Merck 2010 Annual Report Download - page 108

DisplaySearch, a market research company for the display industry, predicts that the liquid
crystal display market will continue to grow. The LCD market is being driven by the heavily
increasing demand for TVs and notebooks in the emerging economies of Asia, as well as by
devices such as tablet computers. According to the opinion of market researchers, the total
surface area of liquid crystal displays should grow 8% per year on average between 2010 and
2017. This includes televisions, monitors and notebooks, among other products. For 2011,
DisplaySearch is expecting the surface area of liquid crystal panels to increase by 11% rela-
tive to 2010. Flat panel production has so far been concentrated in South Korea and Taiwan,
followed distantly by Japan. According to Display Search, however, China will have assumed
third place by the end of 2012.
Since producers of automotive coatings are one of our customer sectors, the development of
automotive sales figures is important to us. The U.S. market researchers from CSM Automotive
predict that global automotive sales will grow in 2011 by 11%, rising to 61 million vehicles.
This will put the automotive industry back at the level of 2008, but will still not as high as in
2007, which was a very good year. According to market researchers, the Indian market will
show the strongest growth in 2011, followed by China, Brazil and South Korea. JD Power,
a marketing information firm, is expecting production of 73 million cars in 2011, which would
significantly exceed the 70.4 million vehicles sold in 2007, a record year. However, this growth
is predicted to come only from emerging markets. The market research firm Polk is predicting
a further increase in production, to 78 million cars in 2012.
Euromonitor, a key market research company for the cosmetics industry, predicts growth of
5.2% to USD 369 billion for the personal care and cosmetics sector in 2011 and further growth
of 3.7% in 2012 relative to 2011. Performance Materials is also active in this market.
Additional opportunities for the Liquid Crystals Business Unit lie in the improved business per-
formance of the display markets. For our PS-VA technology, we are expecting very satisfactory
increases as a result of market growth. To maintain our leading technology position in liquid
crystals, we will correspondingly intensify our R&D activities. Programs for increasing production
efficiency will help keep the operating result at a high level. We face particular risks due to price
pressure in the area of LC materials and due to the possible emergence of new competitors on the
market. In view of Merck’s so far dominant position, the emergence of competitors particularly in
PS-VA technology could negatively impact sales and the operating result.
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