Fat panel demand buoys 32-inch plasma

GREAT BIG plasma screens are enjoying sales growth in the business market, says market watcher Isuppli.

Corporate training rooms and lecture halls are snapping up 40 to 60-inch plasma display panels, as are schools, conference halls and shopping centres, it reports. PDP displays are being sold as replacements for projectors in conference rooms and those bulbous overhead projectors are a thing of the past.

Cut-throat competition amongst suppliers has led to a boom in the hospitality industry and indoor arenas take advantage of the lower prices.

Some manufacturers such as LG have shifted back to 32-inch panels a size likely to grow in popularity.

Isuppli's research suggests the 34-inch and smaller PDP market will grow to 485,000 units by 2011, up from nothing in 2006, This year some 400,000 units shipped. Riddhi Patel, principal analyst for television systems at Isuppli said the main factor forcing LG out of the 50- to 59-inch panel market was it, " could not compete in terms of price with LCD panels at this size".

According to the researcher, 50-inch PDPs are available for less than $2,000 and 42-inch models can be had for just $1,000-1,500. µ