LCD Monitors

Until last year, we had a category called Monitors. This year, we've narrowed it to LCD Monitors, an emerging segment within monitors. And, the winner in this category is Samsung. Even in the general monitors category, Samsung had been the winner for four years continuously. In the LCD monitors category, IBM follows Samsung as a close second and LG, Philips and Sony come in at some distance in third, fourth and fifth positions.

How big is the LCD monitor market? 51% of the respondents of our survey claim that they already have at least one LCD monitor, and 37% say that they will be buying one in the immediate future.

Samsung got a push with votes from companies with an IT spend of over Rs 50 lakh, IBM from those between Rs 50 lakh to Rs one crore and LG from those over Rs one crore. In terms of regional preferences, Samsung fared best in the North and South, IBM in the West and LG in the North. 

In the verticals, BPO and software favor Samsung, software and banking and finance favor IBM and government departments and research institutes favor LG. Also, the reason given for wanting to buy any of the top three LCD brands was that they are good-quality products. 

In terms of brand loyalty, people are loyal to their current brands. Specifically, at 82% and 81% LG and Samsung, respectively, have strong loyalties. The interesting fact that emerged from the survey is that of the voters who are currently using LCDs of other brands, 16% want to shift to Samsung; while the figure is only 6% towards IBM and 4% towards LG. In current usage, Samsung tops followed by IBM and LG.

Current ownership is highest in the West with the North marginally behind. Ownership is significantly higher with organizations with an annual IT spend of over Rs one crore, and with the government.

Of the ‘plan to buy’ group, the maximum concentration is in the North and from amongst companies with an annual spend of Rs one crore or more. South is the lowest. By verticals, topping the list are BPOs, followed by manufacturing and banking. 

Showing the lowest propensity to buy are telecom and software. 

This is a nascent market, and prices have just started coming down, leading to some pickups in volumes. It would be interesting to see how the segment evolves. Will it see the explosive growth that is expected? Who will be king then?