Projectors Project a Bright Picture!

The Indian projector market size in 2010 was around 180K units which is likely to cross 300K units in 2011.

The Indian market manifests an apparent boost in demand for projectors in recent times. The changing lifestyle, decrease in technology prices and increase in the spend on electronic has led to an upsurge in demand for high-end products and in such a scenario projectors are, in no way, behind.

Market Size

As per one of the leading research agencies tracking the projector market globally, the worldwide front projector market will grow by 20% in 2011 from its level in 2010. The size of the Indian projector market in 2010 was around 180K units ((Ref. PMA Report Q1, CY2011), which has recorded a YoY growth of 89.5% FY 2010- 2011.

“With IT infrastructure spending becoming an integral part of every business budget, projectors are on their way to becoming an essential asset of any organization.  The IT adoption levels with regard to education, government and corporate have grown manifold over the years,” says Abhilesh Guleria, Country Head - Multimedia Product Group & IT Platform, NEC, India.

“With the economic growth leading to mushrooming of industries, we perceive a further increase in the demand of projectors. High-end projectors are also in demand for the simulation industry. The market in India is pegged at 90,000 per annum and expected to grow at the rate of 15%. There are also various emerging segments which are booming with demand for projectors,” says Mohamed Nasir, Senior Manager - Marketing, Consumer System Products Division, Canon India.

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Technological innovation in projector landscape

3D enabled - 3D projection technology marks one of the latest advances which helps to achieve the most compelling experience by creating an immersive 3D image on the screen.

DLP Technology - DLP technology enables a filter-free design and therefore does not require a filter (that must be cleaned and replaced regularly). Low maintenance means lower costs. Many DLP projectors feature BrilliantColor technology, which processes up to six colours or more (versus only three in LCD projectors), resulting in real-life colour quality.

DLP Link - This explains amazing technology that seamlessly synchronizes 3D data between 3D active glasses and DLP 3D-ready projectors without special emitters. DLP Link technology is just another reason why DLP is leading the way in 3D projection technology.

Ultra Short Throw - Gone are the days of walking in front of the projector light and blocking the image on the screen. With DLP ultra-short throw projectors enables lighting up a big screen (70 inches or more) from only inches away from the screen surface.

Interactive Projection - DLP Interactive Projectors can turn any wall into an interactive whiteboard. The Interactive pen can be used like a mouse to interact with the projection up close or from a distance

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Technology & Trends

A tremendous lift is evident in demand for the latest technologies like the 3D and Interactive Short throw. “The demand for projectors is on a rising curve due to strong buying in domains like education, government, entertainment, IT/ITeS segments, corporate, etc. On the technology front, both LCD and DLP projectors are in demand, and gradually the market witnesses a trend in LED Lamp technology. Young consumers are encouraged to purchase high-end products like Home theatre projectors to have their own movie screening experience in a special home theatre room,” explains Vineet Mahajan, Head - Sales (Professional Display), Panasonic India.

Today, it is not just the A-class cities which offer large scope for the projector market. With growth in computerization, new markets are emerging for projectors in India. Although the metro markets dominate the consumption, new demand is expected from upcoming B&C class cities with rapid urbanization of these towns. Also, with Government's inflated spend on infrastructure and education, small cities look more promising. “Panasonic projectors are retailed through 10 regional distributors, 200 dealers, and the products are available in 200 cities and towns,” says Vineet Mahajan.

The IT sector, the BPOs, and the government have been the leading buyers of projectors traditionally. However, during the past two-three years, education has been emerging as a key customer vertical. As institutions integrate ICT with education, the demand for digital projectors has grown. In recent times, the projector industry has set a new trend. The projector now comes out of the boardroom and reaches out to the classrooms. According to a research report, Indian higher education sector will surge at a CAGR of 15% by 2013 with the increase in investment and ample opportunities. Education has clearly emerged as the major buyer for projectors, con-tributing to more than 40-45% of the total projector market in India. “Almost half of the sale of projectors is taken up by the education market. We are very strong in the education segment in South India. Education is the industry which is growing up at a fast pace. In terms of segments, education, government and corporate command good importance in our eyes,” says Rajeev Singh, Country Head, BenQ India.

“The IT/ITeS are the biggest market for projectors. However, this trend is changing now. 

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Market Trends

*  Embedded mobile projectors are about to find their way into the consumer electronics. This projection technology will help to pave the way for in-bulit projectors into different devices like mobile phones.  
*  The LED lamp-based projectors are increasingly becoming popular, but its price will be a deterrent. In the present scenario, adoption of Pico projectors in India has been slow. This is largely due to challenges at the application level. 
*  LCD/DLP-based projectors are currently popular. LED is a coming trend.
*  Ultra-short throw as a category will pick up due to large demand coming from the education and retail sectors. The market is opening up for high luminosity 3-chip DLP projectors fuelled by demand from entertainment industry.
*  LED technology has its advantages and a prolonged usage due to the long life cycle. However, the brightness of LED projectors, which are available in the market, is very low and some of the brands which have launched high brightness led projectors are facing challenges in terms of heat and noise factors.

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The education sector is slowly emerging to be a huge market and there is no doubt that this segment could surpass the demand of other verticals. Slowly, you will see most of the projector companies spending their resources on this category,” opines Ajay Sharma, Country Manager, ViewSonic Technologies India.

“Currently, the major focus of projector is on the education segment. The spotlight is shifting from one-way communication in the classrooms to two-way communication. For this, we have our interactive projectors. Projector has a very niche market. Upcountry markets like Surat, Baroda, Patiala and Ludhiana are greener pastures for projectors,” says Harish A. K., Senior Business Manager -VI, Epson India

There are several factors which drive the demand for projectors. “As video continues to see a healthy growth rate in India, projector vendors are busy looking at opportunities to gain an entry into the big enterprises. Consequently, keeping in tune with video, a lot of price segmentation is happening in the projector market as well. The vendors are ensuring that they have the hardware that can be bundled up with all types of video offerings. The categories are also diversifying. While high resolution is the buzzword, there are projectors in the mid range segment as well, to entice SMEs who are keen on video. Projectors have also become a must have for small businesses and digital homes today,” comments Mohamed Nasir.

Challenges...

The projector market faces some challenges. At certain levels, the demand for projectors is being replaced by large format displays (PDP & LCD) which does away with the demerits of projection technology like switching off the lights, changing the lamps and regular maintenance, etc. Moreover, these Big Plasma displays are used for a dual purpose of Videoconferencing, apart from presentations. These displays generate true colours imparting a true live experience of videoconferencing and a great experience for presentation purpose.

Projector pricing has become highly competitive in the market. However, most of the entry-level projectors are priced below Rs.20,000 and increase with many add-on features like Interactive, full HD, 3 D and other such technological breakthroughs. Projectors are sold as per the requirement of the buyer, size of the room, infrastructure and purpose of use. The entry-level projectors with decent brightness (2000 - 2600) lumens are normally sold as a standalone sets with demand from corporate, government and schools. The higher brightness (above 4000 Lumens) projectors are generally sold as a part of a solution. Here, the main application goes to cinema, auditoriums and Defence verticals. 

Finally...

It is pretty lucid that today no sector, be it Government, Corporate, Education etc. can say no to projectors. It has invariably proved its significance over time.  In the coming days projector's demand can only be seen as escalating. Positioned as standalone or solution to the customer, it has its own bouquet of benefits for the partners. With vendors focusing on advanced features, newer technologies and increasing the established market, the projector market is on its way to seeing some heightened activity in the near future.

For more contact:
moumita@varindia.com