PC Hardware Analysts with IDC, Mercie Clement, says the branded monitor recovery was not without its losers as LG Electronics gains momentum and BenQ begins to threaten second placed Samsung.

“The Q1 2005 market witnessed some major changes in branded vendor rankings. LG Electronics continued to lead the branded monitor market with 18.0 per cent share, almost 4 percentage points up from last quarter. Samsung maintained its second place, with 15.5 per cent share of units shipped,” said Clement.

“BenQ climbed up to the third spot, with 14.5 per cent share, leveraging its continued strength in the LCD market, where the vendor has emerged as the leader since Q3 2004. Acer posted strong growth in the quarter, with a pick up in its channels business as well as its steady performance in the retail segment, finishing the quarter with 11.1 per cent share.

“Rounding out the top 5 was Philips which lost 2 percentage points from Q4 2004, to finish with 10.2 per cent share,” Ms. Clement also stated.
Overall the market recovered from the previous quarter, posting a 3 per cent sequential growth, but declining 2 per cent from the same time last year. However Clement explains this is part of the seasonal trend as corporate and government spending began to kick in at the tail-end of the education purchasing season.

There was also a notable surge in consumer buying, aided by the continued price aggressiveness of particular vendors with a strong presence in the retail market, says IDC.
The OEM market during first quarter was plagued by shortages of 17 inch LCD monitors resulting in a 6 per cent decline quarter on quarter. Prices began to stabilise and even creep up in some instances, causing resellers to be less cautious about taking on extra stock this quarter. This inadvertently translated into an increased growth in branded monitor shipments in Q1 2005.

Meanwhile, Clement has also being tracking the Ingram Micro Tech Pacific merger, saying: “The newly merged Ingram-Micro and Tech-Pacific saw most if not all of its back-end logistical processes become fully combined in Q1 2005. Vendors with existing relationships with the channel saw their business with the distributor grow as a proportion of their total monitor business, as the channel resumed business as usual.

“Vendors who have relations with the new Ingram Micro are anxious to maintain status quo if not grow their business with the distributor, as the merger has essentially translated to an increased number of brands being distributed by the new Ingram Micro,” said Clement.

Top five vendors (branded market):

LG Electronics      18.0%

Samsung               15.5%

BenQ                      14.5%

Acer                       11.1%

Philips                   10.2%

Others                   30.7%