Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- LG.Philips LCD Co. overtook Samsung Electronics Co. as the world's largest maker of liquid-crystal displays used in computers and televisions last year, market researcher ISuppli Corp. said.

Seoul-based LG.Philips accounted for 21.4 percent of 2005 global shipments of LCDs measuring at least 10 inches diagonally, exceeding Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung's 20.9 percent, the researcher of technology industries said today.

Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp. ranked third, with market share of 14.5 percent, followed by local rivals Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd., according to El Segundo, California-based ISuppli's report.

LG.Philips and other LCD makers are raising capacity on expectations that falling prices, coupled with sporting events such as soccer's World Cup, will encourage consumers to replace their glass-tube TVs with flat-screen LCD sets.

To contact the reporter on this story: Young-Sam Cho in Seoul at ycho2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 18, 2006 20:08 EST