“I’ve heard of many companies making LCD panels their corporate standard,” says Samantha Nebrich, market research analyst for San Jose-based iSuppli/Stanford Resources.
The benefits that aren’t immediately realized are often overlooked, however: Flat-panels have a high resale value, sometimes up to 40% of the original cost (compared with about 10% for CRTs). They also produce less heat and are friendlier to the environment than CRTs, which contain pounds of hazardous lead. (But LCDs are not danger-free: All displays contain toxic material, and environmental legislation is very strict regarding their removal.)
Flat-panels still cost about twice as much as comparable CRTs, but prices are falling due to overproduction and increased manufacturing capacity and efficiency. In the past two years, 17-inch LCD panels have dropped 48% and are projected to fall an additional 30% by the end of 2003, says Nebrich.
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