Digital Signage
With the digital signage industry being expected to show an average annual growth rate of 8.3% until 2020, digital signage is emerging as a key part of the B2B business of Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. Market research firm IHS recently said that the global demand for digital signage products is forecast to increase from 4.4 million units to 7.7 million units a year between last year and 2020.
In the first quarter of this year, the public display market showed a substantial growth led by a significant increase in the shipments of 32-inch and 49-inch displays installed in subway trains, bus stations, etc. In addition, the demand for larger digital signage products with a screen size of 60 to 70 inches is increasing rapidly in education institutions, enterprises and the like. Both LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics are coming up with a series of public display TVs to accelerate the growth of another market segment, too.
These days, digital signage is increasing its popularity as a two-way communication tool of governments and enterprises as it is being combined with information and communications technology and social networking services as well as display technologies like LED and LCD. According to the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning, the size of the South Korean digital signage market is predicted to grow from 2.5 trillion won to approximately four trillion won between this year and 2020.
Last year, Samsung Electronics’ global digital signage market share reached 28.1% on a quantity basis and the company ranked first in the market for the seventh consecutive year. In March 2015, Samsung Electronics took over YESCO Electronics, a U.S. LED signage manufacturer. LG Electronics accounted for 10.3% of the same market last year and released OLED signage products at InfoComm 2016 in Las Vegas last month.
“The TV industry, which used to lead the growth of the large-screen display market, is showing a negative growth due to the global economic recession and digital signage is emerging as a breakthrough,” said an industry expert, adding, “Samsung Electronics is solidifying its dominance with Samsung Display while LG Electronics is striving to catch up with it by means of OLED, and digital signage is likely to become one of the most important parts of business for both of them in the near future.”