14 DAY TRIAL // The smaller prices of the TFT LCDs will increase their usage rate in the manufacture of cell phones.
As an iSuppli study revealed, until now, STN LCDs have been the main solution for cell phones, but this year, the TFT LCD technology will reach 47% of the mobile phone LCDs. In 2004, only 30% of LCDs were TFT LCD.
The iSuppli study has proved that the adoption of TFT LCD is firstly due to the low prices. In the last 12 months, the cost for such a display has decreased with almost 40%, in this moment, the price for 1.8 inch model with a resolution of 128x160 pixels is only 16 dollars.
The prices of the STN LCDs have also decreased, but only with 25%, and their performances are inferior to the ones of the TFT LCDs.
The first consequence of the migration towards TFT LCDs is the reduction of the production costs for cell phones.
The iSuppli study points the display represents 6 to 30% of the total production cost of a phone.
It is expected that by introducing TFT LCDs, the cost for the display will account only for 20% of the phone's total price.
Although producers are orienting themselves towards TFT LCDs, STN LCDs won't disappear completely from the market.