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In COVID's wake, public display market sees staggered recovery across regions in second quarter results

10 September, 2021 | Kelly Lum and Cindy Liu

digital sign_touch interface_shutterstock_272479613
The global public display market showed mixed signs of recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the second quarter of 2021, with some segments and regions bouncing back fairly robustly while others continued to lag, according to Omdia’s latest Public Display Market Tracker in the Digital Signage & Professional Displays Spotlight Service.

Supply chain difficulties continue to affect many display brands within the industry, with many vendors continuing to face panel price increases, and with component shortages affecting key product lines for large format displays through the second quarter of 2021.

Overall, the second quarter of 2021 saw a moderate quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) increase for global public display shipments, reflecting a lift of 6.9% compared to the previous quarter. Recovery among interactive flat panel displays with touch functionality continues to be strong, with a 13.4% QoQ increase for the second quarter of 2021, reaching nearly 429,000 units. Meanwhile, signage and information displays increased a modest 2.0% QoQ for 2Q21.

Signage TV shipments paused in the second quarter of 2021, with Samsung, LGE, and Sony declining QoQ by 12.2%, 4.8%, and 26.0%, respectively. The dip for these “prosumer” displays comes primarily from Asia & Oceania, Eastern Europe, and Japan, as key countries in these regions saw an initial high run-rate for projects following these newly launched products. In addition, a change in demand among more price conscious markets also caused a shift from signage and information displays to signage TVs starting in the second half of 2020.

Regional Variations

For 2021, second quarter results for public display shipments vary by region, with North America demonstrating the largest QoQ increase of 23.5%, followed by continued strong performance in the China region with 17.8% QoQ growth. 

However, as seen in Figure 1, shipments in several regions for the second quarter of 2021 surpassed pre-pandemic levels compared to that same quarter in 2019, with China showing the largest increase of 24.9% from 2Q19 to 2Q21. 

Asia & Oceania and North America follow, with second quarter results for 2021 surpassing second quarter results for 2019 by 14.1% and 11.0%, respectively. Recovery in Western Europe has been slightly more sluggish, with many key countries in the region still facing varying levels of lockdown through the beginning months of 2021.

IFP Displays Lead US Recovery

In North America, the U.S. market continues to gain traction, with much of the recovery led by interactive flat panel (IFP) displays, with over 90,000 units reported for the second quarter of 2021. Corporate and education sectors still comprise the majority of IFP/Touch display shipment allocation in 2021 so far, with the education sector utilizing a portion of CARES Act 2 funding to implement education technology improvements for the transition to distance learning, including IFP/Touch displays. 

On the other hand, the shift in demand from signage and information displays to the signage TV category is becoming more prominent, especially from the latter half of 2020. Among the signage TV category, LGE and Samsung remain the clear market share leaders, with Samsung claiming 59.5% share and LGE capturing 33.1% share for signage TV shipments in 1H21 for the overall North America market. 

Omdia expects momentum to continue in North America as many projects are now ramping up during the summer months, especially among corporate, education, and retail sectors as pandemic-related restrictions are loosened.

Local Brands Lead Strong Recovery in China

In the China region, most of the pandemic's impact on the public display industry was isolated to the first quarter of 2020. All public display categories reported double-digit year-over-year increases, with IFP/Touch displays capturing nearly 65% share for 2Q21, as SeeWo, MAXHUB, and Hitevision comprised over 75% of IFP/Touch shipments within the China region. 

China’s quick domestic recovery can be attributed to the strong presence of local brands, in addition to government initiatives, such as the 14th Five-Year plan for China’s Security Industry. This initiative emphasizes the importance of interconnection of things, data intelligence, application intelligence, and security applications in various fields and expansion into new markets. The 14th Five-Year plan promotes further expansion of digital signage solutions for LCD videowalls, signage and information displays, and IFP/Touch displays as well.

Learn more

The Digital Signage & Professional Displays Spotlight Service is a comprehensive set of data and analysis, which provides market insights on multiple aspects of flat panel displays technology and industry trends.

Figure 1: Public display year-over-year comparison for second quarter results by region

Figure 1: Public display year-over-year comparison for second quarter results by region

Source: Omdia Public Displays Market Tracker – History – 2Q21
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Kelly Lum
Principal Analyst, ProAV

Kelly contributes to Omdia’s ProAV research for the Public Display Market Tracker for shipment and revenue data on LCD and OLED displays. She also supports research on LED video displays and consultancy projects for Omdia’s ProAV group.   

Prior to joining Omdia (formerly IHS Markit) in August 2013, Kelly worked at ALG, a TrueCar Company, as a consulting analyst in the automotive industry to forecast residual values, optimize proposed sales strategies, and make recommendations based on expected segment and industry trends. She graduated in 2008 from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a Bachelor of Arts in economics/mathematics and a minor in statistical science. She is based in San Jose, California.  

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