Business-to-business sales of flat panels are soaring despite the overall collapse in shipments experienced by most other AV product categories.

Latest research by Futuresource Consulting shows business-focused flat panel sales growing steadily this year, racking up some 400,000 units over Q2 to represent 30 per cent growth year on year.

Chris McIntyre-Brown, senior market analyst at Futuresource, said the associated public display application market has grown by nearly 40 per cent, with digital signage driving flat panel display penetration in many applications and verticals.

“Retail signage has long been heralded as the main vertical for flat panel displays, currently about 45 per cent of total public display application sales, with the obvious attraction of funding the network via advertising revenue,” he said.

Conversely, the harsh economic conditions damaged deployments without a clear return on investment (RoI), such as the likes of wayfinding installations.