Flat screens to outsell tubes this year, researcher says

Flat-screen liquid-crystal display (LCD) computer monitor sales are expected to overtake traditional cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors for the first time in the US by the end of next month, with the rest of the world passing the same landmark by the end of June, DisplaySearch reported on Wednesday.

Flat-panel computer monitors accounted for 31 percent of sales by the LCD industry last year, the Texas-based researcher said in a statement. Sales of screens for desktop monitors will rise by 41 percent this year to US$17.4 billion, it said.

The flat-panel industry, dominated by suppliers in South Korea and Taiwan such as Samsung Electronics Co and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), will grow this year by a fifth to US$44.5 billion, DisplaySearch said last year.

DisplaySearch plans to present its findings to its sixth annual flat-panel display conference in San Diego from Mar. 30 to Apr. 1, a statement from the organization said.

Speakers scheduled to speak at the conference include executives from Dell Inc, LG Philips LCD, Mitsubishi Electric Corp and Sony Electronics.

"Product trends such as wide aspect ratio, wide color gamut, size, resolution, multimedia and multiple monitor usage will be debated," the statement said.