Consumer projectors grow astonishingly as TV buyers migrate

Much to the delight of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), rising demand has helped brands offset sluggish growth in business-to-business (B2B) sales. Satyanarayan P, Director, Large Format Printers, Visual Products and Robots, Epson India, said, “The pick-up in demand from other key segments such as education and corporate has helped.

In fact, some brands “seized the opportunity” to ramp up production of entry-level business projectors to meet the growing demand for home entertainment, or work from home, Satyanarayana said.

Experts said projectors were mostly sold for office use in India, and though home projectors have been available for a long time, they were never a major segment for OEMs. To be sure, enterprise projectors still dominate the market despite declining sales through 2021 with offices closed for the most part of the year.

BenQ’s home projector sales doubled in 2021, trailing 50% growth in the overall projector market.

“People who were using smart TVs felt the need to upgrade the living room to a larger screen to provide an immersive experience. This is where projectors became the first choice as one can easily go for a 100-150 inch screen at a cheaper cost than TVs of the same size,” said Rajiv Singh, Managing Director, BenQ India.

Projector maker Optoma, too, saw a 150% increase in home projector sales in 2021. Vijay Sharma said, “People have started investing in high-end equipment, such as high-end projectors, to set up a permanent home theater setup for complete enjoyment.” , Country Head, India, Optoma Corp.

Experts said the rise in popularity of over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms and other home entertainment options during the two years of the pandemic fueled the desire of people living in homes to improve their home theater experience.

Consumers are also aware of the advantages as projectors are a healthier option than TVs, as the reflected light source is easier on the eyes than direct light from a TV screen, Singh said. Singh said that most home projectors have a compact design compared to TVs, and give the buyer the freedom to get their entertainment from anywhere, indoors or outdoors.

Also, OEMs have started making projectors with more built-in features like support for OTT streaming.

For example, Samsung last month launched an ultra-portable projector with in-built OTT support, and a flexible 180-degree hinge design.

While projectors are available for 30,000 to 6 lakh, mid-range projector priced at Rs. 1-2.5 lakh has been demanded, Sharma said.

According to Singh, there is a high demand for projectors with 4K resolution and 100-150-inch screen with built-in OTT support and flexible design. Optoma saw a 120 percent increase in demand for 4K projectors.

Even with the reopening of schools and offices, brands are not expecting a reversal in the trend. Singh said that after almost two years there is a lot of demand from the educational institutions as well as the corporates.

“The projector market is set to grow more in 2022 than the previous year,” Singh said.