Big picture looks good for screens

The signs are promising as sales of flat panels bounce back in the UK and globally

Global flat panel monitor and display sales jumped 29 per cent sequentially to 200,000 in the third quarter, bouncing back from a downturn that had seen many customers preferring cheaper TV equivalents.

Mike Fisher, convergence and new technology consultant at Futuresource, said UK sales were strong, with sales of commercial-grade flat panels of 25in and larger reaching 46,000 units, 43 per cent up on last year and 16 per cent up on the second quarter. Much of that was through the channel.

“In the UK, the story is strong,” Fisher said. “We are seeing many more signs of life. People are reporting more business, and sales have come back up.

“A lot of these are going into digital signage and digital signage applications. That is a growing market although some of the largest projects have been put on hold due to the capex.”

Entry-level 720p kit still dominated the category, although the big 46-in segment was also selling well as prices come down.

Projectors and interactive whiteboard sales ­ both more mature offerings here ­ were up globally, but in the UK, despite quarterly improvement, volumes were still down on last year.

The proportion of networkable projectors was rising rapidly, with 26 per cent of
all projectors sold in the third quarter including LAN connectivity. Short-throw and ultra-throw projection also proved popular, especially in the education market.

Short-throw represented nine per cent of the market globally.

With interactive whiteboards, the US accounted for half of global sales.

A 2008 Screen Digest report, “Digital Signage in Europe”, predicted digital out-of-home advertising revenue in Western Europe to grow from €160m (£143m) in 2007 to €626m (£560m) by 2012.