Projector sales stay the pace in Q3

Global growth of four per cent in projector sales

The global market for projectors grew four per cent year on year to 1.98 million units in Q3 this year, according to analyst Futuresource Consulting.

However, the outlook for 2012 remains relatively mixed, due to ongoing economic uncertainty in the US and Europe, the firm added.

"The Euro 2012 football tournament should help to stimulate entry-level demand in Europe in 2012 – and also affect market cycles. However, overall market activity is expected to remain relatively flat, with market growth expected to continue to come from emerging markets with Latin America, China, India, Russia and Indonesia the ones to watch," it stated in its report.

The analyst noted that China alone enjoyed 16 per cent year-on-year growth, buying 510,000 projectors. The Russian market also grew well, following a quiet period since the initial 2008 downturn.

Short-throw projectors comprised 14 per cent of all global projector sales, up from 12.7 per cent in the same quarter in 2010, Futuresource said.

"Projectors with built-in interactivity accounted for nearly two per cent of all sales," it wrote. "XGA accounted for over 50 per cent of overall sales as SVGA sales dropped off slightly. WXGA again gained a small amount of share. However, in the US market, WXGA reached almost 30 per cent as adoption gains pace."

Some 4,000 LED-based 500-lumen projecters were sold globally, from five brands. Home display sales for the year to date were also down.