Local monitor sales slump on weak demand

Domestic of computer monitors slowed further in the second quarter of the year owing to sluggish demand for computers and weakening consumer purchasing power, market researcher Interna-tional Data Corp (IDC) said in its latest report.

Sales computer monitors during the April-June period slid 23.5 percent year-on-year to 370,817 units, according to the IDC report released last week. On a quarterly basis, that meant a 15.8 percent decrease from 440,452 units in the first quarter.

Low purchasing power

"Delays in government procurement, rising credit card debts and tax season [in May] hurt consumer purchasing power in the second quarter," IDC analyst H.J. Kim said in the report.

Buying was also affected by manufacturers' failure to significantly lower prices for mainstream 17-inch and 19-inch liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors to spur demand in the branded market, though prices for the same size flat panels in the "bundle market" dropped further in the second quarter.

The branded market is separate from the bundle market, where the monitors are bundled or sold together with computers. Branded monitors account for more than 80 percent of the domestic market.

"Some distributors and channel operators are conservative about inventory buildup and pricing strategy in order to avoid price erosion," Kim said.

The slow demand for PCs also affected shipments of monitors bundled with computers, Kim added.

Sluggish PC sales

Computer sales edged up a mere 0.6 percent year-on-year, or 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter, to 562.326 units in the second quarter, which fell to match IDC's forecast, made in June, of a marked expansion.

ViewSonic International Corp (優派) recouped its leadership in the local computer monitor market last quarter as it cut prices for 19-inch LCD monitors to stimulate demand, the IDC report indicated. Chi Mei Corp (奇美實業) ranked No. 2. Acer Inc and BenQ Corp (明基) occupied the third and fourth spot, respectively.

IDC indicated that 19-inch LCD monitors replaced 17-inch models as the mainstream size last quarter. Shipments of 19-inch screens made up about half of total shipments in the branded market, up from 44 percent in the first quarter as monitor vendors cut prices by another 7.7 percent sequentially. The share of 17-inch screens fell to 41 percent from 44 percent during the same period.

Wide-screen are also gaining popularity, IDC said. More than 50 percent of the 19-inch LCD monitors shipped in the second quarter were wide screens.