• Polarizer Market Show Recovery in 2H, 2009 - 3Q and 4Q'09 shipments up 17% and 5% Q/Q respectively
• In all large-area TFT-LCD polarizer market, LG Chemical recorded 29.7% market share to maintain its No.1 ranking for 4 consecutive months followed by Nitto Denko with 27.8% market share
• In 3Q'09, LCD TV Polarizer market recorded approx. $100M representing 55% of all polarizer market
• For LCD TV Polarizer market, Nitto Denko represent 32% market share followed by LG Chemical at 30% and Sumitomo Chemical at 26%

Displaybank, a global authority in market research and consulting for the display and solar industries, today announced 2H'09 polarizer market showed favorable results yielded by recovery in panel market as well as price increase in polarizer major models- 3Q'09 showed 17% increase Q/Q to 66.57M square meters or $2B in revenue and the growth continued for 4Q'09 that fourth quarter showed 5% increase Q/Q to 69.66 square meters or $2.1B in revenue. These and other findings are disclosed in Displaybank's newly updated Polarizer & Optical Films Industry Trend Analysis, which covers polarizer and sub-films for polarizer market on a quarterly basis.

For large-area polarizer market in 3Q 2009, LG Chemical maintained its No.1 ranking with 29.7% market share for 4 consecutive months followed by Nitto Denko at No.2 ranking with 27.8% market share. Displaybank expects LG Chemical's market share to exceed 30% from 4Q 2009. However in the LCD TV polarizer market which represents 55% of all polarizer market based on 3Q'09, Nitto Denko secured No.1 ranking with 32% market share followed by LG Chemical at No.2 ranking with 30% market share.

Looking at the large-area TFT-LCD polarizer market share by company and by application, LG Chemical secured No.1 ranking with over 40% market share followed by Nitto Denko at 18% and ACE Digitech at 14% in Monitor application. Taiwan-based CMMT and Daxon show rapid growths. In NotePC application, Sumitomo and Nitto Denko comprise over 70% market share combined and ACE Digitech is followed at No.3 ranking with 13% market share by supplying 50% of Samsung Electronics' demand. For LCD TV application, Nitto Denko is ranked in No.1 with 32% market share followed by LG Chemical at 30% and Sumitomo Chemical at 26%. LG Chemical is expected to have increases in supply to IPS Alpha and Samsung Electronics in 3Q'09 and to begin supply to Sharp from 4Q'09 that LG Chemical is anticipated with continuous market expansion as well as ACE Digitech as the company begins polarizer for TV application.

Irene Heo, analyst at Display Research group at Displaybank noted “in 2H 2009, unusual polarizer price increase has occurred led by polarizer makers. Due to recovery in panel and set market, overall market situation show favorable results and Japanese polarizer makers that compete with Korean polarizer makers in Taiwan market suffer from lowered competitiveness due to high Yen currency rate.?Heo added “this unusual price increase is expected to continue for the short-term and Displaybank expects the growth in polarizer market would continue in the year 2010.?/P>

About Displaybank
Displaybank is a global authority in market research and consulting for the display and solar industries. Headquartered in Seoul, Korea, Displaybank has solidified its position as the global leader in the display industry and solar market research by offering analysis based on rapid and accurate information sourcing in order to provide insights into the industry's future. Displaybank's analysts are located throughout Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and the U.S., and have been providing analysis in technological developments, market trends and forecasts for more than 10 years.

Figure. Large-area TFT-LCD Polarizer Short-term Forecast

(Source: Displaybank, Polarizer & Optical Films Industry Trend Analysis)

Figure. Market Share by Company (3Q09, Area-base)

(Source: Displaybank, Polarizer & Optical Films Industry Trend Analysis)