DisplaySearch Launches Quarterly Display Economics Report: New Tools and Metrics for Analyzing $66B Flat Panel Display Market.

AUSTIN, Texas -- DisplaySearch, the worldwide leader in display market research and consulting, is pleased to announce the introduction of its Quarterly Display Economics Report, which takes DisplaySearch's quantitative reporting to a new analytical level.

This new report is targeted at investors, advisors and strategists connected with the display industry. Investment and business professionals need to know the trends, what sustains them and what changes them over time. For example, investment bankers are currently puzzling over possible business combinations in Taiwan and the potential impact of Chinese investment in flat panel display capacity. Market research firms and business publications typically use unit-based metrics like panel shipments or average-selling price, but these figures do not necessarily analyze the economics of the display industry, due to the wide range of flat panel display sizes--from 2" to 60". It is display area that drives flat panel factory operating costs, so the area-based metrics in the Quarterly Display Economics Report are more useful for analyzing economics of the display industry.

This new 150-page report, initially delivered in a PDF format and a number of accompanying databases and models, will be converted to an on-line format by the next issue to allow for real-time updates as news and insights become available. The Quarterly Display Economics Report provides readers with up-to-date information on the following topics:

--Industry View--Business Cycles, Investments, Supply Chains and Profits: How is industry structure and rivalry developing?

--Market View--Market Segments, Supply/Demand, Prices and Value Chains: How are markets developing?

--Technology View--Flat-panel Displays, Costs, IP Rights and Threats: What value does technology bring?

--Company View--FPD Suppliers and how analysts view them: What value do they deliver?

--Economics--Cost Drivers, Benefit Drivers, Substitution and Operating Metrics: Tutorials and explanations

It also introduces a number of new metrics pioneered by DisplaySearch's David Barnes which he developed while serving in a Business Strategy and Advisory role at Philips and LG.Philips LCD. In this capacity, David advised board members and managing directors on the economics of the display industry, authored more than $10B in funded capital plans and crafted the storyline for LPL's initial public offering. Some of these metrics include

--The Elasticity Cycle Indicator (ECi) indicated that average large-area TFT LCD prices were not moving along with monitor module prices in Q2'05. This was later confirmed by display executives in their quarterly earnings calls as notebook and TV module prices remained soft in Q2'05. Investors armed with this indicator could anticipate the impact of capacity expansion on TV panel production and earnings.

--S-curve growth models for TFT LCD and PDP substitution of CRTs in major applications, which allows subscribers to understand the retreat of CRT makers to less developed regions. These studies also let readers anticipate when current rapid growth rates in hot markets are likely to slow.

--WADE (weighted-average display edge) and WAGE (weighted-average glass edge) measures, new metrics for understanding how flat-panel producers use their capacity, which show that TFT LCD suppliers have increased their average number of displays per substrate from 7 in 2004 to 8 in 2005. These measures also reveal the differences between producer strategies and the emergence of new leaders.

--Demand elasticity and inverse-demand models that predict future price response to capacity. Inverse Demand Functions model how prices respond to capacity over the long term. Related to demand elasticity, these charts predict market development for the coming years as panel suppliers continue their expansion.

The report also reviews and explains how different analysts rate the TFT LCD suppliers and compares key financial metrics for all suppliers. This analysis will be extended to component suppliers in future issues.

For more information on this new report, please contact Arie Braun at DisplaySearch at 512-459-3126 ext 108 or [e-mail] for more information. You may also download a Table of Contents at www.displaysearch.com/products/samples/toc-der.pdf.

This new report will also be demonstrated at DisplaySearch's exhibit booth at the upcoming HDTV Conference 2005: The Future of Television August 23-24, 2005 in Los Angeles, California at the Beverly Hilton. For more information, please visit www.displaysearch.com/hdtvconference.

About DisplaySearch

DisplaySearch has a core team of 29 employees located in North America and Asia who produce a valued suite of market forecasts, technology assessments, surveys, studies and analyses, and they organize influential industry events worldwide. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, DisplaySearch has regional operations in Chicago, Hong Kong, Houston, Kyoto, San Diego, San Jose, Seoul, Shenzhen, Taipei and Tokyo, and the company is on the web at www.displaysearch.com.