According to a report by market research firm DisplaySearch, the notebook PC segment of the PC market is growing as prices of LCDs fall.
Overall, the share of notebooks will rise to 19.9 percent this year from 18.3 percent in 2000. Sales of notebooks will grow more than four times faster than desktop computers over the next four years, the report said.
``Notebook penetration will continue to increase, to almost 25 percent by 2005,'' according to a report on its Digital Search's Web site.
In the first quarter of this year, ``total notebook display shipments rose 11 percent'' from a year ago.
The increase should help notebook PC makers in Taiwan, who account for more than half of the world's production capacity. Quanta Computer Inc and Acer Inc, Taiwan's two largest makers, manufacture for companies like Apple Computer Inc and Compaq Computer Corp.
While notebook displays are getting larger, average sales prices have fallen US$71 in the first quarter of this year to US$277. Aversage sales prices will drop below US$200 in the third quarter before rising as demand for TFT LCDs outstrips supply, Digital Search said.
Samsung Electronics Co remained the largest supplier of branded notebook panels, taking 24.1 percent of the market in the first quarter. LG Philips LCD Co regained the second position at 14.7 percent while Hitachi Ltd dropped to third with 13.2 percent of the market. IBM moved up to No. 4, displacing Toshiba Corp., the report noted.
TFT LCD manufacturers are suffering from the slowdown in the global economy and oversupply. Total revenue from 10.4-inch and larger notebook displays will reach US$6 billion in 2001, compared with a record US$9.7 billion last year, Digital Search said.
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