According to Digitimes, Epson’s Hiroaki Kanisawa says the company will maintain its lead in the Japanese projector market with the regular launch of new models in the 4,000-6,000 lumen range, as well as Ultra HD and short-throw models. Kanisawa, the marketing director for Epson’s projector business, also predicts that the sales ratio of projectors with brightness of 4,000 lumens and over will increase significantly this year.
At the moment, according to Kanisawa, over 22% of projectors over 4,000 lumens have laser/phosphor light sources, and Epson has 30% share in this category; however, 75% of over 10,000 lumen projectors are laser-based with Epson having a 50% share.
Epson’s 5040UB projector supports Ultra HD and HDR at 60 frames per second,
with an output of 2,500 lumens.
He commented that it will take time for UHD projectors to become popular in the market, due to their relatively high manufacturing costs. Kanisawa says the company believes that demand from the education sector will ramp up over the next two years, due to new regulations regarding the mandatory use of projectors in Japanese schools by 2020.
Kanisawa also predicted that commercial and art exhibitions will become the third-largest sector within the projector market, behind conference rooms and education. To that end, the company is collaborating with teamLab to create a permanent exhibition in Odaiba, Tokyo called Mori Building Digital Art Museum, which will use 470 Epson projectors to show digital art from teamLab, demonstrating the hardware’s potential in the art and interior design world.
