Video projectors: industry partners

By: Héctor Gómez Pérez

When writing this article, a song by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico comes to mind: "Caja de sorpresas". For those who are not very familiar with the music of this salsa group, the lyrics of the song in question say that life is a box of surprises because one day we are good and the next bad and vice versa. It is a law.

I mention this because much of the year 2009 was framed by the economic crisis, only so far some economies are emerging from this period of "lean cows". But the outlook is very promising for 2010 in everything that has to do with the sale of televisions and projection systems for a simple reason: the World Cup that will be held in the middle of the year in South Africa and that promises to be the most watched event around the planet.

As you well remember, in the last edition of 2008 we published an article about video projectors in which we verified that in Latin America low light equipment was generally sold. This year we wanted to take up this topic and others about the trends and perspectives of these projection systems that have become, over time, the best allies for many markets.

For this article we have the participation of Walter Schoenleber, video marketing specialist of Sony Latin America and Gabriel Ruchelsman, senior sales manager of Sharp Electronics Corp, Latin American Group. From the hand of these experts we will know the moment that these teams live and the impact they will have in the future in the industry.

More luminosity for the region

Although the trend is for low-light video projectors to be sold in Latin America, Schoenleber believes that this will change for next year: "The latest market research shows that 2000-2499 lumens is the largest segment (71%) in terms of volume, followed by 2500-2999 lumens (22%). At InfoComm 2010 we will see that the segment of 2500-2999 lumens will grow by 40%, this is due to the new models that are being launched and that prices will fall by approximately 10% in this segment, according to a market study. "

In this sense, Ruchelsman also said that "the trend of low power in SVGA resolution is basically economical because it is the balance between the package of technical characteristics vs. the purchasing cost. The sales results show that as the user becomes more demanding in terms of image quality, they turn to WXGA segments with a power threshold of not less than 2600 ANSI lumens."

Talking to the two guests about the sales of video projectors so far in 2009, on the side of Sharp we find that the sales of these equipment began to improve from April, exceeding expectations by 10%. For his part, the Sony representative confirmed that the volume of equipment sales of 2000-2499 lumens has been the same between 2008 and 2009, while the equipment of the segment of 2500-2999 had an approximate growth of 5%.

In terms of the equipment that took the baton during this year, we have the MX series of portable projectors from Sony. "They feature Sony's BrightEra technology with Long Lasting Optics panel technology. They are the lightest and thinnest portable projectors that the company has: they weigh only 1.7 kg and have a thickness of 45 mm. They have a luminosity level of 2500 lumens and have a variety of automatic features that make it possible to achieve quick and easy presentations," explained Walter Schoenleber.

For his part, Ruchelsman said Sharp Latin American Group has tried to differentiate itself from its competitors by basing its sales strategy on XGA models and not on SVGAs. "This year we focused on the XR32XL of 2600 ANSI lumens. This equipment brings together the ideal lighting power for a meeting room or educational classroom, with the advantage of presenter assistance programs within a robust and lightweight cabinet," the guest added.

We have already talked about the fact that today's user is increasingly informed and has new demands for his technology provider company. So what are you looking for in video projectors? Ruchelsman believes that due to the new demands and needs of the market, the customer will increasingly lean towards WXGA solutions, in the same way he will look for equipment of 2500 lumens or more and with HDMI access ports.

For his part, Schoenleber states that in the Latin American market the customer's demands are focused on aspects such as price, luminosity, contrast, lamp life and cost savings.

2010 is here

A new year is approaching and with it new challenges for companies in terms of technology and sales strategies, especially to counteract technologies that in some way can be direct competitors of video projectors.

To this particular, the guest of Sony said that according to studies of his company has evidenced an important growth of PICO projection devices (small devices that can easily adapt to the cell phone to project images or data). "Market research in Latin America shows moderate growth in volume for these LED or laser light devices starting in 2010," Schoenleber explained.

"There are new technologies in the presentation market, such as new projectors with LED lighting, but at the moment the lighting power provided by these equipment is much lower than that of the commonly marketed models. LCD screens have impacted the projector market in some ways," Ruchelsman said.

Likewise, this professional presumes a growth for the projection industry for the coming year due to the World Cup: "2010 will be a year of growth for the projection industry at all levels. The video and recreation area expects the World Cup to give a big boost to sales in both HDTV equipment and economic units for bars and confectioneries."