Casio Turns On New Countertop Merchandising Displays

November 28, 2012 by Dave Haynes

Casio Computer is getting deeper into the digital signage business (they have been peddling projectors in the space for a while) with a new countertop display system that is part LED projector, part projection film and part laser something or other.

The company plans to market the technology to restaurants and c-stores in Japan, the U.S. and U.K. in the new year.

The compact device, reports Nikkei.com, combines a projector and a screen and measures only about 57cm high at the most — so it can be placed in a tiny space. When video is projected from the back of a screen shaped like a store’s character, the character will look as if it is speaking, according to Casio.

The company hopes to move 20K units in 2013. They cost around 1 million yen (or $12,000 USD) with the sales target set at 20,000 units for fiscal 2013.

Put me squarely in the skeptical camp on the prospects for this. I certainly don’t ever want to eat a slightly green-hued Casio Burger.

Countertop digital merchandising displays are absolutely something of interest to brands, but for reasons of scale and overall budget, they’re more interested in something about a 10th of the cost of this fella. Plus, neither the brands or the retailers are going to be all that keen to give up that kind of precious merchandising space.

A flat panel LED monitor of roughly the same image dimension, and a little solid state media player driving it, surrounded by some plastic and printed POP, would pull this off for way south of $500. And leave room for product in front.

The projector people keep trying to work their way into this space, but the only thing that has had any traction (setting aside projection mapping) is the silly talking flat lady concept.