Feb.23 2007

Displaybank (CEO : Peter Kwon), a display market research institute, expects that the worldwide optical film/sheet market value will top $2.47 billion in 2007, up 9% from 2006. According to Displaybank's latest report on the BLU-use optical film market, the market for diffusion films, reflection films, prism sheets and DBEF sheets, which are all core components for BLU, added up to a value of $2.272 billion last year, with prism sheets comprising the bulk at 33% from a value of $754 million. The prism sheet represented a negligible 14% share in terms of square meters on demand, but commanded a larger share in terms of revenues, due to a slightly higher price point than diffusion and reflection films.

[Worldwide BLU Optical Film/Sheet Market Forecasts (Revenues)]

(Unit : Mil. $)

Source: Displaybank, 'Optical Films II - Backlight Unit. 2007'

The market for diffusion films, which comprise the bulk of BLU in square meters, created a value of $558 million in 2006. Diffusion film areas captured roughly 53% of the total market in 2006, but the revenues basis brought about a 25% share, influenced by the relatively low unit price. However, the diffusion film market will probably grow at a yearly rate of 14%, topping the list among film markets. Moreover, the share is projected to continue on an upward trend.

On the other hand, the overall film market for BLUs will decline incrementally to $2.453 billion in 2010, after peaking in 2008. Displaybank explained that this is because continued growth in the LCD application market is likely to be accompanied by a rise in areas in use, but individual film/sheet prices will move down rapidly.