LCD monitor prices to continue fall next year

That's as a result of the manufacturers appearing to have recognised that if they want the lucrative CRT replacement market, they'll have to continue to cut prices.

The research group said that 17-inch LCD monitors will drop to around $300, but the "sweet spot" for such units could be as little as $200 to encourage movement away from CRT displays.

The Center said that manufacturers of thin film transistor (TFT) LCD displays will have to break away from their idee fixee that large panels are the way to go to continue to compete against other technologies such as OLED (organic light emitting diode) technologies.

Most LCD monitors, said MIC, are sold to the US, to western Europe and to Japan. While the Taiwanese manufacturers churned out more large size LCD panels in volume in the second quarter than the Korean giants like Samsung and LG-Philips, volumes for notebook and LCD TVs fell behind.

Oversupply will continue well into 2005, said the Center. That means, the organisation said, that competitiveness in cost control as well as customer relationships "will be put to the test".

It estimates that in 2005, Taiwanese production of both LCD monitors and screens for notebooks will be greater than 70 per cent of global supply. LCD TV shipments, however, will likely only just top 10 per cent next year. µ