Some hefty government and education deals helped the market for PC monitors in New Zealand grow 7% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2011, despite a 12% drop in Australia over the same period, according to industry analysts IDC.

Overall, 551,000 units were shipped in ANZ during the quarter. This represents a 14% drop year-on-year; for New Zealand alone, the year-on-year drop was 6%.

IDC market analyst Ivy Teoh says the weak demand is forcing vendors to shift from shipment volume to model value.

"As the ANZ PC monitor market is becoming more competitive and commoditised, key players will continue to seek areas of improvement through technology innovation,” Teoh says, "for example, by transitioning toward LED backlights, and wider and larger screen sizes.

"Noticeably, many vendors have been launching IPS [In-Plane Switching] panel monitors to the market. However, with their higher price point and the lack of awareness in the market for IPS panels, they won’t have a significant impact in the short term.”

Check out the table below for a break-down of the market by vendor.