Flat-panel monitors take market lead

Flat-panel monitors for desktop computers are expected to surpass traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors in revenue this year, a sea change for the display industry.

Declining prices, combined with aggressive bundling deals from PC makers such as Hewlett-Packard, have sparked a surge in demand for flat panel, or LCD, monitors, said Jennifer Gallo, analyst for IDC’s PC Displays and Projectors research service.

This year, flat-panel monitor revenue worldwide will likely come to around $20.4bn. Revenue from cathode ray tubes (CRT), meanwhile, will come to $12.3bn, Gallo predicted. Last year, LCD and CRT monitors both accounted for about $15bn in revenue, she said.

Next year, LCD monitors will cross the 50 per cent mark in units shipped. Although the monitors will account for more revenue this year, they also generally cost more.

"LCD monitor revenue overall is really going to make an impact on the market," she said.

Shipments of flat panel monitors have been approximately doubling every year since 2000, leading to shortages in early 2002. Toward the middle of that year, however, supplies began to creep up and prices began to drop again.

The shift from CRTs to LCDs will likely benefit the established companies, like Samsung, NEC and Mitsubishi, that participate in both markets, she added.

Monitor sizes will on average also increase. The most common LCD monitors today come with 15-inch screens. In 2005, 17-inch screens will become the norm.

Michael Kanellos writes for CNET News.com.