TAIPEI, TAIWAN: According to WitsView’s survey, TPV topped the list of LCD monitor SIs with 3.7 million monitor shipments. This was followed by Innolux, which shipped 2.9 million units. Coming in third was Samsung, where its own-brand business produced 1.8 million units. Qisda and LGE were respectively ranked at No. 4 and No. 5, both shipping roughly 1 million units.

Due to the global economic downturn, the LCD monitor market demand remained sluggish. Aside from preventing a serious inventory buildup, SIs must also deal with the drop in orders from brand vendors. This resulted in the LCD monitor monthly shipments from the Top 10 SIs to increase by a mere 0.8 percent during September.

Looking into October, most SIs are still hoping the traditional seasonality will provide a boost to the market demand. Yet, with the macroeconomic woes still present, WitsView projects the aggregated shipments from the top 10 SIs to only grow by 7 percent MoM.

Worldwide LCD monitor SI shipments in September (Unit: K pcs)

On the other hand, for the survey of the world’s Top 10 monitor brand vendors, Samsung was still able to retain its No. 1 leadership, producing a total of 2.23 million monitors, but its monthly production declined by 7 percent. This was followed by Dell, where it produced 2.2 million monitors, equivalent to a MoM decline of 2.2 percent. Including Packard Bell and Gateway, Acer manufactured a total of 1.4 million units.

Due to the launch of many new models and the fact that September marked the shipment peak, Acer’s MoM growth rate reached a whooping 41.4 percent. LGE, which was ranked No.4, produced 1.33 million monitors, up by a mere 2.2 percent MoM. The fifth slot belonged to HP. The US based company manufactured 1.3 million units, down by 7 percent MoM.

In general, the production volume of the Top 10 monitor vendors still grew by 4.2 percent MoM in September. The growth mainly stemmed from the increased production from Acer, AOC, BenQ, Viewsonic and Philips. In the wake of the market uncertainty since April along with the persisting panel price falls, most brand vendors did not aggressively pull-in inventory.

With the global economy still very shaky, the Top 10 monitor brand vendors are holding a cautious view toward the market demand during 4Q08. WitsView projects their production will grow by 7 percent over September.

Worldwide LCD monitor brand shipments in September  (Unit: K pcs)