IDC: LCDs to outsell CRT monitors in 2003

IDG News Service - Sales of LCD monitors will top $20 billion this year, overtaking revenue from sales of conventional CRT monitors this year, according to research released today by IDC.
The worldwide PC monitor market will grow by 4.8% this year, driven by improving economies and an expected spike in PC sales growth. Last year, sales growth for monitors was just 0.7% , Framingham, Mass.-based IDC said.
LCD monitors are steadily getting larger as improved manufacturing technology helps achieve lower prices. The predominant LCD size now is the 15-in. screen, but by 2005, the market will shift to 17-in. screens. As prices for LCD monitors continue to fall, and CRT manufacturers fail to explain the advantages of their products to end users, the shift will continue, according to IDC.
Experts have said that the human eye needs to see 25 frames per second to be tricked into thinking that motion is continuous, and LCD monitors have often failed to meet this specification, making them less attractive for showing fast-moving graphics such as those found in games.
The new Diamond View DV159 LCD monitor from Mitsubishi Electric Corp., for example, has improved pixel response time and can show more than 60 frames per second, the manufacturer has stated.
As prices drop, manufacturers will increasingly offer LCDs bundled with PCs, and the stand-alone LCD monitor market will begin to shrink, according to IDC.
The U.S. is currently the world's largest monitor market, accounting for 34.4% of monitors sold, followed by Asia with 24.6% of shipments, IDC said.