Global TV Growth Slows While Demand in Eastern Europe and the Middle East Surges Due to Strong Economies; Samsung Maintains Top Global TV Share in Q1'08

AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 20, 2008--Global TV unit shipment growth slowed in Q1'08 to just 1% Y/Y compared to 4% growth during Q1'07 and 5% growth in Q4'07 as a weaker economy in the US seems to be affecting demand of 40"+ and larger sizes. Large snow storms in Q1'08 pushed some Chinese flat panel TV demand into Q2'08, which also affected the results. Shipments in Q1'08 were 46.1 million units worldwide with a revenue value of $24.8 billion, which represents 8% revenue growth from Q1'07 to Q1'08 driven by continued ASP gains as flat panel TV market share increases, particularly in developing regions. Eastern Europe, mainly Russia, and the Middle East & Africa realized strong Y/Y TV shipment growth at 33% and 37%, respectively.

Flat panel TV demand seems likely to be strong overall in 2008 and manufacturers are projected to use smaller screen sizes and low-cost models to stimulate demand among price conscious consumers and maintain growth in mature markets, particularly as many consumers look to buy their second or third flat panel TV.

Some other highlights from Q1'08 include

• LCD TV continues to post the strongest growth, rising 45% Y/Y to 21.1 million units, though this was the weakest quarter of growth to date. This is understandable and expected as the nearly complete transition away from CRT to LCD mature markets naturally leads to slower growth rates. Growth remains robust in developing regions, like Latin America, where the flat panel transition is just beginning. In worldwide LCD TV revenue shares, Samsung gained the top share of 22.1%, followed by 18.1% for Sony and 10.1% for Sharp.
• Plasma TV (PDP) also enjoyed Y/Y growth, climbing 20% to nearly 2.8 million units, mostly from new shipments of 32" models. Indications are that 1080p share will increase from Q2'08 as top brands focus on 1080p products for the remainder of 2008. In worldwide PDP revenue shares, Panasonic kept the top share of 33.7%, followed by 22.7% for Samsung and 16.4% for LGE.
• North America shipments were slightly stronger than expected in Q1'08, rising 4% Y/Y in Q1'08 to 7.5M units after three consecutive quarters of Y/Y decline. The turnaround can be attributed to much stronger than expected shipments of CRT TVs during the quarter. CRTs actually retook the #2 technology position in North America from PDP. The strong CRT performance could be attributed to several factors, including increased demand for low-cost digital TVs from consumers, closeout activities from some brands exiting the space or stronger demand in Canada where CRTs are free from the burden of mandated digital tuner requirements, thus lowering prices.

A review of global TV shipment performance by technology can be seen in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Q1'08 Worldwide TV Shipments

On a brand basis, Samsung was the global brand share leader in revenues for the ninth straight quarter, improving to more than 20% for the first time on robust 39% Y/Y growth. Samsung also had the top ranking on a unit basis. Sony was #2 on a revenue basis for the third straight quarter, declining about a point to 13.2% revenue share after a very strong Q4 performance. LGE remained #3, leveraging a #2 unit share position to offset lower ASPs. A complete review of the top five brands can be seen in the following table.

Table 2: Q1'08 Worldwide TV Brand Rankings�Revenue Share

DisplaySearch's TV market intelligence including panel and TV shipments, TV shipments by region by brand by size for nearly 60 brands, rolling 16-quarter forecasts, TV cost/price forecasts and design wins can be found in its Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report. For more information on this report, please contact Patrick Maki at patrick_maki@displaysearch.com or 512.687.1511 or your local DisplaySearch representative for details and pricing.

Visit DisplaySearch's booth #634 during SID DisplayWeek 2008 to be held May 19-23 in Los Angeles, California. DisplaySearch will also hold a press conference today to discuss its global TV results today at SID's Display Week at 1:15 p.m. in the press room. 

Media interested in meeting with DisplaySearch's expert team of market analysts or in need of market research data for articles during SID DisplayWeek, should contact Stacey Voorhees via e-mail at stacey@savvypublicrelations.net or call 925.336.9592.

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