LCD screens are set to make cathode ray tube (CRT) displays almost obsolete by 2010, new research has suggested.

According to research from Business Communications, LCD shipments are likely to hit 85 billion when results for the 12 months to the end of 2005 are compiled, while growth in demand for LCD screens will continue until the end of the decade.

The report suggests that interest in the LCD screens will result in shipments growing by 10.6 per cent annually over the coming years, reaching $141 billion by 2010.

Many manufacturers have already announced bold expansion plans over the coming year as they look to meet the growing demand for flat screen panels, which are being used not only in laptops and PDAs, but increasingly in televisions.

CRT displays accounted for 32 per cent of the television market in 2005, while LCDs cornered 67 per cent.

However, by 2010 LCDs will have taken as much as 85 per cent of the market, predicts Business Communications, leaving CRTs with only a small percentage of the overall television market.

Sang-Wan Lee, president of Samsung's LCD division, stated last year his belief that the LCD market would go through the 100 million unit barrier by 2010.


Ÿ Adfero Ltd