New Research Suggests Projector Market Booming

September 13, 2019 by Dave Haynes

I don’t follow the projector market very carefully, but have assumed that business is, at best, poking along because of the increasing large scale of LCD displays and the rise of super fine-pitch LED.

But new research suggests the front projector market is doing just fine, thank you very much.

PMA Research’s latest quarterly report on the projector market says that during the first half of 2019, worldwide projector revenues jumped more than 15% compared with the first half from five years ago.

Year-over-year sales also showed a positive uptick. The increase in revenues for 1H2019 over 1H2018 is especially notable, says PMA, because 2018 was an outlier year with a big boost in projector sales in advance of the 2018 World Cup. “There hasn’t been a comparable major worldwide sporting event in the first half of 2019 to help drive sales.”

“PMA has been covering projectors for more than 25 years,” says Nick Rogers, President of PMA Research. “Like any other high-tech industry, the projector industry has faced significant price compression in many product segments. But that hasn’t stopped manufacturers from constantly developing innovative solutions for business, schools, government, and the home that have stemmed the price erosion, dramatically improved price/performance, and attracted new and replacement buyers.”

“In recent years, multiple brightness and product segments have driven revenue growth.“

In the professional segments, super-bright projectors with 10,000 ANSI lumens and higher for concert tours and other live events, themed entertainment, houses of worship, and projection mapping have fueled growth. Cost-effective midrange laser projectors for universities, as well as interactive and ultra-short-throw projectors for education, have also contributed to the positive revenue results so far this year.

One of the biggest winners has been professional laser-phosphor projector segment, which grew 59% in volume and 28% in revenues from 1H2018 to 1H2019.

One of the key attractions of laser is gets away from lamp-based systems, which have much shorter operating lives because of the lamps.

PMA also expects the digital cinema market to grow in coming years, with operators in the early stages of a replacement cycle for the first wave of digital cinema projectors installed more six years ago. “With the recent introduction of more RGB and laser/phosphor digital cinema projectors, it is expected that replacements in developed markets and continued growth in emerging countries will accelerate digital cinema revenues in future time periods.”

That last bit would suggest manufacturers are not all that concerned about direct view LED taking over as the display surface of choice in cinema.