Sales of large-format displays (LFDs) were up by +19% year-on-year in July 2019, and the picture is even better if focusing solely on touchscreen LFDs. This type of interactive display accounted for over 18% of LFD volumes and almost 30% of revenues, as well as seeing +29% unit growth a +16% increase in revenues.
“The significant growth in sales by Western European distributors reflects businesses looking to increase employees’ agility, collaboration and productivity”, said Dominika Koncewicz, Senior Analyst at CONTEXT. “But the third quarter is also usually boosted by the educational market which is happy to invest in interactive classroom solutions.”
The LFD touchscreens that saw the most notable growth this month were 65-inch and 75-inch displays (up by +57% and +43% year-on-year, respectively) and those with 4K/UHD resolution (77% of interactive displays sold in July had high resolution). Growing demand for higher-resolution screens has been driven by falling prices which are now almost similar to those for Full-HD displays.
The long-awaited launch of the 50.5-inch Microsoft Surface Hub 2S this quarter will also affect sales of this category. However, it will also fuel competition between vendors as, despite its many useful functionalities, the Surface Hub is one of the smallest and most expensive of the latest crop of LFDs. New collaborative displays that were made available through WE distributors in July included larger screens (75 or even 86 inch) with 4K resolution from vendors well-known in the niche, such as Promethean, and others, such as ViewSonic and Dell.
“The increase in demand for interactive solutions from a broad spectrum of businesses in Europe is expected to continue, particularly in the biggest Western European markets such as the UK, Germany and France”, Dominika added. “In Italy, the digitalising of work and educational spaces, which has recently been a particular priority, is supporting sales not only of interactive displays but also in other categories such as desktop monitors.”