Unit sales of large-format displays (LFDs) in West Europe (WE) continued to grow in Q1 2019 – by almost 14% year-on-year – driven by all sub-segments, including videowalls and high-brightness displays, according to the latest distribution data published by Context.
Sales of high-resolution LFDs more than doubled in the first three months of 2019, managing to offset the continuing decline in sales of full HD (FHD) displays (-11% in this quarter) sufficiently to lead to an overall +14% year-on-year volume increase in WE.
“While FHD remains the dominant resolution, a constant demand for the best picture quality, to enhance customer experience both indoors and outdoors, makes higher resolution displays much more attractive,” says Dominika Koncewicz , senior market analyst for displays at Context. “Moreover, prices for ultra-high definition (UHD) displays are falling, helping to spur sales: in Q1 2019 the average selling price (ASP) of 4K/UHD non-touch displays in distribution was 1 500 euro, almost 30% less than a year ago, and the ASPs of the most popular screen sizes, such as 55-inch and 65-inch, are already below 1 200 euro.”
The other type of LFDs seeing growing sales, are those with high brightness. Previously, most LFDs sold by WE distributors had a brightness of less than 500 nits, but sales of these grew only 7% year-on-year in Q1 2019 while sales of LFDs with brightness of 1000 nits grew by over +75%.
Revenues generated by these models were also up, by over +25% year-on-year, while those from displays with lower brightness declined by -4%. In the last couple of quarters, significant growth in sales of high brightness displays has been seen particularly for LG.
Interest in videowalls also remains high.
For the second quarter in a row WE distribution has seen growing sales, generating revenues that are 4% higher than in the same period last year. A range of sizes, resolutions and technologies gives videowall solutions the flexibility to provide the highest levels of customer engagement, and help ensure the message is impactful and memorable. Customers are happy with 55-inch screens, and this remains the most popular size; however, there is increasing interest in smaller and cheaper 49-inch screens.
“The rise of high-resolution and high-brightness displays described above demonstrates a growing interest in outdoor solutions for a range of purposes, such as smart cities,” adds Dominika. “And, nowadays, these cannot be driven only by consumer experience – they need to evolve in line with technical, physical and environmental changes. We should therefore expect to see smarter and greener digital signage solutions in the coming years.”