MUMBAI: Projectors are one of the fastest growing product lines in India due to the booming education market. Changing lifestyles, decrease in price and rising spending on electronics has led to an upsurge in demand for high-end products including projectors.
Various emerging segments such as Education and Audio Video System Integration in commercial segment are booming with demand for projectors. India's education sector is moving towards the digital age. Educational system integrators are thriving in India and helping to cater to the growing requirement of audio-visual equipment. Further, the market is expected to grow at a faster pace due to the revival of delayed projects affected by the Indian general election of 2014.
According to “India Projector Market Outlook, 2019”, India’s projector market was growing with a CAGR of 21.74% by volume over past four years. IT, corporate, media, entertainment, rental, BPO and education sectors were the major industries driving the sales of projectors.
The education sector is reportedly the biggest segment of digital projector sales in 2014 followed by mid-size and small business segments. Beyond this, development in the home entertainment and gaming segment is also being scaled up with the arrival of 3D, HD and Wi-Fi support features within current projector models. These days the projection technology is more sought after in homes with spectacular increase in availability of full HD and 3D content in form and availability by HD DTH and Blu Ray discs.
The technology used in projectors can generally be broken down into two types: DLP and LCD. Both the technologies LCD and DLP have an almost equal market share in 2014 with DLP technology slightly ahead. However, in future the trend is expected to reverse with LCD technology to dominate the market heavily. Moreover, the market will continue its shift towards new technologies like Lazor Interactive/LED Interactive Android due to the low maintenance cost and superior technology. High-Definition (HD) projectors are replacing the Standard-Definition (SD) projectors due to increasing popularity among consumers.
Out of the total shipment, almost one-third market is captured by 1024x768 display resolutions, followed by 800x800 resolutions. Higher resolution projectors are less likely to require signal compression and its associated loss in quality. Hence, High-Definition will be the most popular display resolution in future with highest market share by 2019.
In this crowded market, BenQ is the No. 1 brand in India followed by Epson, InFocus, Hitachi, Panasonic and many others. “Apart from all these flagship players, Canon which has recently entered the category is expected to emerge as a big player in future," said a research analyst.
The company, which has launched nine LV and XEED series projectors, is targeting Rs. 100 Crore revenue by 2017. It has tied up with Ingram Micro as the national distributor for its mass products and will partner with AV integrated solution providers for high-end projectors. Moreover, the company will also be using its own retail stores ‘Canon Image Square’ to sell its projectors. Aggressive marketing and distribution strategy coupled with a well-know brand image will push the sales of these projectors.
The metro markets dominate the consumption but new demand is expected from tier II and tier III cities with rapid urbanization of these towns. The vendors are targeting more than 30 Indian towns beyond the top eight metropolitan centers for projectors.
