Menlo Park, California, USA – February 28, 2011. According to Pacific Media Associates (PMA), the worldwide market information experts on front projectors, buyers of projectors from U.S. storefronts and direct marketers (Web and catalog) are increasingly choosing smaller, sub-500 lumen brightness, “New Era” projectors. In the January issue of their Retail Projector Tracking Service, PMA found that 13% of all units sold through the retail channel during January 2011 were in the New Era category, more than double the figure of only two years ago.

“Because Texas Instruments’ DLP technology lends itself particularly well to small projectors, the growth of the overall New Era category has closely tracked with the growth of sub-500 lumen DLP-based projectors,” said Dr. William Coggshall, President of Pacific Media Associates. “Nearly 8% of the 13% New Era portion sold by retailers during January 2011 incorporated DLP technology, compared with about 1.5% for LCOS technology.”

The principal segments within the New Era category today are Pico Projectors, which are battery-powered models typically weighing 0.5 lb. or less, and Personal Projectors, which are powered by “power bricks” plugged into wall outlets and typically weighing 1.5-2.0 lb. “Pico Projectors get lots more attention today because of their mobility; in fact, the market-leading 50-lumen WVGA-resolution Optoma PK-301 model commands a street price almost as high as the best-selling 2700-lumen SVGA ViewSonic PJD5122. And PMA’s research found that the 100-200 lumen SVGA-resolution Personal Projectors sold for street prices in the range of $395-590, higher than the $364-534 range of the larger 2500-2700 lumen SVGA-resolution models,” said Coggshall. “Buyers are clearly willing to pay more for more compact models. And with the Optoma PK-301 ranking #6 overall in January, manufacturers are now looking much more closely at the New Era category.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
William Coggshall, +1 650-561-9020, coggshall@pacificmediaassociates.com

About Pacific Media Associates

Pacific Media specializes in worldwide front projector market information, including New Era (sub-500 lumens), Mainstream (500-4999 lumens), and High-End (5000+ lumens) categories. Their Industry Service family of publications provides detailed worldwide quarterly updates (sell-in data and forecasts) on front projector markets, newsletters on new products and other key industry developments, and biennial Web surveys of North American dealers and end users (including organizations and individual consumers). Their Tracking Service family of monthly reports offers timely sell-through data and analysis on unit sales, true volume-weighted street prices, and inventories of front projectors sold by leading North American retailers, resellers, and distributors. Pacific Media Associates was established- by Dr. William Coggshall, who was a co-founder of Dataquest and helped start the syndicated high-tech market information business.
Pacific Media Associates is headquartered at:

1060 Siskiyou Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Tel. 650-561-9020. Fax 650-561-9019.
www.pacificmediaassociates.com