PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
UK unit sales of desktop displays with In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology grew by 77.2 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2014.
Italy and France were the biggest winners in Europe during the period, with unit sales rising 142.1 per cent and 117.6 per cent respectively, according to data from tech research firm Context. Sales across Europe rose 85 per cent.
HP, Dell and LG were the top vendors of IPS displays, with HP recording unit growth of 121 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2014, accounting for 35 per cent of its entire display sales for the period.
The average selling price for IPS displays has now ‘stabilised’ to around the €200 mark, said Context’s senior analyst Lachlan Welsh.
In terms of revenues, IPS desktop displays in Europe grew by 63 per cent from the same period last year to account for just under a quarter of revenue share in Q1 2014.
IPS technology was invented in the late ’90s by Hitachi, although it has been heavily marketed of late by the likes of LG and Apple. The technology sought to improve on traditional TN displays by altering the direction of pixels to improve viewing angle and colour reproduction.
"Customers are increasingly searching for alternatives to traditional Twisted Nematics (TN) panels," said Context in a statement.
"Non-TN panels as a whole recorded unit growth of 77 per cent, bringing them to 21 per cent of the market. This segment has been heavily driven by the increasing use of smartphones and tablet PCs, which in turn built user expectations around higher quality displays in the desktop monitor market.
"However, one technology still failing to catch on in the desktop display space is touch screen panels, which are largely confined to use in the retail, healthcare and hospitality verticals.The segment experienced moderate growth of 37 per cent from Q1 2013 to Q1 2014 although from a small base and now accounts for just 1.2 per cent of the monitor market."
Overall, the desktop display market in Western Europe grew by 6.3 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2014, due in part to strong demand from the business segment around the end of XP support.
Here are more figures regarding IPS desktop display sales during the Q1 2014 period:
IPS Desktop Display unit growth year-on-year
UK: 77.2 per cent
France: 117.6 per cent
Germany: 88.9 per cent
Italy: 142.1 per cent
Spain: 108.4 per cent
Switzerland: 112.7 per cent
IPS Desktop Display average selling price
UK: €204.39
France: €190.27
Germany: €208.42
Italy: €166.13
Spain: €161.38
Switzerland: €223.79
Touch enabled desktop display penetration
UK: 0.9 per cent
France: 1.2 per cent
Germany: 1.4 per cent
Italy: 0.9 per cent
Spain: 0.7 per cent
Switzerland: 0.7 per cent
