TrendForce: Brands Target at Niche Products, Wide-Viewing-Angle Monitor Saw 21% Penetration Rate in January

According to the survey by WitsView, the display research division of the global intelligence provider TrendForce, as LCD monitor brands boosted shipment in Q4’13 and lifted the inventory level at the retailer end, and the procurement momentum was impacted on some brands’ advanced pull-in at the end of last year before the Lunar New Year labor shortage, the SI makers’ January shipment declined 10.3% MoM and dropped sharply 13.1% YoY and one of them saw the panel inventory higher than four weeks because of the sudden drop in brands’ procurement. 

WitsView research manager Anita Wang indicates that the LCD monitor shipment drops constantly and brands keep lifting the niche product penetration rate to maintain profitability. Of the niche LCD monitor products, the wide-viewing-angle has the highest penetration rate as the top ten LCD monitor brands’ wide-viewing-angle penetration rate for January came to 21% with Dell and LGE as the most aggressive brands. Dell emphasizes on the commercial segment and had a more than 40% wide-viewing-angle penetration rate in January while consumer-oriented LGE showed a penetration rate near 40% as it worked closely with its panel supplier who supported the wide-viewing-angle business.    

Makers continue to develop new niche products and seek new opportunities, and the transformer concept is spread to the LCD monitor industry from the NB segment. The combination of tablet and LCD monitor, either the two-in-one model or the integration by the docking, would be an interesting topic.

Figure: Top Ten LCD monitor brands’ wide-viewing-angle penetration rate in January