Demand for liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors in the Middle East will surge in 2003, according to end-of-year research conducted by BenQ. “We found that an overwhelming number of people prefer the look and feel of LCD monitors over the more commonly-used cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors,” said Robert Dung, managing director, BenQ Middle East. “As new slim, stylish space-saving LCD monitors hit the market in 2003 and as the average price stabilizes, we’ll see that preference convert into rapidly accelerating sales.” LCD monitors were one of BenQ’s hottest-selling products in 2002. LCD monitors are currently used with about 10 percent of the region’s desktop computers. BenQ’s long-term prediction is that LCDs will be used with about 30 percent of all desktop computers in the region by 2005, a figure that will rise to 100 percent by 2007, as outdated CRT technology is totally replaced. The next wave of LCD monitors, which will hit the shelves in the first half of 2003, have award-winning designs, improved brightness and contrast ratios, and better response times, meaning that the monitors are faster to start up. BenQ’s research also suggests that consumers are considering the perceived health benefit of owning LCD monitors, which, unlike CRT monitors, emit no radiation. It is thought that this factor will impact buying decisions, particularly among users who spend all day at their PCs. “In 2003, we’ll see a number of changes in the LCD monitor market that will drive demand up,” says Dung. “Many distributors and systems integrators are now bundling LCD monitors with their branded and non-branded PCs, so customers find will find it easier to take home an LCD. In addition, the current world-wide shortage of LCD monitors will be resolved, which will have the effect of stabilizing prices.” BenQ is well-placed to assess current supply in the LCD monitor market, as the owner of the AU Panel factory, the second-largest manufacturer of LCD panels in the world. This has enabled BenQ to track developments in the LCD market over 2002, as well as providing it with a significant strategic advantage over its competitors.
