Global demand to post 13% annual gains through 2008
Following a brief downturn associated with the tech sector slowdown of the early 2000s, worldwide demand for displays has surged over the past couple of years or so, in the face of strong demand for flat panel computer monitors and the initial generations of high-definition flat screen televisions. Further strong growth is expected, with aggregate world display demand rising over 13% per year through 2008 to US$113.5 billion.
The market for flat screen displays will increase at a robust pace of nearly 20 percent per annum, while cathode ray tube (CRT) de-mand continues to decline steadily in nearly all major applications. Aside from favorable aesthetics and ongoing improvements in resolution and picture quality, flat panel displays will benefit from their in-creasing cost-effectiveness relative to CRTs.
LCD display types to remain dominant
Liquid crystal displays --and so-called active matrix LCDs built on thin-film transistors (TFT-LCDs) in particular -- have enjoyed impressive growth recently, and as of 2003, LCDs as a whole accounted for just under 90 percent of the total world flat panel display market. Although used in virtually all display applica-tions, LCDs have achieved especially good penetration in the desktop computer monitor market, having recently outstripped CRT-based monitors in terms of total revenue generated. Further robust growth in LCD demand is expected through the latter part of the decade and beyond.
Plasma displays and microdisplays have also seen healthy growth over the past several years, and will continue to register strong gains. These display technologies possess very good prospects in high-definition television (HDTV) applications, as do LCDs.
Advanced-technology organic light-emitting diode (OLED) flat panel displays hold much promise over the intermediate-to-longer term, but cost and techni-cal hurdles to large-scale commercialization remain formidable. Other types of flat panel displays (LED arrays, electroluminescent and vacuum fluorescent displays, etc.) remain largely limited to lower-volume niche applications, and are not expected to achieve significant growth going forward.
Excessive capacity to squeeze profit margins worldwide
The major LCD producers added massive amounts of new production capacity during the early years of the new millennium, largely in anticipation of strong demand for flat screen televisions. However, some observers believe this may lead to a price collapse and corresponding profit margin squeeze in what is already an extremely competitive segment of the electronic display industry.
Study coverage
Details on these and other key findings are contained in World Displays, a new Freedonia study available for $5200. It features his-torical data through 2003 plus forecasts to 2008 and 2013 for 25 countries and subregions for supply and demand by type and major application. It also presents company market share data and profiles 40 global industry players. | 
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