AUSTIN, TEXAS: DisplaySearch predicts that the 3D display market will explode over the next eight years, from around 700,000 units shipped in 2008 to 196 million in 2018. The research firm estimates that correlative revenues will increase from $902 million to $22 billion.
DisplaySearch said “the market for 3D displays is forecast to take off in 2010,” a relatively safe prognostication given the recent hoopla over 3DTV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
DisplaySearch forecasts 3DTVs (as opposed to monitors with no reception) will grow from around 200,000 units in last year to 64 million units in 2018. 3D-ready TV will be the largest application in terms of revenue in 2018 with $17 billion, the firm said.
In addition to monitors and TVs, 3D notebook PCs are forecast to grow from 66,000 units in 2009 to 17.7 million in 2018. Mobile phones are expected to be the largest 3D display application on a unit shipment basis in 2018, with 71 million shipped. As a result, the largest screen-size category is expected to be between one and four inches. The next largest screen-size category will be from 40 to 49 inches, DisplaySearch said. LCD will be the main 3D display technology.
Around 7,000 theaters are expected to upgrade to 3D technology this year, with another 9,000 going 3D in 2011.
“Eyewear will be necessary for most 3D applications for many years to come, due to the limitations of auto-stereoscopic technologies,” DisplaySearch said.
