For the past few weeks, all tech- and industry-writers have been held hostage by a certain ‘other fruit’ company from Cupertino, CA. Its time to refocus a little bit on some other events happening in the display world.

Norbert Hildebrand
Insight Media Analyst

Almost un-noticed by the press is the fact that many display-related companies released their earnings reports for the quarter ending on December 31. Let’s have a short look on state of the industry.

Amazon reported double-digit net sales and profit gains. As Jeff Bezos was quoted, "Millions of people now own Kindles. And Kindle owners read a lot." Their store now offers over 410,000 e-books and 130 electronic newspapers. It seems safe to say that e-book readers are surpassing the ‘gadget’ status rather quickly.

Microsoft also reported double-digit gains in sales and net income. They are crediting their Windows 7 release for the big step forward.

AT&T posted significantly improved business results as well. EPS improved by almost 25% from the same quarter in 2008. They also reported 2.7 million fourth quarter net additions in wireless subscribers compared to Verizon’s addition of 2.24 million subscribers.

Nokia reported increased operating profit on lower quarterly sales figures. They are crediting a switch in their product mix towards more expensive Smartphones for this overall good result.

While Motorola’s wireless handset division is still in the red, the last quarter’s loss was significantly reduced based on a higher average selling price per handset. Their Android-based Smartphones were shipping in larger numbers and Motorola plans to release at least 20 more Android-based phones.

LG showed record sales and profit for the fourth quarter of 2009. One of the outstanding results is an increase in flat panel TV sales with a 52% jump in unit sales year over year, with quarterly growth for both LCD and plasma TVs.

Samsung also posted strong sales and profits for the last quarter. While they mainly credit their semiconductor group for the great results, CE components also improved year over year.

On the more negative side Panasonic has recorded an overall 2009 net loss (the first net loss in at least 5 years). However, its TV business is humming along with a 30% increase over 2008 in unit sales. Both LCD and PDP sets have contributed to the increase. In their plans for 2010 they are looking for a further 50% increase in TV unit sales. More interestingly, they are planning more growth in LCD than PDP sets.

Sony also reported weaker sales for 2009 and an overall net loss. While all major business units (electronics, game, pictures, and financial services) reported a decline, the ‘all other’ category shows sales increase based on the consolidation of Sony music oriented BMG group. Like Panasonic, they are reporting a unit sales increase for their TV sets.

Overall the business results are painting a much more positive industry picture compared to the same time last year. While the industry isn’t talking about a recession anymore, not all have been able to turn their ship around yet. It looks that overall the TV, Smartphone and EBR market segments are doing very well and pushing the industry forward. This is not surprising but it is good to get confirmation that this is also driving profits. Maybe we are looking at the next ’silver’ lining already.

Reply to the author