AUSTIN, TEXAS, May 19, 2009—With a lingering global recession continuing to place pressure on discretionary spending, global TV shipments declined 6% Y/Y in Q1’09 to 43.3M units according to the latest Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report from DisplaySearch. This was a decline of 25% from Q4’08 on seasonal trends. Revenues fell even more, down 12% Y/Y to $22.1 billion with ASPs falling 6% Y/Y as both retailers and brands sought to keep consumers shopping. The resulting shipments were very close to projections, but the mix was weighted more heavily towards LCD TVs than expected on strong demand in China as well as North America.

Globally, flat panel TV shares grew from 66% in Q4’08 to 68% in Q1’09 as LCD TV prices fell even more in Q1’09 on an annual basis than they did during the Q4’08 holiday season, an indication of the pressure to maintain consumer demand. LCD TVs were the only technology to gain share during the quarter, rising from 58% to 62%, as Y/Y shipments grew 27% to 26.7M units, but revenues posted the first ever Y/Y decline on a worldwide basis, down 1% Y/Y, highlighting the pressure on prices. Plasma TV unit shipments increased 1% Y/Y by comparison to 2.8M with revenues falling by 26%Y/Y, representing 6% of unit shipments and 11% of global TV revenues.

China remained the #1 region for TV shipments, increasing unit share from 19.1% to 21.3%, with strong growth in LCD TV shipments, posting the only sequential increase in LCD TV unit volume from Q4’08 to Q1’09 of any region, as the rural subsidy program gained momentum and helped to partially offset a sharp decline in demand for CRT TVs. North America was the dominant region for TV revenues, accounting for more than 27% of global dollars due to a greater mix of large size LCD and plasma TVs than other regions.

Given the pressure on consumer spending, it’s not surprising that demand remained strong for modest screen sizes, where pricing was more attractive. 32” was still the most popular screen size, accounting for almost 38% of unit shipments, but the share of total TV shipments above 40” declined about half a percent from record levels in Q4’08. The unit share of higher resolution 1080p models increased by more than a point to a record 21.7%.

A review of global TV shipment performance by technology can be seen in Table 1 below:

Table 1: Q1‘09 Worldwide TV Shipments by Technology (000s)

Source: DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report

On a brand basis, Samsung remained the global brand share leader in revenues for the thirteenth straight quarter, holding their revenue share around 22%, and also leading in global TV unit share. LGE overtook Sony for the #2 share position in global TV revenues, rising almost 2 points to 13.3% and posting the only Y/Y revenue growth among the top five brands with a 14% Y/Y growth in unit volume. Sony fell to #3 on a revenue basis as a result, with Sharp and Panasonic rounding out the top five. It’s interesting to note that in LCD TV on a revenue basis, Philips fell out of the top five for the first time, replaced by Toshiba who was #2 in Japan and #5 in North America and Western Europe.

A complete review of the top five brands can be seen in Table 2:

Table 2: Q1‘09 Worldwide TV Brand Rankings by Revenue Share

Source: DisplaySearch Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report

DisplaySearch’s TV market intelligence including panel and TV shipments, TV shipments by region by brand by size for nearly 60 brands, rolling 16-quarter forecasts, TV cost/price forecasts and design wins can be found in its Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report. For more information on this report, please contact Charles Camaroto at 1.888.436.7673 or 1.516.625.2452 or contact@displaysearch.com, or contact your local DisplaySearch office in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

Don’t forget to register for SID’s Business Conference, co-hosted by DisplaySearch and SID, during the SID Display Week. To view the full agenda for the SID Business Conference and presentation abstracts, visit http://www.sid.org/conf/sid2009/business.html or to register visit http://www.sid.org/conf/sid2009/registration.html

Visit DisplaySearch at Booth #726 during SID Display Week, May 31-June 5 in SanAntonio, Texas. Media interested in scheduling a briefing during the show or in need of market data for their SID articles should contact Stacey Voorhees-Harmon at stacey@savvypublicrelations.net or call 1.925.336.9592.

About DisplaySearch
DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company, has a core team of 57 employees, located in Europe, North America and Asia, who produce a valued suite of FPD-related market forecasts, technology assessments, surveys, studies and analyses. Visit the DisplaySearch blog to read about how our top analysts are interpreting up-to-the-minute issues that impact the display industry, and join us in this discussion about technology and the flat panel industry. The company also organizes influential events worldwide. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, DisplaySearch has regional operations in Chicago, Houston, Kyoto, London, San Diego, San Jose, Seoul, Shenzhen, Taipei and Tokyo, and the company is on the web at http://www.displaysearch.com.

About The NPD Group, Inc. (http://www.npd.com/)
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,700 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps our clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions. Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, contact us or visit http://www.npd.com/ and http://www.npdgroupblog.com/.

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