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DisplaySearch Reports Flat Panel TVs and Microdisplay RPTVs Achieve Record Results Worldwide, Samsung #1 TV Brand on a Unit and Revenue Basis (1/12/2005)

DisplaySearch, an NPD Group Company and the worldwide leader in display market research, today released Q3'05 TV shipments and revenues for all TV technologies by brand, region, size and resolution through its Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report. Shipments for 47 different brands are included in the latest report.

Worldwide TV shipments were up 12% Q/Q and 2% Y/Y in seasonally strong Q3'05 to 43.6M units, within 0.6% of DisplaySearch's forecast. With pricier flat panel and microdisplay rear projection TVs (MD RPTVs) gaining share, revenue growth continued to outpace unit growth with revenues up 19% Q/Q and 12% Y/Y to $19.1B. As a result, average selling prices (ASPs) rose 6% Q/Q and 10% Y/Y to $439.

The flat panel TV unit share, covering LCD and plasma TVs, rose from 6% in Q3'04 and 13% in Q2'05 to 16% in Q3'05 on 37% Q/Q and 153% Y/Y growth as prices become increasingly attractive. While accounting for a minority of units, flat panels earned a majority of revenues for the first time with a 55% share, up from 48% in Q2'05 and 33% in Q3'04 on 34% Q/Q and 87% Y/Y growth.

In terms of shipments by technology:

-- LCD TV shipments rose 36% Q/Q and 156% Y/Y to a record high 5.5M units and a 13% share of the TV market, up from 5% in Q3'04 and 10% in Q2'05. With LCD TV ASPs rising 1% Q/Q to $1190 due to significant gains by larger sizes, LCD TV revenues surged 37% Q/Q and 103% Y/Y to $6.5B and a 34% share of the worldwide TV market in Q3'05, up from 29% in Q2'05 and 19% in Q3'04. The average LCD TV diagonal grew from less than 24" to greater than 25" as the 30" and larger share rose from29% in Q2'05 to 36% in Q3'05 as prices reached new lows. LCD TVs gained share vs. other technologies across most size categories between 15"-19" and 45"-49". All regions enjoyed at least 44% growth Q/Q except Japan which was up just 1% due to its already high penetration. Europe remained the leading region with a 40% share, up from 38%, while the North American share rose from 27% to 30%. For the first time, 32" LCD TVs were the single most popular size in every region, earning a 27% share worldwide, up from 21%. 20" remained the #2 size followed closely by 26". By brand worldwide on a unit basis, the top 5 remained the same with Sharp #1 maintaining an 18% share, followed by Philips/Magnavox, Samsung, Sony and LGE. Regionally on a revenue basis, the leaders remained the same with Sharp leading in Japan and North America, Philips #1 in Europe, Hisense leading in China and LGE #1 in ROW.

-- Plasma TV shipments grew 40% Q/Q and 143% Y/Y to a record 1.6M units and a 3.6% share, up from 2.9%. Significant price declines, particularly from early September, supported the strong growth. Blended plasma TV ASPs dropped 8% Q/Q and 32% Y/Y to a record low $2057 with 37" HD, 42"-43" HD and 50" prices all down at least 13% Q/Q. Despite the lower prices, plasma TV revenues also established a record high, up 29% Q/Q and 65% Y/Y to $3.96B and a 21% share of TV revenues, up from 19%. The HD share of the PDP market rose from 40% in Q2'05 to 47% in Q3'05 worldwide and from 51% to 66% in North America with PDP manufacturers positioning HD products for faster growth as evidenced by the price gap between 42"-43" HD and 42" ED falling 47% from $2012 to $1061 from Q3'04 to Q3'05. 50" was the fastest growing size in Q3'05, up 89% Q/Q, enabling its share of the plasma TV market to rise from 9% to 12%. The 50" plasma share of the 50"-54" TV market surged from 22% in Q2'05 to 31% in Q3'05, gaining share from CRT RPTVs as MD RPTVs also gained share. 42"-43" HD was the next fastest growing size category, up 73% Q/Q and earning a 29% share, up from 23%. 42" ED remained dominant with a 50% share, although it was down from 56% in Q2'05. The less than 42" share fell from 11% to 8%. Panasonic remained #1 in plasma TVs with its share rising from 27% to 29% on 51% growth. It remained #1 in Japan, North America and Europe and overtook Changhong for the top position in China. LGE remained #1 in ROW. By size/resolution, Panasonic was #1 in the 5 largest categories - 37" ED, 37" HD, 42" ED, 42"-43" HD and 50".

-- MD RPTVs rose 50% Q/Q and 44% Y/Y to a record high 634K units after declining sequentially for the past two consecutive quarters. MD RPTV shipments surpassed CRT RPTV shipments for the first time worldwide. The MD RPTV share of the global TV market rose from 1.1% in Q2'05 to 1.5% in Q3'05 on a unit basis and from 6.5% in Q2'05 to 8.1% in Q3'05 on a revenue basis. By technology, DLP and LCOS drove the growth, up 66% and 151% Q/Q with LCD RPTVs up 29%. Due to its significantly faster growth, DLP overtook LCD RPTVs with a 47% to 46% advantage. Gains by 1080p MD RPTVs caused the blended ASP to fall just 2% Q/Q and 18% Y/Y to $2428 enabling MD RPTV revenues to reach a record $1.54B, the second highest quarter to date and up 47% Q/Q and 18% Y/Y. Gains by LCOS, and 1080p DLP sets, which feature larger average diagonals, enabled the average MD RPTV diagonal to rise from 51.4" to 51.7". By resolution, 1080p MD RPTV shipments reached a 7% share in Q3'05, up from less than 1% in Q2'05. North America continued to dominate the MD RPTV market earning an 88% share, up from 84%. North America gained sequential share from all other regions on 58% Q/Q and 47% Y/Y growth. North America led in every size and resolution category. China also experienced rapid growth, up 44% Q/Q, while ROW and Europe declined Q/Q. Japan shipments were also broken out for the first time. By size, larger sizes continued to gain share with less than 50" falling from 26% to 25%, 50"-59" declining from 54% to 53% and 60"+ rising from 19% to 22%. By brand on a unit basis, Sony led for the fourth consecutive quarter on both a unit and revenue basis. However, its share declined from 36% to 32%. Samsung remained #2 although its share fell from 25% to 21%. Mitsubishi rose from #4 to #3 on rapid growth in LCD RPTVs as well as DLP. Panasonic fell from #3 to #4 while Toshiba jumped from #7 to #5. By brand by region, Sony led in each region except Japan which was led by Epson.

In terms of worldwide TV shipments and revenues by supplier, Samsung remained #1 on a revenue basis and overtook LGE to become #1 on a unit basis as shown at http://www.displaysearch.com/press/?id=498. Samsung has earned this position due to its strong position in each technology although it did not lead in any single technology. On a unit basis, it was #2 in CRT TVs, MD RPTVs and CRT RPTVs and #3 in plasma and LCD TVs. While Panasonic was #7 on a unit basis, it was #2 on a revenue basis due to its dominant plasma position.

DisplaySearch's Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report also features a rolling 16-quarter shipment forecast by region, technology, size and resolution as well as a rolling 16-quarter cost and price forecast.

www.displaysearch.com