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Projection Systems for Business and Home Markets Strong through 2009, Industry Analysts Agree (25/7/2005)

Top Market Research Firms for Projection and Display Technologies Convene at InfoComm's 4th Annual Projection Summit

The arrival of new high performing small projectors, LCD flat panel displays with richer colors and rear projection televisions that offer smaller footprints will continue to feed the appetite of enterprises and consumers for projection and display technologies that educate, inform and entertain. This is the consensus of industry analysts from Decision Tree Consulting, DisplaySearch, Pacific Media Associates, iSuppli/Standard Resources, Techno Systems Research and 3M Precision Optics, which convened at InfoComm's 4th annual Projection Summit last month to share their forecasts for the $12 billion worldwide projection market. InfoComm is produced by the International Communications Industries Association, Inc.(R) (ICIA(R)).

"We bring together the component manufacturers as well as the people who make the finished products, the entire display ecosystem, to delve into the projection market and identify opportunities and challenges on the horizon," said Chris Chinnock, President of Insight Media, which manages the Projection Summit with the McLaughlin Consulting Group. "Two years ago we predicted that low-cost projectors would emerge and create price wars. This year we see the new illumination technologies inspiring product innovations and driving demand higher for efficient, brighter, more colorful projection systems, at both the enterprise and consumer levels."

Analysts from the six leading market research firms shared their forecasts in several projection categories. Their predictions, collectively, suggest a bright future with increased sales.

Projection

-- Presentation Front Projection Sales of 3.1 million units in 2004 will grow to 6.4 million units conservatively and as high as 12.9 million units in 2009 -- Rear Projection TV Sales of 5.7 million units in 2004 will be upwards of 6.9 million to 12.0 million units in 2009 -- Front Projection TV Sales are expected to grow from 500,000 units in 2004 to between 2 million and 4.3 million units in 2009

Flat Panel

-- Plasma Sales to Consumers of 2.1 million units in 2004 will stretch to 9.2 million units conservatively and as high as18.6 million units in 2009 -- Plasma Sales to Enterprises of 400,000 units in 2004 are expected to reach 1.3 million units conservatively and 2.2 million units optimistically in 2009 -- Consumer Sales of Active Matrix LCDs (AMLCDs) (30 inches and larger) of 1.2 million units in 2004 will leap to 20.7 million units conservatively or 37.0 million units at most in 2009 -- AMLCD Sales to Enterprises of 100,000 units in 2004 are forecast to grow to 1 to 1.1 million units in 2009

"Consumer purchases of plasmas and LCDs are among the fastest growing, but innovations are taking place across the full spectrum of flat panels and projectors," added Chinnock. "New illuminating technologies will power flat panels and projectors to provide a wider color gamut. The quality gets better all the time resulting in more hues, richer colors and more brilliant presentations on the screen. But most importantly, pricing of all display products is dropping rapidly. This creates great value for buyers, but is challenging for manufacturers and sellers of the systems."

Projection Summit attendees, who also attend InfoComm, include professional dealers and distributors of audiovisual (AV) display technologies who learn about technology trends from leading market research firms and executives in the AV industry. In addition to the forecasts, attendees participated in panel debates about the emerging IT channel for display technologies and the role of proAV providers to offer value-added integration and installation solutions. They also listened to presentations of new research from industry resources such as ICIA, TFCinfo, Qixel and MCG.

www.projectionsummit.com
www.infocomm.org