Plasma panel shipments fell 4 percent quarter over quarter and were up 3 percent year over year in the fourth quarter of the 2006, according to figures released last week from DisplaySearch.
The display market research and consulting firm said the fourth quarter 2006 was only the second quarter since the first quarter of 2003 that plasma panels declined quarter over quarter. It also was the first quarter that plasma panels grew less than 47 percent year over year.
The decline can be attributed to loss of share to LCD TVs at less than 50in and the limited market for televisions larger than 50in outside of North America.
The plasma market continued to embrace HDTV formats with the HDTV share jumping to 87 percent in the quarter vs. 79 percent in the third quarter and 51 percent in the same quarter last year. The 1080P share rose from 1.1 percent in the third quarter to 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter.
For more information, visit www.displaysearch.com.
