Believe it or not, that glimmer is coming from the digital signage market. Display industry analyst DisplaySearch Jan. 22 released some data that should give everyone associated with digital signage reason to shake off at least a bit of the funk that lingers from the endless recitation of shrinking economic prospects.
Unit volume for plasma and LCD panels used for public display actually grew 13 percent year over year, according to the analyst group's "Quarterly FPD (flat panel display) Public Display Shipment and Forecast Report." For 2009, DisplaySearch is forecasting a 44 percent increase in unit volume. That translates into 1.8 million displays for 2009. How's that for a swift kick in the shins to the purveyors of economic doom?
While DisplaySearch acknowledges its forecast for this display sector in '09 is a downward revision from its previous projections, the company is predicting unit growth in flat panel displays for public display will continue, hitting 2.4 million next year, 3 million in 2011, 4.2 million in 20012 and 5 million in 2013.
In the view of Chris Connery, VP of PC and large format commercial displays at DisplaySearch, two slices of the public display sector in particular are expected to continue on pace this year and next, regardless of the nation's economic woes. Deployment of digital signs in quick service restaurants and on mass transit vehicles will continue as planned across the globe.
Ironically, the downturn in the economy will help to propel growth in these two sectors. According to DisplaySearch, faced with overall economic decline many consumers will re-evaluate their leisure spending. Rather than taking expensive vacations, says DisplaySearch, consumers will stay closer to home, going to the movies instead of going on vacation. As a result, movie theaters will see a surge in audiences and many will revamp their concessions by installing menu boards based on digital signage to promote the sale of goodies and to offer dynamic advertising opportunities where none before existed.
Economic decline also will change the priorities of advertisers as consumer spending shrinks, the business sector continues spending on the goods and services it needs to survive, says DisplaySearch. As a consequence, advertisers will re-orient their messaging and spending to reach B2B buyers via dynamic displays at transportation terminals and on busses and trains. Everyday, millions of business professionals commute where they work, and advertisers will respond with their dollars to reach them via digital signs.
At first glance, this may look a little crazy. After all, how do you plug in an Ethernet cable to a digital signage player on a bus? How do you guarantee that a commuter train is always in range of a WiFi network hub or cell phone range? But consider the announcement at the 2009 International CES in Las Vegas last month that 63 television broadcasters in 22 markets nationwide have committed to using a newly standardized addition to their original DTV transmission infrastructure to broadcast to mobile, pedestrian and handheld devices.
Where TV broadcasters once could only transmit their HDTV channel and a couple of new standard definition digital TV channels with their digital transmitters, this new standard lets them add multiple new mobile DTV streams without using more than their allotted slice of spectrum. Some of those streams can be used to reach dynamic digital signage on the go in busses and trains and will help propel unit growth in LCD and plasma panels used for public display.
Without question, the economy in the United States and worldwide is suffering. However, as I've discussed in this space before, opportunities continue to emerge during a recession. For those who make their living in the digital signage sector, it would appear that there are many reasons to be optimistic about the future. It will simply be a matter of responding in the right way to cash in.....
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