While mobile handsets continue to be the dominant application for small- and medium-sized liquid crystal displays (LCDs), new uses such as portable navigation devices (PNDs), digital photo frames and MP3/Portable Media Players (PMPs) are generating rising sales in this area, according to iSuppli Corp.

The rising number of new applications will help drive global small/medium display shipments to 4.5 billion units by 2011, up from 3.8 billion in 2007. iSuppli defines small/medium displays as those having a diagonal dimension of 9-inches or smaller.

“The diversification of sales is being aided by expansions in production capacity and declines in pricing for all kinds of small/medium LCDs,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for mobile displays at iSuppli. “This is further boosting demand and attracting many other applications to use small/medium LCDs, such as white-good appliances and retail signage.”

Given that the main function of a PND is to display GPS information, the capability to show detailed, colour images of maps is essential. Because of this, PND manufacturers have turned to thin-film-transistor-LCDs (TFT-LCDs).

This new demand has caused iSuppli to upgrade its PND display market forecast to reach 60.5 million units by 2011, managing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.3 per cent from 10.8 million in 2006. This is up from iSuppli’s previous forecast of 54 million units in 2011.

Despite the falling prices for small/medium TFT-LCDs, revenue for displays shipped to PNDs will reach $776 million by 2011, rising at a CAGR of 19.1 per cent, up from $324 million in 2006. In 2007 alone, PND display revenue will nearly double to $635 million, up from $324 million in 2006.
Sharp and Samsung now are the leading suppliers in the PND display market, selling to the PND leaders Garmin and TomTom, respectively.

But PNDs aren’t the only consumer electronics application helping to drive a boom in the small/medium display market. MP3/PMPs now are one of the fastest-growing segments for such displays in terms of unit shipments.

iSuppli forecasts MP3/PMP unit shipments will reach 205 million units by the end of 2011, up from 163 million units in 2007. This equates to display revenue of $1.6 billion by 2011, slightly down from revenue of $1.7 billion in 2007. This decrease in revenue is due to the ever-declining prices for small/medium TFT-LCDs as capacities expand and manufacturing processes become more efficient.

The growth in display units is being driven by:

* The overall growth of the MP3/PMP market that is propelled driven by Apple Inc. and its iPod line as well as the company’s nearest competitors that are trying to keep pace.
* MP3 music players morphing into the PMP space. Active Matrix LCD suppliers are targeting this market in order to stave off the incursion from Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) suppliers.
* Because PMPs are one of the fastest-growing segments of the consumer-electronics industry and with more products becoming available, greater number of LCDs are needed to meet demand.

Many other applications like digital photo frames and portable DVD players are consuming more displays every year. Since these applications demand larger sized displays (around 7 inches), increased demand can have a greater impact on capacity allocation and supply/demand balance of not only these displays but also notebook PC displays that also are being manufactured in fourth-generation fabs.

Active Matrix TFT-LCD Segment Gaining Momentum