchase of new displays (either with a system or as an upgrade) from standard aspect ratio displays to wide displays. Commercial buyers, who are more standards-focused, still prefer the standard set for their institutions 3-5 years ago. Several studies have recently been released empirically showing that wide aspect ratio displays increase worker productivity, thus providing a basis for commercial institutions worldwide to migrate from standard displays to wide displays.

Just when commercial buyers have started to consider changing to wide displays, the LCD monitor market is migrating production of desktop monitors from 16:10 wide aspect ratio displays to 16:9 wide displays. These plans are being made by panel makers and their brand partners to drive down costs by utilizing glass substrates more efficiently. However, this raises questions about how quickly purchasers (both consumer and commercial customers) can make another switch from “standard” to “wide” to a “new type of wide”. Most consumers and commercial purchasers are unaffected by this, but for some, this change in aspect ratio and resolution creates a potential change in compatibility. This could make them hesitant to change to 16:9 until the next major PC refresh cycle or major OS change, particularly given the small difference between the two wide displays in comparison to the productivity differences between conventional and 16:10 displays.

Table 2 Q1’08 Top Ten Preliminay Share by Size, Resolution and Aspect Ratio

Q1’08 Rank	Size	Type	Resolution	Aspect Ratio	Preliminary Q1'08 Share
1	19.0"	Wide	1440 × 900	16:10	27.0%
2	17.0"		1280 × 1024	5:4	23.3%
3	19.0"		1280 × 1024	5:4	14.5%
4	22.0"	Wide	1680 × 1050	16:10	12.3%
5	17.0"	Wide	1440 × 900	16:10	5.9%
6	20.0"	Wide	1680 × 1050	16:10	5.6%
7	15.0"		1024 × 768	4:3	4.4%
8	24.0"	Wide	1920 × 1200	16:10	2.0%
9	20.1"		1600 × 1200	4:3	1.1%
10	17.0"	Wide	1280 × 720	16:9	0.9%

DisplaySearch’s Quarterly Desktop Monitor Shipment and Forecast Report includes shipment and forecast data for LCD monitors, CRT monitors, LCD PCs and TFT LCD monitor modules, as well as cost forecasts of TFT LCD monitor modules, LCD monitor interface electronics and LCD monitors. The report is delivered in PowerPoint and includes Excel pivot tables. Please contact Patrick Maki at patrick_maki@displaysearch.com or 512.687.1511 or your local DisplaySearch representative for details and pricing.

About DisplaySearch
DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company, has a core team of 59 employees located in Europe, North America and Asia who produce a valued suite of FPD-related market forecasts, technology assessments, surveys, studies and analyses. The company also organizes influential events worldwide. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, DisplaySearch has regional operations in Chicago, Houston, Kyoto, London, San Diego, San Jose, Seoul, Shenzhen, Taipei and Tokyo, and the company is on the web at http://www.displaysearch.com/.

About The NPD Group, Inc. The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys and wireless. For more information, contact us or visit the NPD website.