As Hitachi, Philips and Fujitsu quit the plasma TV market comes news that the flat screen technology is surging, with vendors like Panasonic, Samsung and LG recording record sales according to research company Display Search.

Plasma display shipments built upon record third quarter shipments to reach another new record in the fourth quarter of 2007, exceeding forecasts by rising 42% on quarter and 62% on year to almost 4.4 million units, according to DisplaySearch.

Panasonic grew their share by 48%, LG by 113% Samsung by 95%. However Pioneer, despite massive advertising declined by 39%. 

Greater availability of 1080p resolution panels, which maintained an 11% share of all shipments and grew 46% on quarter and over 1,300% on year, 42-inch 1080p PDP shipments exceeded 50-inch PDP shipments for the first time in the fourth quarter of 2007.

PDP pricing was better than LCD, with 42-inch HD PDP panels 20% less than comparable LCDs. PDP pricing is also falling faster on quarter than comparable LCD panel sizes.

32-inch PDPs are selling well in developing regions and 32-inch PDP’s share is more than doubling to nearly 11% of PDP shipments.

“Despite the very strong unit growth, revenues were only slightly higher, rising just 32% quarter and 3% on year in the fourth quarter of 2007 to US$1.9 billion as ASP (average selling price) declines impacted revenues growth potential. In fact, blended average selling prices fell 36% on year for the second quarter in a row. This was the third straight quarter of more than 30% price declines as supply continues to exceed demand and as a greater share of lower-priced 32-inch panels drove blended prices down,” noted Paul Gagnon, DisplaySearch Director of North America TV Research.

By supplier, Matsushita (which changes its name to Panasonic officially on October 1, 2008) remained the top supplier. Its share grew from 33% to 37%, with the strongest share growth coming from HD resolution panels. The share of 1080p panels rose to nearly 80% in the fourth quarter from 77% in the third quarter of 2007. LG Electronics overtook Samsung SDI for the second position with a one point share gain to 28% as Samsung SDI slipped from 29% to 25%.

LGE’s 32-inch PDP introduction has proven to be a strong volume booster, contributing to more than a third of the company’s share and becoming the second most popular size. Though Samsung SDI slipped to the third position overall, it continued to lead the 50-inch PDP segment and was the second at 1080p The company had the second strongest on year growth behind LGE.

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Source: DisplaySearch, compiled by Digitimes.