Asia reports strong PC monitor sales

The Asia-Pacific PC monitor market enjoyed robust sales in the first half of 2007, with LCD monitors leading the way in sales growth, according to IDC.

In its report released Tuesday, the research house said the regional PC monitor market, excluding Japan, shipped 25.9 million units during that period, posting a 6.5 percent growth over the second half of 2006, and 22.5 percent over the first half of 2006.

With the exception of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Vietnam, nearly all countries in the region saw an increase in sales over the second half of last year, said IDC.

In particular, sales of LCD monitor soared, with 20.5 million units shipped in the first half of this year, a 23 percent increase over the second half of 2006. Not surprisingly, traditional CRT monitor sales dipped, posting a 38 percent decline compared to the first half of last year.

Reuben Tan, IDC's Asia-Pacific research manager of personal systems research, noted: "A significant portion of larger wide-screen LCD buyers are upgrading from a first-generation LCD monitor (with a thicker frame, smaller screen), and not just from the CRT form factor.

"Such LCD-LCD upgrades resulted in the sustained growth of LCD volumes across the region, where this growth exceeds the decline in CRT sales," Tan said.

In addition, IDC noted that the standalone monitor market dominated 55.7 percent of all monitor sales in the first half of 2007, while monitors bundled with the purchase of a new branded-desktop accounted for 44.3 percent of total sales.

"Despite the price hike of LCD monitors due to the higher panel costs, CRT-LCD migration continued to be seen in the developing countries, while the increasing popularity of larger wide-screen LCDs also led to another round of strong monitor replacement in first half-2007," said Yoong Siat-Siah, Asia-Pacific senior analyst for personal systems research at IDC.

"China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam all posted a huge LCD uptake, with sequential growths ranging from 29 percent to 59 percent," Yoong added. "However, Taiwan and Hong Kong's already high penetration of LCD monitors resulted in a saturation of growth in first half-2007, and a decline over the second half of 2006."

Across the region, IDC expects total PC monitor sales this year in almost every country to post an increase over 2006, with the exception of a dip in Hong Kong, and a flat showing in Korea.

Other matured markets such as Australia, Singapore and Taiwan, are expected to continue growing in 2007 over the previous year, and developing markets such as China, India, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam, will post the strongest growth this year, according to IDC's projections.