Pro AV Industry Growth Continues to Slow Through Fall 2024: AVIXA

December 19, 2024 by Dave Haynes

The global Pro AV industry has been decelerating in late 2024, with both October and November posting some of the year’s lowest growth figures, according to new stats and observations generated in AVIXA’s Pro AV Business Index.

The trade association’s AV Sales Index (AVI-S) declined from 53.4 in October to 52.1 in November, which is the lowest reading since January 2021, which you may recall was DEEP into the pandemic. Both figures are above the 50-point threshold that indicates market growth, but just. They show a significant slowdown from earlier in the year. October saw the highest percentage of businesses reporting decreased sales in nearly four years, though this was counter-balanced by a meaningful number of companies still reporting growth.

Employment is also wobbly, with the AV Employment Index (AVI-E) dropping from 55.8 in October to 52.9 in November. Industry people feeding their views to AVIXA noted that many companies have sorted out what had been hiring challenges and are now at steady workforce states rather than adding people.

The regional data for November shows particular weakness in North America, where the index barely held above the growth threshold at 50.5. International markets are more resilient with a reading of 56.3, though those are also down from previous months.

Despite the slowdown, AVIXA’s analysts suggests the industry is still fundamentally healthy, with project loads and capacity somewhat balanced.

“This month,” AVIXA says in a summary, “the U.S. labor news was a bright spot, with 227,000 jobs added as well as upward revisions from the past two months totaling 56,000. A healthy economy is wind in our industry’s sails, so this was a positive indicator that helps strengthen expectations for coming months.”