The mobile phone display segment was shaken by a 36 percent Q/Q and 41 percent Y/Y drop in Motorola's mobile phone main display purchases. The plunge, in turn, caused a 21 percent drop in Sharp's display shipments -- lowering Sharp from No. 1 to the No. 3 position in mobile phone display shipments, according to DisplaySearch, an NPD Group company.

Motorola's mobile phone main display purchases down from 50M last quarter to 32M shipments.

"While overall mobile phone demand remains healthy, a mis-step by a single handset maker can have serious ramifications to the display value chain if a customer doesn't have enough diversification in its customer base," noted Dale H. Maunu, DisplaySearch's Vice President. "The Motorola and Sharp results this quarter clearly demonstrate the risks associated with value chain consolidation," he added.

Other Q2'07 events included Samsung SDI regaining the #1 position in mobile phone display shipments in Q2'07 with 37 million units shipped, and Nokia increasing its lead in mobile phone handset purchases, of 100 million units -- up 11% Q/Q and 18% Y/Y.

DisplaySearch revealed these results in its Q3'07 Quarterly Mobile Phone Shipment and Forecast Report. The company also reported that main display shipment revenues were down 5% Q/Q and 16% Y/Y to US$243B, caused in large part by a comparable reduction in main display ASPs. ASP reductions are moderating due to profit pressure that lower prices have put on small/medium display makers. There are now isolated examples of price increases, which haven't been seen for more than two years. Moreover, high value LTPS displays are beginning to increase in premium over a-Si displays due to their higher performance and tight supply. Much of the LTPS supply is being absorbed by Apple's 3.5" display used in the iPhone and the Video iPod.

Also of note, QVGA (320 × 240) has surpassed QCIF+ (176 × 220) as the most popular resolution for the first time. The share of QVGA in Q2'07 was 27.4% vs. 21.8% for QCIF+. DisplaySearch forecasts QVGA will grow to 30% in Q4'07 due to growing popularity of phones supporting video images.

Rankings for mobile phone display suppliers Samsung SDI, Wintek, Sharp, Epson Imaging and TPO are forecast to remain stable through Q4'07. In addition, ranking for mobile phone handset suppliers Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG are also forecast to remain stable through Q4'07.

About this study

DisplaySearch's Q3'07 Quarterly Mobile Phone Shipment and Forecast Report covers 26 handset makers and 31 display makers.

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