Digital Signage Firms Expect 30% Hit From Pandemic’s Impact

March 27, 2020 by Dave Haynes

The feedback is in from a survey done in the last few days, asking people in North America and globally about their business sentiments in the midst of a pandemic. The business survey was organized by Munich-based invidis and relayed on this side of the Atlantic by the giant team at 16:9. OK, me …

Here’s what people said:

• Most industry people see the situation as a serious crisis with revenue losses of around 30% for 2020;
• In EMEA (EU, Middle East and Africa), the situation is more critical than in Germany or North America, reflecting the different severity and timing of the COVID-19 outbreak in these regions;
• Companies in North America are, surprising, still most optimistic about the effects of the crisis (this survey pre-dates the US unfortunately moving to the top of the coronavirus charts yesterday).

The survey suggests:

• Most businesses expect the (near) lockdown phase to last until May;
• About 1/3 of all respondents expect an even longer lockdown.

We asked how long respondents thought we’d be in a world of hurt, and found two main scenarios for a return to “business-as-usual”:

• Relatively fast recovery until September;
• Prolonged downturn until 2021.

I have no real idea, but can’t imagine a swift return to normal unless a vaccine is developed and widely distributed a lot faster than is being suggested right now. This will somewhat go away, but the spread is starting in the southern hemisphere and could come back in late fall.

In terms of impacts, I think 30% is low. A lot of month to month subscription software companies are going to be wiped out, VERY unfortunately, and companies that operate on running contracts are going to get calls and emails from customers saying either we can’t pay or won’t pay because their doors are closed and business is dead.

It’s a sad, scary time. Sorry for the downer.

The full results, produced and compiled by invidis, are available here as a PDF file.