Menlo Park, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/07/2008 -- Pacific Media Associates (PMA), the global market information experts on large-screen displays, has just completed their End User Survey, and the results indicate that the behavior of heavy users of cell phones, audio/video players, and digital cameras carries a strong potential demand for tiny projectors that can dock onto these gadgets, or actually be embedded into them.
“Anecdotal examples abound of cell phone users’ interest in taking still or video pictures, and of showing them to friends on their display screens, but now in a survey of 500+ end users, PMA has quantified just how widespread these behaviors are,” says Dr. William Coggshall, founder and president of PMA. “Our survey showed that about two-thirds of all cell phone users shoot still or moving pictures, and about one-third consider it vital to show them (and other visual material) to friends on their cell phone’s screen.”
Screen size clearly matters. Users with cell phone screens three inches (diagonal) or larger watch considerably more live TV, downloaded videos, and other sources than those with smaller screens. And more than twice as many of those with the larger screens will watch a TV show or video 30 minutes or greater in length, as compared to those with the smaller screens.
But the recent introduction of cell phones like Apple’s iPhone, with their larger screens, is a threat to the opportunity for tiny projectors. “Projector manufacturers will need to start offering attractive products soon if they want to capitalize on the opportunity,” says Coggshall. “And they will need to convince the cell phone makers to either embed the projector into the phone itself, or to include a video-out plug so it can be attached to a stand-along projector. Currently only about one in eight users owns a cell phone with such a video-out capability.”
Note: Data cited here is based on a sample of end users, and is subject to sampling error.
About Pacific Media Associates
Pacific Media specializes in global display market information, covering all large-screen display categories: front projectors, plasma and LCD TVs, and rear-projection displays. Their Large-Screen Displays Industry Service family of publications provides detailed worldwide quarterly updates (sell-in data and forecasts) on large-screen display markets, newsletters on new products and other key industry developments, monthly advertised price tracking, ad hoc analyses, and annual Web surveys of North American end users (including organizations and individual consumers) and both North American and EMEA resellers/retailers. Their Large-Screen Displays Tracking Service family of monthly reports offers timely sell-through data and analysis on unit sales, true volume-weighted street prices, and inventories of large-screen displays sold by leading North American retailers, resellers, and distributors. Pacific Media Associates was established by Dr. William Coggshall, who was previously a co-founder of Dataquest and helped start the syndicated high-tech market information business. The company headquarters is at 1060 Siskiyou Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Telephone +1 650-561-9020 www.pacificmediaassociates.com
Pacific Media’s End User Survey Suggests Big Opportunity for Tiny Projectors
Larger picture is key to watching more or longer, or showing to others