Taiwanese LCD monitor shipments are expected to drop a massive 15 percent this year. The news is hardly surprising, as the first half of the year saw a double-digit drop in PC sales.
According to Digitimes, weak PC sales and ample demand for tablets is squashing PC monitor shipments. There’s not much monitor vendors can do to fight the trend. Some are trying to focus on value added features, expand into new, bigger sizes, but it is not easy to come up with a compelling new feature for a simple monitor.
In the long run, the hope is that renewed interest in PC gaming could drive demand for UHD/4K panels, but that won’t happen for at least two years. Both AMD and Nvidia are pushing 4K, but in reality the prices remain too high for most people.
Even wider form factors are a possibility, too, along with sub-4K monitors in the 24- to 27-range. There are already plenty of 2560×1080 and 2560×1440 monitors on the market, usually in the 26- to 30-inch space, and the cheapest consumer-grade ones go for about £400.
They should become a lot more relevant in the short term, while big 32-inch UHD units with price tags near the £3,000 mark still have a long way to go before they gain mass market appeal. Right now they are reserved for professionals and this won’t change over the next two years.
What’s more, Taiwan-based ODMs also appear to be losing their grip on the notebook market and this could be another big hit for local LCD makers.
