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The worldwide monitor market last year took some unexpected turns as vendors strove to meet businesses' needs for larger, sharper-looking and more energy-efficient displays.
Fifteen-inch models displaced 14-inch units in the corporate marketplace faster than analysts had forecasted. And a shortage of 15-inch cathode ray tubes, or CRTs, pinched some vendors' shipments toward the end of the year.
The popularity of Windows and lower pricing spurred corporate resellers to push larger monitors. Meanwhile, many Japanese CRT factories started to phase out 14-inch tubes because of high labor and production costs, vendors said.
The shift has been dramatic. Three years ago, 14-inch or smaller monitors constituted 85 percent of displays sold worldwide. In 1994, that number dropped to 50 percent. On the other hand, 15- and 17-inch models are gaining ground, said Jack Roberts, a monitor analyst with Dataquest Inc., San Jose, Calif. Last year, 15-inch models accounted for 25 percent of worldwide sales, while 16- and 17-inch models represented 19 percent, he said.
Multifrequency capability, which enables a monitor to work with either a Macintosh, PC or workstation, is now a popular feature, as is Energy Star compliance, Roberts added.
Growing use of portable computers, multimedia applications and touch-screen technology, coupled with the expansion of the worldwide personal computer market, further accelerated the momentum of the monitor market last year.
In the United States, 13.4 million stand-alone monitors were sold in 1994, up from 12.4...