Author: Melanie Hollands
monitors, with a number of fabrication plants coming on line over the
next couple of years. All are Asian, mostly belonging to the existing major consumer
electronics companies, though increasingly in joint ventures with
| Melanie Hollands |
others. This increased capacity will result in falling LCD prices and
wider availability.
On Jan. 2, 2004, this column
discussed growth trends in technology for 2005 and beyond, of which
digital television (DTV) was one. DTV sales were a
front-runner in 2004, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, which reported that DTV sales in the U.S. reached $10.7 billion
on 7.3 million units — an increase of 78 percent in dollar sales and
63 percent in unit sales over 2003. One of the biggest drivers of DTV
is flat-panel, ultra-thin displays (liquid crystal display (LCD) and
plasma). Total sales of LCD TVs, one of the fastest-growing segments in
consumer electronics, exceeded $2 billion in 2004 and are expected to
surpass $3 billion in 2005.
