The EMEA and APAC region both posted growth in Q3 this year, according to the latest quarterly projector market update from Futuresource Consulting. The APAC market was up 9%, with the EMEA region posting more modest growth of 2%, which was driven by a huge jump of nearly 40% in the 5,000-7,000 lumens projector category.
The EMEA projector market expanded by 2% in volume and value in Q3 2014, to reach 584,000 and $676 million. However, this growth was largely derived from the installation and large venue segment, where sales of 5,000-7,000 lumens product jumped nearly 40% over the quarter to reach 13,000 units, largely fuelled by the launch of products by Epson, NEC and Panasonic.
Decline in XGA volumes was less than expected, at less than 10% YoY in Q3, resulting in a drop of 4% in market share, to 32%. XGA sales were bolstered by several brands distributing heavily discounted end-of-line product to smaller Middle Eastern states and sub-Saharan Africa.
Seasonal education purchasing in Q3 saw sales of interactive touch UST projectors rise 867% to 17,000 units, accounting for 15% of B2B short throw sales, compared to less than 2% a year ago. Although EU5 and the Nordics still account for the majority of such sales, this quarter saw significant demand from smaller Gulf Cooperation Council states and the Czech Republic.
Shipments in Western Europe were up 3% YoY, with value growing by 3.6%.
Italy witnessed growth of 77% across the quarter, with volumes driven by UST tender activity. Recent quarters have seen increased spend on IWBs and UST projectors, with strong shipments set to continue throughout Q4 2014.
Market volumes in Eastern Europe declined 2.3% in Q3, with value falling by 2.1% to 95 million. Volume decline was largely confined to Russia and Ukraine as the ongoing macro political issues continue to impede the market.
Excluding Russia and Ukraine, sales in Eastern Europe increased by nearly 24% YoY, with value up 33%. The region benefitted from several project deliveries, namely in Hungary, Poland and Romania. Moreover, run-rates across the region were strong, driven by the availability of cheap end-of-line XGA product.
Shipments in MEA were up 2.6%, though with value declining of 1.8%.
The APAC projector market expanded by nearly 9% in volume in Q3 2014, to reach 964,000 units, equating to a 7% increase in value, up to $1.2 billion.
The mainstream B2B segment in China continues to be hampered by the impact of low-cost flat panel displays from domestic vendors. Feedback from research carried out for this study indicates that such brands receive strong support from government bodies, resulting in heavily discounted ASPs. The segment's volumes grew just 7% YoY in Q3, to 366,000 units, despite the country being heavily under-penetrated.
Growth of 1080p product in B2B and B2C channels continues to surge, up 52% YoY, and now represents 4.6% of market volumes - still to the detriment of XGA, which is largely failing to remain competitive.
Ultra-short throw (UST) sales grew 22% YoY to 55,000 units, fuelled by burgeoning demand in China, Japan and India - particularly from private educational establishments.