Global tablet display shipments poised to jump by 56% in 2012

The global tablet display market is picking up considerably in 2012, not only thanks to the iPad but also because of the Galaxy Tab series and Kindle Fire, among others, according to market intelligence firm IHS iSuppli.

Tablet display shipments are projected to rise worldwide by 56 percent in 2012 to 126.6 million units -- up from 82.1 million units in 2011.

While those figures don't differentiate between display sizes, the smaller, media tablets are turning out to be the main contributors to the increase, as explained by Vinita Jakhanwal, director for Small & Medium Displays at IHS, in the report:

Media tablets increasingly are becoming the biggest growth driver in the market for the small and medium display market. While the 9-inch segment dominated by the iPad will account for the majority of tablet display shipments this year, the fastest-growing portion of the market will the 7.x-inch screens used in products like the Galaxy Tab from Samsung Electronics, the Kindle Fire from Amazon, the Nook Tablet from Barnes & Noble, and other tablet products using the Google Android operating system.

But for this year at least, the 9.x-inch tablet display range is still dominant as this will cover 59 percent of all shipments. The 7.x tablet display range will still make a good showing in second place at 32 percent with 41.1 million units, which is nearly double from 20.8 million units last year.

The real benefactors here are LG and Samsung, both of which supply LCD panel technology for Apple's iPad. But IHS pointed out that LG also stands out as it supplies displays for Amazon and Barnes & Noble, while Samsung keeps things in-house for its own tablet brand.

However, IHS analysts warned that these two leaders should be wary of other suppliers starting to reap the rewards of the growing tablet market, namely manufacturers such as Sharp and Panasonic in Japan as well as AU Optronics and ChiMei Innolux in Taiwan.