Projector sales down but future looking brighter

Analyst predicts gradual increase in sales following 12-month slump

Projector sales in EMEA have slowed down in the first half of the year, but a gradual uptake could be on the horizon, according to forecasts by analyst firm Decision Tree Consulting.

The market watcher announced huge growth in projector sales last year, but market optimism has seemingly ebbed away over the past 12 months.

The second quarter of 2005 has seen a slump in the corporate display and institutional markets, where shipments fell by over 10,000 and 6,000 respectively. However, predictions for the rest of the year will see sales begin to rise as the prosperous education sector fuels growth.

Ben Leet, senior consultant at Decision Tree Consulting, said: “The market has slowed down in Q2, this is because the home cinema market has not picked up. Even though some distributors have these products in their portfolio, the final route to market has not snapped up the goods.

“End-user awareness is an issue and the category needs to be pushed with the industry clubbing together and promoting the area fully.”

Leet added that the corporate market has remained stable and projector sales in the education sector have been growing, with July and August the most abundant period.

Simon Jackson, sales director at NEC Display Solutions, was positive about general market fortunes. He said: “The market is still buoyant when working with resellers and we have been recruiting resellers over the summer, which we hope will bring us more opportunities.

“The market has got a long way to go, but the growth will be huge, and we are just starting to see this.”

Jackson warned that some resellers may struggle when bidding for contracts as corporate firms often look to work with more established players. He said resellers should try to get involved in the projector market early, especially when selling to education, otherwise developing resellers could struggle for market share.