Pro AV Industry Took $45B Hit In 2020, But Business Starting To Rebound : AVIXA

July 2, 2021 by Dave Haynes

The global pro AV industry – likely to no one’s surprise – took a massive financial hit in 2020 due to the pandemic, with overall industry revenues dropping by $45 billion.

The new 2021 AV Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) produced by the industry association AVIXA says after peaking at $259 billion in 2019, pro AV industry revenuse dropped to $214 billion globally in 2020. Things are looking up again, however, with the forecast for this year set at $232 billion.

Industry revenues are expected to grow to $329 billion in 2026, which would mean a 7.2% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). 

AVIXA’s IOTA looks at global pro AV trends and provides an overview of AVIXA’s current five-year forecasts of revenues for products and services.

“Back in the early part of 2020, there was a lot of optimism that initial lockdowns and other measures would help get most regions through the worst of the pandemic, thereby allowing economies to rebound and pro AV to benefit. While true in parts of Asia, this was not the case in much of the world and so pro AV fared even worse than our initial forecasts would indicate,” says Sean Wargo, Senior Director of Market Intelligence, AVIXA. “The good news is we are now seeing meaningful recovery, and so strong growth dominates our revised estimates going forward.”

From the report:

Overall, pro AV revenues were the least impacted in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region. Having taken preemptive measures for COVID-19 early and effectively, China significantly recovered during the first half of 2020. Overall annual growth for AV spending in the APAC region registered at -16.1%, resulting in revenues of $78.8 billion and contributing 37% of global spending.

The Americas pro AV market dropped by 16.7%, to $77.6 billion in 2020, somewhat bolstered by a strong first quarter in 2020. A strong recovery is expected, with 2021 revenues rising to $83.6 billion.

The Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region was the hardest hit due to more challenged economies going into the pandemic and many factors creating variety in rate of recovery. 2020 spending on pro AV in the region declined by 19.7% to $57 billion.

Across all solution areas, conferencing and collaboration generated the highest revenue as workers went remote, students participated in distance learning, and events went virtual. The solution is forecast to generate $43.5 billion in 2021 and reach $49.9 billion in 2026.

Digital signage is poised for strong revenue growth, with a forecast of $32 billion in 2021, increasing to $44.7 billion in 2026. The signage market had strength going into the pandemic, as display prices encouraged proliferation. This remained as pent-up demand, which will propel the solution area. Media servers are the leading product category for digital signage—with $6.9 billion in revenue in 2021.

Overall, content management hardware, previously termed by AVIXA as streaming media, storage, and distribution (SMSD), generates significant revenue and growth over the next five years – $62.3 billion in 2021 with a CAGR of 10.4%.

Live events and performance/entertainment solutions were the most impacted in 2020, with a combined annual revenue decline of 49.7%. These solutions are forecasted the slowest recovery to pre-pandemic levels due to continuing restrictions and individual reluctance to join larger events and crowds. However, both solution areas will bounce back substantially, setting new records over the next couple of years. By 2026, live events solutions will generate $33.9 billion in revenue and performance/entertainment $30.6 billion. 

The IOTA report is produced by AVIXA, working with the research firm Omdia (formerly IHS Markit).