2Q LCD-Monitor Sales Top $1 Billion.

The popularity of flat-panel desktop monitors continues to increase, with quarterly sales surpassing $1 billion for the first time ever, according to a new industry study. DisplaySearch, in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday reported sales of LCD desktop monitors reached $1.8 billion in the second quarter, a 20 percent quarter-to-quarter increase. A global flat-panel shortage accounted for some of the increase, but DisplaySearch said unit shipments also grew 8 percent over the first quarter and five-fold over the year-ago quarter. Japan was the largest market for flat-panel desktop monitors, although its global share declined to 61 percent from 74 percent in the first quarter. At the same time, Europe increased its consumption of desktop displays to 31 percent of the market, up from 23 percent. DisplaySearch said LCDs increased their penetration of the desktop market to account for 11.4 percent of all desktop monitor shipments, up from 3.9 percent in the previous quarter. The survey said NEC once again was the industry_s largest FPD desktop monitor supplier, followed by Fujitsu and Mitsubishi.