LCD MONITORS: Dropping Prices Propel Demand

Sunil has made Mercury, a household name for motherboards in the country. His
stress on quality and committed service have led Kobian to achieve much higher
growths than the industry average. Sunil is now working on making his company a
top-notch hardware services exporter.

Steep drop in prices man aged to generate decent demand for LCD monitors
during the year. Niche segments like BFSI and ITES were the major buyers for the
monitors. Though LCDs still cost twice as much as a CRT monitor, partners used
LCD’s space saving, viewing angle and picture clarity features as its USP.

Once considered objet du désir, LCDs today are showing up on common man’s
desk as well. The main reason behind this is that their prices have dropped
dramatically in the recent past. Today one can get a LCD monitor for a price as
low as Rs 19,000.

However, until recently the story was different. The reason for LCD monitors
not being so popular was the high price-tag that they used to come with.

The price of an entry-level LCD monitor was not less than Rs 40,000 then.
These monitors adorned the desks of the rich and the famous, the CEO’s desk
and the reception area of big corporates. Average end-user could not even dream
of a LCD monitor as an alternative for the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor on his
desk.

However, it is a different story today.

STEEP PRICE DROP

In the last few years, over a dozen vendors launched LCD monitors and tried
all means to push them in the Indian market but failed. It is only now that the
market here has show signs of acceptance for this product. And this is no doubt
the outcome of a huge price drop. According to market feedback, the factors that
support the growth of LCD sales are the dropping prices and the appealing looks.

The average prices for a 15" LCD montiors an years ago was around Rs
40,000 and for 17" LCD was about Rs 70,000. Today the same models are
available at Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000 respectively.

NICHE SECTOR DEMAND

Vendors now claim that the total number of LCD monitors sold in India is
about 3,500-5,000 units per month. The demand is mainly coming from the niche
sectors of BFSI, ITeS and high-income home segments. One factor that convinces
corporate buyers while considering LCD displays is the up-front cost versus the
long-term cost.

A CRT monitor will cost less up-front but will use more energy than a flat
panel monitor. A LCD monitor will cost more up-front but will conserve energy in
the long run. The energy savings may not be much for an individual user, but if
one is looking at a corporate office where 50 displays are in use, the energy
savings are significant.

CRT and LCD monitors are based on completely different technologies, and thus
have quite different display characteristics. Of course, there are different
advantages and drawbacks for the LCDs too when compared to the CRTs.

HOW LCDs SCORE OVER CRTs

LCD monitors consume less power compared to CRT monitors. They generally
draw between 25 and 40 watts of power, whereas for CRTs it can range from 60 to
160 watts. LCD monitors also offer tremendous space saving compared to CRT
monitors. Many users buy LCDs for the added desk space they get compared to the
CRT monitors. LCDs with a stand takes up only about one-third of the desk space
of a typical 15" CRT monitor and they are extremely lightweight too.

FREE OF HARMFUL RADIATION

Unlike LCD monitors, CRT monitors emit harmful radiation. Also images on the
LCD screen are distortion free. Low reflection provides clear display even in
broad daylight. Over the past year the image quality in LCD monitors has
improved considerably.

Even the viewing angle of LCD monitor has increased from 45-degree to
170-degree with no observable loss of picture quality. The viewable area of a
15" LCD is more than the same of a 15" CRT monitor.

Many of these monitors feature built-in USB or FireWire ports, making it easy
to connect peripherals such as digital cameras, scanners and printers without
having to reach behind one’s PC.

FEW DRAWBACKS

As far as drawbacks are concerned, most significant is the fact that CRT
monitors are generally more affordable than LCD monitors. Even though LCD prices
have come down sharply, they still cost more than double their CRT counterparts.
Some LCD monitors were only capable of hundreds or thousands of colors, but now
many of the newer LCDs are capable of unlimited colors.

CRT monitors are usually capable of displaying multiple video resolutions,
each with the same quality. LCD monitors usually have what is called a native
resolution. The native resolution is generally the highest resolution that the
LCD can display and this is the display resolution that will give the sharpest
image.

FUTURE BELONGS TO LCD

Compared to the CRT monitors, LCD monitors are still too expensive and
un-affordable for SOHOs. Most LCD sales today are project-based, which means
that they go to a single organization through a tender or a contract. For
instance, banks may demand 100 units and then for the next three months, there
may not be a single sale.

While CRT monitors may remain the entry-level product, vendors are trying to
have a section of the market migrate to LCDs. Channel partners too are expecting
LCD monitor prices to drop hoping the gradual price-reduction will trigger
growth.

Meanwhile, customers can hope to see newer technologies in the future,
wherein users will be able to write directly on LCD, save it and erase it. They
will be able to fold up this electronic paper-like display and take it anywhere.