Anita Wang, senior research manager of WitsView, points out that LCD monitor market in 1Q18 has been more positive compared with 1Q17. Branded monitor makers were less motivated to ship products in 1Q17 due to the high prices of small size panels. In contrast, prices of LCD monitor panels appeared to be lower in the beginning of 2018, and then dropped further in March. The price drop has increased the profitability of companies, who have all become highly motivated in this quarter.

Apart from prices, the growing demand for curved gaming monitors has been another growth momentum in the market. The curved gaming monitor market has been expanding rapidly since 2017 due to the products’ high performance-price ratio and the popularity of video games. Nearly 40% of all the LCD gaming monitors are curved ones in 2017, and the figure is expected to reach 60% this year due to the high demand. This will further boost the annual shipments of gaming monitors to around 4 to 5 million units.

Based on the remarkable shipment performance in 1Q18, WitsView forecasts that the annual decline of LCD monitor shipments in 2018 will be 0.4%, lower than previous forecast of above 2.5%. The market decline even has a chance to become positive growth if the brands’ stocking up continues to boost the market.