IDC has recently released the results for the Australia total PC monitor market in Q1 2005. IDC found that the market recovered from the previous quarter, posting a 3% sequential growth, and declining 2% from the same time last year.

 The first quarter performed according to seasonal trends, riding on a strong performance by desktop PCs. This was attributed largely to the beginning of corporate and government spending as well as the tail-end of the education purchasing season. There was also a notable surge in consumer buying, aided by the continued price aggressiveness of particular vendors with a strong presence in the retail market.

In Q1 2005, the OEM market (PC vendor) was plagued by shortages, particularly on their mainstream 17 inch LCD monitors, which are typically bundled with their desktop PCs, causing their share to decline by 6% from the previous quarter. LCD prices became more stable as oversupply came back into alignment, forcing prices to generally stabilise and even creep up in some instances, causing resellers to be less cautious about taking on extra stock this quarter. This inadvertently translated into an increased growth in branded monitor shipments in Q1 2005.

"The newly merged Ingram-Micro and Tech-Pacific saw most if not all of its back-end logistical processes become fully combined in Q1 2005. Vendors with existing relationships with the channel saw their business with the distributor grow as a proportion of their total monitor business, as the channel resumed business as usual" said Mercie Clement, IDC analyst for PC Hardware.

"Vendors who have relations with the new Ingram Micro are anxious to maintain status quo if not grow their business with the distributor, as the merger has essentially translated to an increased number of brands being distributed by the new Ingram Micro," added Clement.

"The Q1 2005 market witnessed some major changes in branded vendor rankings. LG Electronics continued to lead the branded monitor market with 18.0% share, almost 4 percentage points up from last quarter. Samsung maintained its second place, with 15.5% share of units shipped. BenQ climbed up to the third spot, with 14.5% share, leveraging its continued strength in the LCD market, where the vendor has emerged as the leader since Q3 2004. Acer posted strong growth in the quarter, with a pick up in its channels business as well as its steady performance in the retail segment, finishing the quarter with 11.1% share. Rounding out the top 5 was Philips which lost 2 percentage points from Q4 2004, to finish with 10.2% share," Clement also stated.

Top five vendors (branded market):

* LG Electronics 18.0%
* Samsung 15.5%
* BenQ 14.5%
* Acer 11.1%
* Philips 10.2%
* Others 30.7%

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