Global Public Display Demand Almost Back To Pre-COVID Levels: Omdia

March 14, 2022 by Dave Haynes

Shipments of public displays – the terminology used in legit research circles for digital signage displays – have almost come back to pre-COVID levels, according to new numbers from the market research firm Omdia.

Research analyst Tay Taehoon Kim on Omdia pushed out a brief on Linkedin that says global public display shipments grew 10.2% QoQ in 4Q21.

Omdia’s latest Public Displays Market Tracker notes:

Overall, 4Q21 maintained a positive outlook for the ProAV industry despite the emergence of the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus in addition to the prolonged freight shortage and increase in cost from the matter. More brands recovered in terms of manufacturing and sales, and more countries started to allocate their budgets to the educational sector to bolster their economic situations, following US and Western Europe countries. However, China experienced a downward trend with weakened demand for interactive flat panel (IFP) displays.

Regionally, Asia & Oceania (63.3% QoQ) and Eastern Europe (40.6% QoQ) are standouts for 4Q21 growth in terms of public display shipments. In Asia & Oceania, IFP doubled in shipments to 40,000 units in 4Q21 compared with the previous quarter, with India and South Korea as primary contributors. As for Eastern Europe, Poland continued to show strong growth after recording 72.9% QoQ growth thanks to Samsung in the signage and information display category, while Turkey had over 15,000 units in shipments with its “FATİH” project, which is supported by the Turkish government under the IFP display category.

Who knows, I suppose, but that big growth seen in Eastern Europe might stall right out given what’s happening in Ukraine.

The Linkedin brief doesn’t reference it (and the full report is paywalled and $$$$$$), but note the chart and the growth of interactive (touch) display shipments, which actually surpassed “regular” displays in Q3. That at least suggests a big spike in self-service applications and is tangible evidence that the doom and gloom expected for touchscreens because of health safety worries didn’t play out. The opposite happened, as it grew increasingly clear the real risk was in the air, not on surfaces.

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