display alliance news 9.14.2010

$35 Android Tablet Not Really From India
crunchgear.com- Oh boy.. turns out that the much advertised $35 “Indian Tablet” isn’t actually from India. The reality is that the tablet is made by a Chinese manufacturer named Hivision, and sold as the Speedpad. It was originally seen at CeBIT this year, and Hivision said it would sell for around $100. The truth was uncovered by the Indian website Android OS, where the author was able to find evidence showing the design to actually made in China. This completely disproves the press releases from the Indian government claiming that the tablet was developed by some of India’s top engineering colleges. In the above picture, that’s the Indian Android Tablet on the left, and the Hivision Speedpad on the right. Read more at crunchgear. Watch the video on displayalliance.

Digital Signage Benefits: It's Good to be Green - Even for the Bottom Line
displayalliance.com- Replacing traditional signs -whether motivated out of a concern for the environment or simply to communicate more effectively- makes good business sense. To the uninitiated, that statement may be a bit surprising. But for those with experience communicating with both digital and printed signs it should quickly become apparent why the reasons to do the green thing and select digital signage as a communications medium is also a sound business decision. Read David Little's full article on displayalliance.

Smartphones and tablets to push innovation in LCD market, says iSuppli
digitimes.com- Global shipments of small- and medium-sized TFT LCD panels, which are advanced types of displays used in sophisticated mobile devices like smartphones and tablet PCs, are set to rise by 28.1% to 2.3 billion units in 2010, according to iSuppli. This will represent the highest level of growth for the market since 2007, when shipments rose by 49.8%. Red more at digitimes.

Sharp's Payoff Delayed
online.wsj.com- Just as Sharp went big, the market for flat panels went small. The Japanese company took a gamble on the most advanced liquid-crystal-display plant in the industry. It was a bold move to produce the largest and most high-end televisions at a production facility in western Japan. The plant went fully online just this summer, just in time for a glut in big screens.That oversupply is a product of too rapid expansion by the industry, inspired by a pickup in demand and flat panel prices last year. Consumption in the U.S. and Europe hasn't lived up to expectations. The supply of large panels like those Sharp makes outstrips demand by 12%, says DisplaySearch. Read more at online.wsj.

Sony Unveils Plans to Realign LCD TV Manufacturing Operations for Europe
tradingmarkets.com- As part of its on-going initiative to enhance its manufacturing efficiency to improve the profitability of its liquid crystal display (LCD) TV business, Sony Corporation announced that its relevant European subsidiaries have agreed with Ficosa International and Comsa Emte, both headquartered in Spain, to sell the Barcelona technology center, which manufactures LCD TVs for the Europe region, to Ficosa and Comsa Emte. Read more at tradingmarkets.

LG outs IPS based monitors
onlygizmos.com- Apple introduced the IPS (in-plane switching) LCD technology with the iPad launch earlier this year. While they followed up with the Retina display later, the IPS technology brings wide viewing angles (upto 180 degrees) to an LCD display. It seems that LG is now taking the IPS technology beyond Apple’s lineup (note: LG manufactures displays for Apple) and has introduced its own lineup of monitors with the technology. To begin with LG has 4 LCD monitors in this series (IPS206T, IPS236V, IPS226V and IPS2321P) ranging from 20 inches to 23 inches. The feature set in these monitors are a mixed bag ranging from integrates speakers, HDMI to D-SUB (VGA) and DVI but the model nos itself tells you what LG would be selling this to you as! Read more at onlygizmos.

AUO expected to see profit in 3Q10 despite dropping panel quotes
digitimes.com- Although large-size IT and TV panels are seeing their recent quotes drop to cost levels, causing the related makers to reduce their utilization to minimize their losses, Taiwan-based panel maker AU Optronics (AUO), which has a LED TV panel penetration rate of about 40%, is still expected to see strong profits in the third quarter, according to the market watchers. Read more at digitimes.

Standard Industrial TFT Display Sizes 4.3” and Smaller – and New Display Trends
dtslcd.com- One of the questions that I often hear is “Where is the TFT industry going?” That can mean a lot of different things depending on who is asking the question, but for the sake of this entry I will focus on what it means to a typical commercial/industrial user. I think this is a question that is really looking for two answers: 1) What products have at least one alternate source, so I won’t be stuck on an island if it goes away; and 2) what products will be around for at least 5 years, once my production starts. With that in mind I took an unofficial poll of several key suppliers to the U.S. commercial markets to see what sizes are now available as standard products. The list that I created below is all products that have at least two suppliers, so a second source is an option. See the full list at dtslcd.