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West European distributor sales revenues from large format displays (LFDs) continued to grow by +8% in early Q3 2018, reveals a new report from CONTEXT.
Despite positive growth of LFDs, interest in videowalls remains high but this was not reflected in distributor sales in early Q3, with sales of videowalls declining by 9% year-on-year.
Both revenues and volume sales in Western Europe declined in that period, with weakness coming from all screen sizes, says CONTEXT. The only growth spot was 49-inch displays, the sales of which more than tripled.
Despite the weak performance of videowalls, standard and interactive displays saw double-digit sales growth in early Q3. Amongst standard LFDs, 55-inch displays remain dominant, but there is a visible trend towards smaller 49-inch, 43-inch and even 32-inch displays, together growing by 82% year-on-year.
Ultra large displays, 85-inch and above, still account for a much smaller volume share but interest is increasing. Volumes of these models more than doubled in early Q3. Amongst displays with touchscreen the biggest shift has been noticed for LFDs with 75-inch, which now account for over 20% of volume sales.
The first eight weeks of Q3 saw average selling price (ASP) decline across all types of displays. For instance, the ASP of the most popular 55-inch non-touch LFDs dropped by over €100, which is a 10% decrease year-on-year.
The trend seen in last couple of quarters is therefore good news for customers still considering investing in large displays for digital signage or business collaboration purposes. An early Q3 fall in ASP was a likely contributing factor in the +14% year-on-year volume growth and a relatively slower +9% year-on-year increase in revenues for Western Europe’s distributors.
“Strong sales in early Q3 follow the already very positive trend for LFDs at the beginning of 2018, which should continue in the second half of the year,” said Dominika Koncewicz, Senior Analyst for Displays at CONTEXT.
“Despite weak performance, we should see more videowalls as well as increasing interest in high brightness outdoor displays.”
