Samsung Continues As Global Leader In Digital Signage Display Shipments: IDC Research

October 5, 2018 by Dave Haynes

The Boston-area market research firm International Data Corporation has released new data on the global digital signage market that suggests Samsung continues to be the big dog when it comes to display shipments, with LG second and, in a slightly weird twist, a company I’ve never heard of ahead of NEC in third spot.

Goodview???

IDC says more than 870,000 displays were shipped in the second quarter of 2018 (2Q18), up 15.9% year over year and an increase of 10% compared to the first quarter of 2018.

This comes out of the company’s Worldwide Quarterly Digital Signage Tracker – which predicts the global market for digital signage will continue to grow at rates of 10% and 12% year over year in 2019 and 2020.

“The fastest growing regions for digital signage are Latin America and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), with sequential growth rates of 135.6% and 21.9% in 2Q18,” says Maura Fitzgerald, senior research analyst, Worldwide Display Trackers.

From a press release:

IDC currently forecasts 3.5 million digital signage units will be shipped for the full year 2018 and expects to see year-over-year growth of 11.9% in worldwide shipments in the second quarter of 2019. By 2020, worldwide shipments are expected to be more than 4.4 million units as more businesses continue to adopt this display technology for advertising and general information purposes.

Technology Highlights

Vendor Highlights

Samsung – Samsung remained in the top position for the 22nd consecutive quarter in 2Q18 with worldwide market share of 33.9% on shipments of nearly 300,000 units. The vendor posted strong year-over-year growth in Canada (40.5%) and Latin America (215.8%).

LG – LG shipped more than 74,000 units in 2Q18, resulting in 8.5% market share. Despite year-over-year unit increases of 36.7% in Latin America and 5.7% in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan), the vendor posted a year-over-year decline of 8.3%.

Goodview – Goodview moved into the number three position with year-over-year growth of 30.4% on nearly 70,000 units shipped. It posted strong annual growth rates in several screen sizes, including 55-inches wide (45.4%) and 65-inches wide (77.2%).

NEC – NEC dropped to the number four position with more than 64,000 units shipped. Despite witnessing a year-over-year decline of 5.4%, there were annual growth gains in both Japan (28.3%) and Central & Eastern Europe (8.1%) in 2Q18.

Foxconn – Foxconn rounded out the Top 5 in 2Q18 with 6.0% market share in the worldwide market. The vendor continued its year-over-year gains in the four top regions, most notably in Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) at 1233.6%. 

Note – Foxconn, the massive contract manufacturer HQ’d in Taiwan, now owns Sharp.

Worldwide Digital Signage Unit Shipments, Market Share, and Year-over-Year Growth, Second Quarter 2018
Vendors 2Q18 Unit Shipments 2Q18 Market Share 2Q17 Unit Shipments 2Q17 Market Share 2Q18/2Q17 Growth
1. Samsung 295,585 33.9% 244,184 32.5% 21.1%
2. LG Electronics 74,199 8.5% 80,942 10.8% -8.3%
3. Goodview 69,805 8.0% 53,534 7.1% 30.4%
4. NEC 64,357 7.4% 67,999 9.0% -5.4%
5. Foxconn 52,201 6.0% 47,686 6.3% 9.5%
Others 315,176 36.2% 257,512 34.3% 22.4%
Total 871,323 100.0% 751,857 100.0% 15.9%
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Digital Signage Tracker, August 2018

The Goodview thing seems odd, but is perhaps a reminder that Asia (and particularly China) represents a huge market that can deliver the sort of business volumes other companies do globally.

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