Handset Displays See Growth in Q2 2009

The shipments of mobile-phone displays are said to have returned to growth during the second quarter of the ongoing year, after seeing a significant drop in the first quarter. According to a recently published report from DisplaySearch, the handset displays have registered shipments of around 360 million units in Q2 2009, marking a 30-percent increase in the quarter and a three-percent increase compared with the same time frame a year ago.

According to the DisplaySearch report, the revenues also went up in the second quarter, reaching US$2.93 billion and marking a 29-percent sequential growth, although they were five percent lower than in the second quarter of the last year. The highest traction towards handset communication is expected to be registered in emerging markets like India and China, the report says, adding that saturated Western European and North American markets should see a growth of less than ten percent during 2009.

“The global economy is slowly recovering, fueling growth in handset phone shipments in the second quarter,” Calvin Hsieh, DisplaySearch research director, noted. “Despite this, total 2009 handset phone demand in North America and Western Europe is still less than 2008, an impact of the recession. Looking ahead, we expect it will be a better year in 2010, with worldwide handset phone growth of 15% and emerging markets playing an increasingly vital role in shipments.”

According to DisplaySearch, the leader of the mobile phone market, Nokia, is still unable to account for a massive presence on emerging markets, which drives its market share on a downward route. The company is said to have accounted for 25.5 percent of the market in the second quarter of the year, a significant drop compared with the 31.7 percent it accounted for in the first quarter. Moreover, the report also says that white-box handsets manufactured mainly in China managed to reach a 20-percent market share.

Active matrix displays are expected to see an ever-growing market share, due to the fact that they come with touch capabilities and with higher resolution and larger displays for smartphones. a-Si TFT-LCD is said to have reached a 46.6-percent market share and LTPS TFT-LCDs to have increased their market share with 25.3 percent, accounting for 21.6 percent of the market. As for AMOLED displays, they are popular among high-end handsets, accounting for 1.3 percent of the total market (with a 54.5-percent sequential increase).