LCDs continue popularity rise

The Australian total PC monitor market finished last year on a positive note, with shipments in the final quarter growing 1.9% sequentially from the third quarter of 2004, contributing to the 19.1% expansion from 2003.

Branded equipment continued to lose market share to the OEM vendors with both market segments achieving 50% share of the total monitor market, in the fourth quarter of 2004.

The branded market declined 6% from the third quarter of 2004, while the OEM vendors had an 11% quarter-on-quarter growth.

According to IDC, the OEM market continued to post robust growth, riding on a phenomenal quarter for desktops, driven by a peak in consumer buying as well as a pick-up in education purchasing.

In contrast, branded vendors continued to struggle in an increasingly competitive market where price remained the key consideration for IT executives and successful bundling and promotional activities were not as effective as before.

The 2004 monitor market saw a pronounced migration to LCDs, with six out of every 10 monitors shipped being an LCD. LCD uptake is primarily driven by decreasing cost, which promises a longer life-span and fewer upgrades and is expected to continue to cannibalise the already waning CRT market.

IDC expects this trend to continue and peak in 2005, as vendors focus more on the higher end and/or larger sized models and as OEM vendors increasingly bundle their PCs with entry-level LCD monitors at compelling prices.

However, LCD sales are expected to decline from 2006 onwards, having reached mainstream volumes by this stage and subject to fluctuations in desktop sales.