EL SEGUNDO, CA – If you thought the 32" plasma display panel had been relegated to the annals of consumer electronics history, think again, iSuppli Corp. says.

In the second quarter, LG Electronics brought the 32" VGA-resolution PDP back to meet rising demand spurred by constrained supplies of LCD-TV panels of the same size. The reintroduction of the 32" size comes as a shift in direction for the PDP market, which has been focusing on large 40" to 44" and 50" to 59" panels, says the research firm.

iSuppli forecasts the global 34" and smaller PDP market will grow to 485,000 units by 2011, up from 400,000 units shipped in 2007. (No units were shipped in 2006.) While this volume and growth are not huge, they are enough to justify the market reintroduction by LG Electronics. The other panel makers are likely to follow should LG succeed, iSuppli believes.

Plunging prices are making PDPs more competitive at the 32" size. The average selling price for PDP panels sized 34" and smaller will decline to $124 by 2011, down from $215 in 2007. The ASP for 2006 is not available, given that PDP vendors didn’t sell any panels at the 34" and smaller size.

However, the PDP suppliers now face the same obstacle they did when the 32" PDP was in vogue in the 2004/2005 time frame: The VGA resolution of such panels delivers a far lower picture quality than that of a same-sized LCD, says iSuppli.

Despite this, LG’s gambit is already showing some success in the Chinese market thanks to the attractive price point.

While PDP panels are making a return in a size long thought dead, plasma systems actually are enjoying sales growth in the business market. One of the biggest reasons for this growth is that the declining ASP of PDPs makes them compelling for the conference room and education markets. A growing number of PDP displays are being sold as replacements for projectors in conference rooms, for corporate training rooms and lecture halls to accommodate a larger number of audience members, according to iSuppli.

The hospitality industry and those who maintain signage in indoor arenas also are taking advantage of the lower prices to upgrade picture quality and capitalize on plasma’s appealing form factor.

Emerging uses arising for plasma systems include rental and staging markets; video walls, using 84" and larger PDPs; transportation, financial exchanges and control rooms.
 
Affordable pricing and an attractive form factor also are reasons why PDP system sales are still growing in the consumer market, although at a far more moderate pace than LCDs. The 50" PDPs are available for less than $2,000, and 42" inch models can be bought for $1,000 to $1,500, says iSuppli. The pricing factor has bolstered PDP sales, despite the recent price reductions and higher resolutions for LCDs.