LCD Monitors outshine CRTs

The monitor market has been flourishing in India, growing by 12 per cent, despite the disastrous downward world trend. As per the Q4’08 IDC report, the size of the total monitor market in 2008 was 6.6 million in quantity and $1,153 million in terms of value. The market size of Non-Bundled Monitor is 3.8 million in quantity and $619 million in value. The total LCD market in India for 2008 was approximately 4.8 million units. CRT as a market is on the downswing. Even in the present economic scenario, the market is expected to grow by around 5–7 per cent in 2009.

R. Manikandan, Business Group Head, Digital Display & Storage, LG Electronics India Pvt. Ltd., says, “According to the Q4’08 IDC report, LG is No. 1 in terms of market share percentage in LCD monitors both in the total and non-bundled market (Q4’08). LG has set a challenging target of around 100-per cent quantity growth in the LCD monitors.”

S. Rajendran, Chief Marketing Officer, Acer India, says, “Over the last three quarters, Acer has recorded a massive growth in the exploding LCD monitor market in India and upstaged many of traditional players who have dominated the market for the better part of a decade moving the Acer brand to the top position. Acer has witnessed tremendous growth with an overall market share of 14.4 per cent in terms of unit shipments in the India LCD monitor market in CY 2008. Acer dominated the overall LCD monitor market in India with total unit sales of 688,843 in CY 2008. It also retained its hold on the No. 1 position in the overall widescreen Indian LCD monitor market. We sold approximately seven hundred thousand TFTs in India last year (standalone plus attached). We expect to record a growth rate at par with the market in 2009.”

LCD vs CRT
The CRT monitor is fast giving way to LCD monitors. CRT monitors are likely to fade out in 2009. LCD monitors would be replacing CRT monitors completely. The main factor that is increasing the growth of LCD monitors is the price erosion of LCD monitors, whereas CRT monitors are ruling at stable prices.

With enhanced and innovative features in LCDs, the segment would remain the first choice of consumers for their official as well as personal consumption. LCD monitors in India have come a long way since their launch in India and are set to dominate the market by overtaking the present CRT monitors. In the previous year – 2008, LCD monitors have recorded a tremendous growth. The reason for fuelling growth of LCD monitors is the affordable price range for aesthetically designed and environment-friendly monitors.

The future belongs to the LCD monitor market. CRT as a category is on the decline. The market for TFTs is expected to be around 5 million units in 2009.
The market would broadly see the following developments. CRTs as a category would continue to dip in the overall share of the business with many of the vendors expected to move out of this market and focus only on TFTs. The TFT market would see the 15” form factor getting phased out as a key category in the next couple of quarters with 17” firmly being established as a mainstream even in the upcountry markets.

The urban markets would see 19” form factor take over as mainstream. The widescreen form factors will emerge as a de facto at least in the consumer markets completely. Faster response time, lower-power consumption profiles and richness in connectivity (DVI. HDMI) would also prove to be the triggers for faster and wider adoption. Prices are expected to remain stable over the next quarter during the current macro-economic situation and the volatility of the rupee.
Gautam Ghosh, Country Manager, ViewSonic Technologies (India) Pvt. Ltd., says, “LCD screens have definitely come a long way. In the last two years, in India we experienced what we term as visual ‘revolution’. Today, LCD monitors do not just occupy desktop space but rather sit proudly in living rooms and bedrooms of our customers and come loaded with features. This is revolutionizing the display market like never before. This advancement in technology is bound to grow further and penetrate even smaller towns and cities. The main target customers of CRT basically lie in the tier-II and tier-III cities. As the monitor market matures in India and people realize the benefits of LCD technology over CRT, LCD sales will replace CRT sales.”

Types of Monitors
In LCD monitors, the sizes of screens available in the market are 15”W, 15.6”W, 16”W, 17”W, 18.5”W, 19”W, 20.1”W, 22”W and 24”W. In the mainstream LCD monitor segment, the response time varies from 5ms~8ms, whereas monitors with 2ms are also available.

Features
A consumer essentially demands for a space-saving model with elegant and attractive features. These days, energy-saving units are also in demand and LCD monitors work wonders for saving electricity bills and has become a preferred choice of home consumers. LCD monitor TV would see a new trend in the monitor segment.

“Acer’s success in the LCD monitor market has been driven by our continuous focus on the strategy of ‘Go Big Go Wide’, wherein the company constantly checkmated its competition by driving the market on to the bigger and wider form factors and bringing out the latest models first into the market. We have also focussed on offering cutting- edge product features like enhanced colour fidelity and image clarity which has seen Acer TFT adoption across segments. The other key features which have helped us in reaching out to the consumer base include lower-power consumption, lesser real estate space along with offerings being environment friendly,” informs Rajendran.

Home consumers typically look for bigger and wider form factors, colour fidelity and image clarity and connectivity options. The price also plays a very important part in the overall decision-making and since a majority is for replacement market, consumer buying is affected by the steps taken by brands and retailers to facilitate exchanges for old CRT monitors and upgrades for small LCD form factors.

Informs Ghosh, “ViewSonic offers a comprehensive line of products in India. Starting from the value series our product line expands to professional series which even satisfies the hardest of the discerning customers. To suit the needs of SOHO and SMB segments, ViewSonic offers Value series of LCD monitors in the market. For the graphic expert, we have specially designed Graphic series of monitors. With Convergence technology, we offer an extensive range of display solutions for the gaming and entertainment enthusiasts and finally to meet the growing concerns of professionals we offer top-of-the-line professional series of monitors. Depending on the specifications and feature combinations, these products are comfortably spread from mid-range to hi-end.“

Samsung also offers digitally advanced features packed in a premium design panel to its LCD monitor customers. Their T Monitor range not only has the picture quality dramatically enhanced, but its elegant TOC (Touch of Colour) design features a hint of amber colour naturally blended into Samsung’s traditional piano black bezel frame. Inspired by designs from the automotive and fashion industries, Samsung’s exclusive ‘dual injection technology’ used in the T Monitors eliminates the need for glue or screws to construct the Monitor bezel. The result is a Samsung T Monitor with a clean, smooth finish infused with a hint of a translucent colour. The distinctive and stunning design of the Samsung T monitors is well matched by its superior performance features – a dynamic contrast ratio of 20000:1; a response time of 2ms and a panel that supports 16.7 million colours.

Further, it is 40% more energy efficient in comparison to other monitors, in that it uses only 0.3W of power in Power Off Mode (the world’s lowest standby power) and 34~45 W power consumption in operation mode. Its popular Myst Plus Monitor series offers a stylish distinctive design in white and black with crystal deco bar and crisp picture display with a dynamic contrast ratio of 20,000:1 and it comes with HDCP support and a Dual input of D-sub, DVI. Based on the consumer feedback, Samsung has also launched a new 20” category monitor – Samsung 2033SW in the market.

Growth Drivers
The key growth verticals for the TFT business in India are SOHO/SMB segment which is fast realizing the benefits of computerization and which is also a big market for replacements. The Government vertical is another key growth segment with many large e-governance projects being launched. Corporates, education, gaming and home entertainment are also the primary spenders in this category, but they primarily look for value proposition as compared to newer technologies.

Marketing Strategy
Acer reaches out to consumers through its vast network over 3,000+ registered channel partners, brand retail network, specialized channels dealing with corporates and SMBs and via the emerging modern retail network. Acer is proud to be the first company to actively champion the transition of 15-inch TFT monitors to the “wide screen” format, introducing 15-inch wide, 17-inch wide, 19-inch wide and now the 22-inch Wide TFT monitors in a big way in India.

“For the year 2009, ViewSonic will work on a comprehensive strategy focussing on consolidation of business across various cities. We would be regionalizing our distribution and marketing plans to address the issues and concerns of each zone. Apart from this, we are focussing on expanding the market by introducing exciting product lines such as All-In-One PC and Netbooks and expanding the channel network by recruiting more partners from the tier-II and tier-III cities,“ informs Ghosh.

S. Balaji, GM – Marketing, HCL Peripherals, says, “We have a two-tier distribution system to reach the consumers. We also undertake aggressive branding activities, viz. advertisements, POP/POS displays, Glow signboards, various schemes, Channel programmes, etc. and reach out to the customers. The marketing strategy is to expand the Channel network with better product reach far and wide and to tap the tier-II & tier-III locations and beyond comprehensively. We are present across the length and breath of the Indian territory. We have 125 dealers spread across India in all strategic locations in India to promote our product line. We have tie-ups with all major LFRs in the country. We do all the necessary branding activities to reach the consumers at retail segment.”

Channel Partner Strategy
ViewSonic has a three-tier channel strategy, i.e. from distributors to ViewSonic Authorized Master Dealers and eventually to Resellers and System Integrators. Through its distributors, ViewSonic promotes its latest in technology product line across India. However, currently it is in the process of revamping its channel infrastructure to make it more region-specific. Also, it would be recruiting some new distributors and partners across India for its forthcoming launches and introduction of newer product lines.

Manikandan informs, “LG has a strong network of Regional Distributors, Resellers and System Assemblers. This strong bonding with the channel is what helps us to reach across customers. LG proudly claims to be a channel-friendly company. We always keep the profitability of our channel partners in mind and thus structure all our channel programmes. We at LG have been offering structured channel programmes for many years. To name a few, Powerplay (Apr – May ’08) / Overdrive (Jun-Jul ’08) / Advantage LG (Aug – Dec ‘08) and LG Chak De (Jan – Mar ‘09) are the popular ones. Beginning January 2009, LG has launched another exclusive programme for the system assemblers called Dil Se. As the system assemblers generally buy from resellers and not from large regional distributors, we have made the invoice of resellers valid for the system assemblers to qualify in Dil Se.”

Finally
The PC shipments of monitors will fall by over 8 per cent in the first half of this year. IDC predicts that PC sales gradually improve to a small positive growth in the fourth quarter, but will end the year down 4.5 per cent. Total PC shipments for 2009 are poised to hit 282 million units compared to 295.5 million in 2008. Sales would ramp up only if PC sales took off in smaller cities and towns. India is still a very under-penetrated market. Main growth will happen only when smaller income groups from tier-II and tier-III cities begin to buy hardware and software.