Report: Outlook gloomy for flat-panel revenue

Revenue from flat-panel displays is expected to come in at $22.5 billion this year--a decline of 8.2 percent from last year--according to a new report from market researcher DisplaySearch. The main reasons for the decline are price erosions from an oversupply of active-matrix displays and weak consumer and corporate spending on mobile phones and handhelds, which typically use passive-matrix displays. The only segment expected to show an increase in revenue this year is emerging market for plasma displays, which is expected to show a jump of 122.2 percent in revenue compared with last year.

DisplaySearch also expects that revenue from the flat-panel market will reach $49.3 billion by 2005, which is below previous forecasts and is associated with a "radical" slowdown in mobile phone sales and falling prices for large flat-panel displays for products such as notebooks. --Richard Shim, ZDNet News