The domestic computer monitor market shrank in the second quarter owing to slow consumer demand, but demand from the corporate sector remained strong, market researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said in its latest report.
Local monitor shipments reached 386,248 units in the second quarter, sliding 0.4 percent from the previous quarter and 9.1 percent from a year earlier, IDC said.
The research house divides the liquid-crystal-display (LCD) market into LCD non-bundled market and LCD bundled market. The non-bundled market refers to standalone monitors supplied by display panel makers such as Viewsonic International Corp (優派國際), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), Samsung Electronics Co and BenQ Corp (明基) that are sold through big discounters. The bundled market refers to PC makers that sell computer desktop PCs along with their own brand of LCD monitors. These include Acer Inc (宏碁), Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) and Hewlett-Packard Co.
Looking at the LCD non-bundled market in the second quarter, IDC said that corporate demand saw a slight improvement, while consumer demand suffered significantly.
IDC attributed waning consumer demand to inflationary pressures, the tax season and consumers’ expectations of lower LCD prices. As a result of undigested inventory, retailers lowered their subsequent monitor orders, IDC said.
Total non-bundled shipments in the second quarter totaled 310,542 units, down 4.4 percent from first quarter and 15.4 percent from the same time last year, the report said.
Stimulated by government purchases made through Central Trust of China (中央信託局), the LCD bundled market saw shipments of 74,451 units in the second quarter, an increase of 20.6 percent from the previous quarter and 35.4 percent from same time last year, the report said.
In terms of size, 19-inch monitors continued to lead the market.
Aided by falling prices, sales of 22-inch panels rose and cut into the market of 20-inch panels, whose market share slid to 6.7 percent in the second quarter from 9 percent in the first quarter.
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