Television plasma panel shipments fall by 22 per cent in Q2
Television plasma panel shipments fell by 22 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 after posting a strong growth during most of 2008 due to the exit of major brands in the plasma TV business and poor economic conditions globally.
Emirates 24|7
May 6, 2009
06 May 2009 Television plasma panel shipments fell by 22 per cent in the second quarter of 2009 after posting a strong growth during most of 2008 due to the exit of major brands in the plasma TV business and poor economic conditions globally.
According to research firm Display Search's quarterly global TV shipment and forecast report based on plasma and LCD TV panel shipment module indicated that shipments fell 28 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 and 22 per cent year on year to just under 2.8 million units, down from 3.5 million units in the first quarter of 2008.
Most of the decline was due to 32" models being discontinued in 2009, but even 42" and 50" panel shipments fell in Q1'09. Some brands announced their withdrawal from the plasma TV business in Q1'09, like Pioneer, while other brands decided to shift away from plasma to focus on LCD TV only, like Vizio. The result was weaker than anticipated shipments as the number of brands consolidates.
"As bad as plasma unit shipments were in Q1'09 relative to a year ago, plasma panel revenues were even worse, declining 36 per cent Y/Y as falling prices were needed to stem even steeper demand falloff," said Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch Director of North America TV Market Research. "With future investment in capacity expansion on hold at almost every plasma panel maker except Panasonic, improvements in technology, such as greater luminance efficiency and more efficient manufacturing at existing fabs, will be the key areas of investment to maintain cost competitiveness against future LCD fab capacity expansion."
Additional developments from the Q1'09 shipment results include 50"+ share of shipments reached a new high of 33 per cent in Q1'09 from 30 per cent in Q4'08 as the 32" market subsides and plasma TV brands focus on the 50"+ market where they remain more competitively priced than LCD.
1080p, the shorthand name for a category of HDTV video mode, share of shipments dipped slightly from 25 per cent in Q4'08 to 22 per cent in Q1'09 as manufacturers focused on offering the lowest priced products to consumers, such as 42" and 50" 720p models, at a time when consumer price sensitivity continues to climb.
As the 32" shipment share declined, most of the share was picked up at 50" with a smaller share increase at 42". 46" shipment share continues to struggle to rise over three per cent of unit volume for two reasons. 42" and 50" HD products are priced at very compelling levels, and competitive 46" and 47" 1080p LCDs are priced similarly to 46" 1080p plasma, limiting growth.
The top plasma panel suppliers on a unit basis were Panasonic at the top position with 37 per cent share in Q1'09 followed by Samsung SDI at 2nd position with 31 per cent, followed by LGE (26 per cent).
Since Hitachi and Pioneer will withdraw plasma module production in 2009, only three major panel makers are left in the plasma industry.
