If Taiwan is a trend predictor for home theatre projectors there is still lots of growth to be expected. Although I don’t think that the line-up would be the same on all continents.

Taiwan market: Top five projector vendors, 3Q 2005

1. Epson
2. BenQ
3. Optoma
4. ViewSonic
5. Panasonic

The sales volume for the local Taiwan projector market grew to 19,714 units in the third quarter of this year, up 22% from the second quarter, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) .

The growing home projector market is another key driver for last quarter shipments. In order to expand its market share, many vendors aggressively launched entry-level models priced less at than NT$30,000 (US$913 / EUR 765).

In terms of mainstream demand, over 54% of the projectors sold featured 1500-2000 lumen brightness, while XGA resolution projectors accounted for 52% of the market and DLP projectors grabbed 52% of the market, according to IDC.

The top five vendors – Epson, BenQ, Optoma, ViewSonic and Panasonic – accounted for 65% of the overall market in the third quarter.

Sources: IDC, compiled by DigiTimes, Jan 2006.