Display chip sales to move on the double
The market for chips used in electronic displays is expected to roughly double by 2007, as sales of flat-panel TVs and computer monitors continue to surge.
Sales of chips for displays in products such as televisions and mobile phones will jump from $4.7 billion this year to more than $9.3 billion in 2007, market research firm iSuppli/Stanford Resources predicted in a report Thursday.
The firm said growth for these chips will be driven by rising sales of plasma and LCD (liquid crystal display) televisions and flat-panel PC monitors.
Earlier, iSuppli said it expects worldwide revenue for LCD panels to reach $47 billion in 2004, up 32 percent from last year.
The flat-screen TV market has been heating up, with Dell and Gateway both introducing LCD televisions. The market for LCD monitors used in desktop computers also has been strong.
According to iSuppli/Stanford Resources, LCD drivers will account for the largest part of the display chip market. LCD drivers are chips that send voltage to the rows and columns that form pixels on the screen, said David Mentley, an analyst at iSuppli/Stanford Resources.
More than 1.7 billion units of driver chips will be needed for the PC-related market alone in 2004, the research firm said. Cellular phones will account for another 610 million units of driver chips.
Other products that make up the market for chips used in displays include monitor controllers and TV chips. Mentley said monitor controllers generate the signals sent to drivers, while TV chips include devices that tackle image processing such as color enhancement.