In its current Automotive Display Report, the Austin, Texas, based market researcher predicts that in 2009, about 175 million displays will be built, representing a value of $1,77 billion. In 2015, the market researchers believe the industry will achieve revenues of $2.4 billion on a production of 231 million units.

The strongest growth will be seen in the segment of automotive monitors — active-matrix LCDs and typically featuring sizes larger than 15 centimeters (6 inches). These displays will be used predominantly for navigation applications. For 2009, about 41 percent of these displays will have touch screens.

For this part of the market, DisplaySearch forecasts the market volume to grow to 34.4 million units in 2015 from 16.6 million units in 2009. The value of these shipments will increase by 51 percent to $1.56 billion in 2015. Driving forces in this market segment are demand for in-console displays for navigation and entertainment purposes. While DisplaySearch sees rising demand for fixed in-car monitors, the experts believe the demand for portable navigation devices will shrink at a CAGR of 3.9 percent during the time frame in question.

Another major market segment are displays used as indicator, dials and gauges. While this segment is predicted to grow from about 160 million units in 2009 to about 200 million units in 2015, the value of these displays will be almost constant at $800 million over the next six years.

Among the vendors, TMDisplay is the 500-pound gorilla with a market share of 38 percent, followed by Sharp with 31.4 percent. Other large vendors are AUO (9.7 percent), Epson (7.3 percent) and Optrex with 4.9 percent market share. Optrex and Epson have dramatically increased their shipments in 2008, notes DisplaySearch.

The market is divided among relatively few buyers, with Panasonic, Continental, Pioneer, Fujitsu-TEN and Alpine accounting for more than half the units in recent quarters, the market researchers noted.