Slowing Mobile Phone Market Weakening Demand for Displays

Coming into the holiday shopping season, worldwide shipments of displays for mobile phones are slowing significantly. According to the latest forecast from DisplaySearch, Q4Ã'08 mobile phone display unit shipments will only be 2.5% higher Y/Y. By comparison, Q4Ã'07 unit growth was up 28% Y/Y, and Y/Y growth has remained in double digits every quarter during since Q3Ã'07.

The outlook for Q4Ã'08 revenues is stronger, however, due to demand for larger and/or higher resolution displays to support growing video and internet usage. Q4Ã'08 revenue growth is forecast at 11% Y/Y, just slightly about the Q3Ã'08 Y/Y growth of 10%.

According to DisplaySearch, the market for mobile phone main displays will reach US$13.2 billion and 1.46 billion units in 2008, up from $10.9 billion and 1.27 billion units in 2007. Any downturn for mobile phone displays will likely weaken the overall small/medium displays market, which includes any displays less than 10" diagonal in size used for portable electronics and other applications.

"The mobile phone market accounts for about 50% of the total small/medium market," noted Chris Crotty, DisplaySearch Director of Small & Medium Displays Research, who added, "An efficient supply chain and short lead times also make the mobile phone display market a key leading indicator for the health of overall mobile phone market."

Despite exciting new products like the new 3G iPhone and the Blackberry Storm, the overall demand for mobile phones seems to be weakening amid economic uncertainty. Replacement cycles are lengthening in more developed regions as consumers are increasingly reluctant to spend on unnecessary upgrades. In developing economic areas including China, production and job cutbacks have reduced demand for lower-end models.

Other key findings from the latest DisplaySearch mobile phone displays research include:

• More internet and video usage among mobile phone owners is driving steady increases in both display size and resolution. However, in 2008 average mobile phone display size (diagonal) will reach just 2.05", while average pixel count will be 56.9K pixels, less than the 76.8K pixels in the popular 320 Ãâ€" 240 pixel QVGA format, often considered the minimum for video. From 2008 to 2012, resolution is forecast to grow at a much faster average annual rate than size, i.e., 3-11%.
• The combined market share for leading mobile phone display suppliers has decreased over the last year. The total unit share for the top three and top five leading suppliers declined from 40% and 57% in Q2Ã'07 to 37% and 52% in Q2Ã'08. However, phone makers are not adding more display suppliers, but instead increasing orders among non-leading vendors. In both Q2Ã'07 and Q2Ã'08 phone makers purchased from an average of 5.7 display suppliers.
• Wintek has climbed to the top position among mobile phone display suppliers by increasing its unit share from 9.2% in Q2Ã'07 to 14.1% in Q2Ã'07. During that period, the Taiwan-based firm has grown unit shipments nearly four times faster than the total market. Wintek has added several new customers - Kyocera, Sagem, Tianyu, and ZTE - while sharply increasing orders from industry leader Nokia. These gains have more than offset declines from struggling maker Motorola.

Posted to the site on 13th November 2008