Display investment looking up in a down market
By Nicolas Mokhoff, EE Times
March 20, 2003 (1:05 p.m. EST)
URL: eetimes.com
NEW YORK — Despite the economic downturn in almost all sectors of the electronics industry, the flat-panel display (FPD) sector is continuing to show respectable growth.
At the latest venue meant to attract display investors, Matt Medeiros, former head of Philips Electronics' Components Division, said there are only two technologies worthy of investment: displays and wireless. "These two technologies will serve as the basis for inputting and outputting all future information," Medeiros told investors.
According to market research firm DisplaySearch (Austin,Texas) the FPD market was one of the fastest growing electronic business segments in 2002 with shipments growing 31 percent to $28.8 billion. Growth is projected to be over 20 percent per year through 2006, achieved through manufacturing efficiencies and broader applications in PCs, mobile communications and the consumer video market.
The worldwide electronic display market is expected to be worth almost $100 billion by 2006, with FPDs occupying about 70 percent of that, according to DisplaySearch.
TFT LCD equipment spending rose 36 percent in 2002 to $5.2 billion. Spending in 2003 is expected to rise 23 percent to $6.4 billion. Combined total spending through 2006 could top $23 billion, the market researchers said.
As the chief architect of the liquid crystal display (LCD) joint venture between Philips Electronics and LG Electronics, Medeiros secured a leadership position for Philips in flat displays.
"I expect that AM-LCDs will be dominant for the next ten years," said Mederios, "But in order for the FPD to continue growing we need continue investing in a down economy. We also need to adjust our business models for continued growth and hold manufacturers more responsible for building displays for specific applications."
Application-specific diplays were another featured technology at investment conference, which was co-sponsored by investment house Needham and display consortium USDC.
"We have developed a value add-centric model for the medical and industrial markets," said Omid Milani, director of the Display Business Unit of NEC Electronics America (Santa Clara,Calif.). "We will apply NEC's manufacturing strenghts in LCDs to custom produce low-volume panels for specific applications." |
