Best Selling Business and Education Projectors – March, April 2015 Posted on June 23, 2015 By Art Feierman March and April’s PMA reports list the best selling projectors in the pico, mainstream and 4,000-plus lumen categories. Also, in the last section of this blog, the latest Market Leadership numbers from PMA. A little background on the PMA reports: Every month, Pacific Media Associates releases a list of the top five projectors in varying categories. They’ve been doing this since the 1990s, and the releases continue to provide our industry with valuable information. Just so you know, a one-month snapshot doesn’t always give you a complete feel of the projector market as a whole. Some models always show up on PMA’s lists; others change from month to month. PMA also usually selects different projector categories to analyze each month. For this reason we like to combine two months of reports to give you a more complete look. Let’s jump in! March Top Projectors By Sales And CategoryThe leaders in the 4,000+ Lumen Projectors were mostly business units, though the Epson PowerLite 1985WU was voted the Best Value Large Venue Projector, right here in our 2015-16 Education Projector report. The Sony VPL-FHZ55 is also a solid choice for houses of worship. The portable Epson PowerLite 1940W is perhaps the cheapest, coming in at roughly $1,100. At the high end is the $4,500-plus Sony VPL-FHZ55 with its 3LCD laser light source. Best Selling 4,000+ Lumen Projectors 3/15 Projector Comments #1 Sony VPL-FHZ55 WUXGA (1920 X 1200), 3LCD laser light source, 4,000 lumen, ideal for large venues and house of worship #2 Epson PowerLite 1940W Wide XGA (1280 x 800), 4,200 lumens, portable or install, best for meeting rooms and classrooms #3 Panasonic PT-EZ580 WUXGA, 5,400 lumens, popular in lecture theaters and conference rooms #4 Optoma EH501 HD (1920 x 1080), 5,000 lumens, installation unit #5 Epson PowerLite 1985WU 3LCD, 4,800 lumens, WUXGA, voted Best Value Large Venue Projector in our 2015-16 education projector report We saw a few repeat offenders from previous months on the Mainstream Projector list. The Epson PowerLite 97 and InFocus IN112a have been on the best selling list for months. Like in previous months, customers are looking for affordable options – most of the projectors are less than $1,000, with some as cheap as $350. All are at least somewhat portable and feature around 3,000 lumens of brightness. Best Selling Mainstream Projectors 3/15 Projector Comment #1 InFocus IN112a XGA, 3000 lumens, about $350 #2 Epson PowerLite 97 XGA, 2,700 lumens, ideal for education #3 InFocus IN112a SVGA (800 x 600), 3,000 lumens, 5.4 pounds #4 Epson PowerLite 97 XGA, 2,700 lumens, good for education #5 NEC NP-M282X XGA (1024 x 768), 2800 lumens, DLP, popular business moel The best-selling Pico and Personal Projectors list may also look a little familiar. The brightest of the lot is the 700-lumen Optoma ML750. AAXA’s 25-lumen LED Pico and 300-lumen P300 were again on the list. Asus’ S1, with its multi-use battery remains popular with pico users. Best Selling Pico Projectors 3/15 Projector Comment #1 AAXA LED PICO 25 lumen LED light source, (960×540), 80-minute battery #2 AAXA P300 Pico 300-lumen, 1280×800 resolution, 60-minute battery sold separately #3 Asus S1 200 lumens, ultra short throw, built-in speakers, three-hour battery that can also charge other devices #4 Optoma ML750 WXGA, 700 lumens, 3D ready #5 Optoma ML550 500 lumens, WXGA (1280 x 800), 14 ounces Now let’s look at April’s best sellers. April Top Projectors By Sales And CategoryApril’s best selling 4,000+ Lumen Projectors saw a few overlaps with March’s list. Again, the list featured mostly business units. The Epson PowerLite 1985WU, voted Best Value Large Venue Projector in our 2015-16 education projector report, and the Sony VPL-FHZ55 3LCD laser light source projector, a popular choice for house of worship, again made the list. While most are installation projectors, the Epson PowerLite 1980WU and Hitachi CP-WX4022WN are lightweight enough to be moved from room to room. Best Selling 4,000 + Lumen Projectors 4/15 Projector Comment #1 Hitachi CP-X4030WN (XGA), 4,200 lumens, classroom and conference room projector #2 Sony VPL-FHZ55 WUXGA (1920 X 1200), 3LCD laser light source, 4,000 lumen, ideal for large venues and house of worship #3 Hitachi CP-WX4022WN Wide XGA (1280 x 800), 4,000 lumens, portable unit popular for business and education #4 Epson PowerLite 1980WU7 Wide UXGA (1920 x 1200), 4,400 lumens, portable powerhouse #5 Optoma EH501 HD (1920 x 1080), 5,000 lumens, installation unit April’s Mainstream Projector best sellers featured several models popular in the classroom, including the Epson PowerLite 97, PowerLite 98H and low-cost InFocus In114a. The PowerLite 98H’s moderator device management software lets instructors wirelessly share and compare students’ work from multiple devices, making it a popular choice for BYOD (bring your own device) classrooms. Best Selling Mainstream Projectors 4/15 Projector Comment #1 InFocus IN112a SVGA (800 x 600), 3,000 lumens, 5.4 pounds #2 Epson PowerLite 97 XGA, 2,700 lumens, ideal for education #3 NEC NP-M282X XGA (1024 x 768), 2800 lumens, DLP, business use #4 InFocus IN114a XGA, 3000 lumens, about $350 #5 Epson PowerLite 98H XGA (1024 x 768), 3,000 lumens, 3LCD, great for BYOD classrooms New to the best selling Pico and Personal Projectors list is the 70-lumen AAXA P3X. This tiny projector measures in at 5.5″ x 2.75″ x 1″, making it one of the smallest on the market. The long-lasting battery gives it enough juice to power through a two-hour movie without losing steam. AAXA’s 25-lumen LED Pico and 300-lumen P300 were again on the list. The 700-lumen Optoma ML750 is again the brightest of the brunch. Best Selling Pico and Personal Projectors 4/15 Projector Comment #1 Asus S1 200 lumens, ultra short throw, built-in speakers, three-hour battery that can also charge other devices #2 AAXA LED Pico 25 lumen LED light source, (960×540), 80-minute battery #3 AAXA P300 Pico 300-lumen, 1280×800 resolution, 60-minute battery sold separately #4 AAXA P3X 70 lumen LED light source, WVGA, 120+ minute internal Li-Ion battery #5 Optoma ML750 WXGA, 700 lumens, 3D ready Also from the folks at PMA: 3LCD technology outsold the next closest projector technology (DLP – single and 3 chip) by 15 percent of market share. The summary we received did not provide a breakout by percent, but with Epson being the primary manufacturer of 3LCD chips, and with them previously having been reported in March 2015 by PMA as having a 43% marketshare of mainstream and large venue projectors, the total 3LCD market share is likely to be at least 50%. After all, there are some other 3LCD projector manufacturers, notably Sony and more recently the resurfacing of ASK Proxima, plus many big names that offer both 3LCD and DLP projectors, or LCD and LCoS projectors. Need we say it? The three primary technologies are of course: 3LCD, DLP and LCoS. LCoS has traditionally had a very small market share. That’s it for now. Keep an eye out for our next round of PMA best seller analysis in the next week or two.
