Global LCD monitor OEM shipments in February dropped by 30% due to labor shortage and fewer work days caused by the Lunar New Year holidays, and the top-10 manufacturers' shipments decreased by almost 20% for the month.

Although the overall LCD monitor supply chain will not be affected by the Japan earthquake due to sufficient inventory, downstream players are still expected to turn conservative in placing orders.

The global LCD monitor market is expected to remain flat at 160-170 million units in 2011. IT market demand is expected to be undermined by the rising tablet PC. Demand for LCD monitors in the North America market has been relevantly strong in the first quarter of 2011, while the China market is expected to remain flat in the first half of the year.

LCD monitor shipments at the top-10 vendors in February dropped by 19.9% sequentially to 9.68 million units, as vendors already shipped in advance in January for February demand, according to WitsView data. Shipments from manufacturers dropped by 30.3% in February to 10.35 million.

The Japan earthquake is expected to have serious impact on Japan's economy, adding more uncertainty to shipments in the second quarter of 2011. With Japan being a major supplier of upstream materials and components for LCD monitors, overall effects from the earthquake are still being assessed.