Monitors Fall

The average selling price (ASP) for 17-inch LCD monitor panels fell to a record low of $145 in the first half of February, according to WitsView. That’s why Dell can sell you a new 17-inch monitor starting at a normal website price of $299 (but on sale right now for $239.20). It wasn’t long ago at all that this panel price was over $300. The power of billion-dollar investments and the LCD industry’s commitment to wipe the CRT from the face of the earth have proven to be formidable weapons.

Ken Werner
Senior Analyst and Editor
of HDTV Retailer

Narrowing the focus a bit, WitsView says the ASP for 17-inch panels was $149 a in the last half of January, and is likely to drop to $140 in the second half of this month. Quotes are not likely to drop much more, on average, because $140 is about cost for first-tier manufacturers. Of course, this is an industry that has a history of tolerating negative margins, but maybe we’re wising up. Wising up enough to actually raise prices a bit? Probably not, considering that all of the major manufacturers are ramping capacity.

And Backlights Wrap

Sometimes when we tell people we’re consultants to the display industry, they start talking about the wonderful end-cap displays for corn flakes they’ve seen at their local super market. In fact, that world of displays, as well as the world of signage, is overlapping more and more with the electronic information and entertainment display world that Insight Media usually inhabits.

An interesting cross-over between these worlds comes from the UK, where Design LCD Products Ltd has developed a low-cost flexible light guide that can be used for a variety of applications. This includes backlit bottle labels (see photo), as well as a variety of backlit signage and illumination applications and small-format LCD backlighting. The company is targeting applications currently satisfied by EL film backlights.

The backlights are made with a clear polyester or polycarbonate film, with light control implemented by a printed pattern, so the process is inherently inexpensive. Because the LEDs are embedded in the substrate material using a proprietary process, placement is not limited to the edges.

Design LCD has an interesting technology and has outlined some intriguing applications. If manufacturing can be ramped up smoothly and prices are in line, they may also have a business.