The leaders in the first group tend to be mostly low cost projectors. All of these are under $600 business / education projectors except #5.
The BenQ (and one or two other home projector from time to time) may generate sufficient monthly sales to sometimes make this list, despite home projectors being a relatively small market compared to business and education.
Best Selling Retail Projectors for Business, Education and Home 9/14 | |
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Projector | Comments |
#1 Epson Powerlite VS230 | 3LCD Low cost SVGA 2800 lumens |
#2 Viewsonic PJD5134 | DLP low cost SVGA 3000 lumens |
#3 Epson Powerlite 97 | Workhorse XGA big features, net, wireless |
#4 Epson Powerlite EX3220 | 3LCD SVGA, 3000 lumens opt. wireless |
#5 BenQ W1070 | A top under $1000 1080p Home Projector |
The Pro A/V channel is more focused on higher end, but since education is a huge market, many of these are top sellers to school districts, and have appropriate networking and other features.
Full featured interactive projectors are primarily sold through this channel as well, and especially to boardrooms and classrooms, but do not sell in the kind of numbers that make a top 5 list.
Note that a top quality fully interactive projector costs about as much as 3 to 5 entry level projectors.
Best Selling Commercial Projectors through Pro A/V Dealers 9/14 | |
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Projector | Comment |
#1 Epson Powerlite 97 | 3LCD XGA 2700 lm, network, wireless, pres w/mobile app. |
#2 Hitachi CP-X2530WN | 3LCD, XGA 2700 lm, network, network/pres |
#3 Epson Brightlink 585W | 3LCD WXGA ultra short throw, network/pres, wireless |
#4 Hitachi CP-AW3003 | 3LCD WXGA ultra short throw, network/pres, wireless |
#5 Epson Powerlite 98 | 3LCD XGA 3000 lm, network, wireless, pres w/mobile app |
Distributors feed projectors to a variety of dealers, including both projector specialists, computer, and general electronics sellers. This grouping tends to be dominated by low cost projector sales, under $600.
Best Selling Projectors for Business and Education - Distributor sales | |
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Projector | Comment |
#1 InFocus IN114a | DLP, XGA, 3000 lm, 3D, low cost, basic feature set |
#2 InFocus IN112a | DLP, SVGA, 3000 lm, 3D, lower res, low cost, basic feature set |
#3 Epson Powerlite 97 | 3LCD XGA 2700 lm, network, wireless, pres w/mobile app. |
#4 Epson Powerlite X17 | 3LCD, XGA, 2700 lm. low cost, opt. wireless for pres w/mobile app |
#5 Boxlight X32NST | 3LCD, SGA, 3200 lm. short throw, networking |
The breakout here by "channel" is not the typical way PMA provides us intel. The next section shows August Top 5 picks using a breakout which tells us a lot more, and features a number of higher end projectors, as well as the smallest projectors.
By comparison, all of the projectors above sell for under $1000, and weigh between about 4 and 8 pounds (ultra short throw projectors do weigh more like 8-12 lbs.
Best Selling Mainstream Projectors 8/14 | |
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Projector | Comment |
#1 Epson Powerlite 97 | 3LCD XGA 2700 lm, network, wireless, pres w/mobile app. |
#2 InFocus 112a | DLP, SVGA, 3000 lm, 3D, lower res, low cost, basic feature set |
#3 Viewsonic PJD-7820HD | DLP, 1080p, 3000 lm, 3D, cross-over - sells to business/edu, and home |
#4 Epson Powerlite 98 | 3LCD XGA 3000 lm, network, wireless, pres w/mobile app |
#5 Epson Powerlite 99W | 3LCD, WXGA, 3000 lm, network, wireless, pres w/ mobile app |
As you can see above in the first two sections of PMA's August report, several of the lower cost projectors also appear in August, as "mainstream" models.
On the other hand, the High end break out immediately below has a whole different class of projectors, that sell from under $2000 to $5000+.
Best Selling High End Projectors 8/14 | |
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Projector | Comment |
#1 Epson Powerlite 1945W | 3LCD, WXGA, 5000 lm, network/ wireles/pres/app |
#2 Epson Powerlite 1940W | 3LCD, WXGA, 5000 lm, network/ wireles/pres/app |
#3 Epson Powerlite G6450WU | 3LCD, WUXGA!, 4500 lm, multiple lenses adv. networking, wireless, pres/app |
#4 Optoma EH501 | DLP, 1080p, 5000 lumens, 3D, networking, opt wireless |
#5 Sony VPL-FHZ55/W | 3LCD, WUXGA, Laser projector w/20,000 hr "lamp" networking |
4500 and 5000 lumens will handle a small auditorium with little difficulty. 10-12 years ago, 2000 lumens was the standard for those large 15 to 25 foot screens. In "the old days" though, the really bright projectors (2000 lumens back then) almost all had interchangeable lens options, and lens shift, and sold usually from around $10,000 to $20,000+. And, of course they were lower resolution.
Today's "commercial" projectors seem to come in two flavors as you can see here. Take the three Epsons. The first two are "low cost" commercial projectors - under $2000. They have loads of features, including advanced networking, lens shift, etc., but no interchangeable lenses, so they have less placement flexibility perhaps not enough as one might need in an auditorium or for rental and staging. The Optoma in this list, is similar to the first two Epsons, in that regard.
Then there's Epson's G series: The G6450Wu. That's more of a traditional commercial projector with six lenses to choose from and truly loaded with features. That Epson, and the Sony Laser, are well over twice the price of the other three, and can cost far more, if you opt for an expensive specialty lens.
Just a comment between the Sony FHZ55 and the Epson G6450Wu. The Epson will provide far more brightness for slightly less money. That's a big trade-off in exchange for the long life laser light engine of the Sony, and typical. If the projector will be used heavily, the laser projector may even save money in the long run. Still, it's nice to see a "solid state" light engine projector make the top five list, typically the much higher cost limits sales.
From a "get a grasp on reality" standpoint relating to sales - there are, I believe 7 Epson G series projectors, several (including the G6450Wu) are direct competitors to the Sony. Overall, therefore, the multiple similar Epsons combine to far outsell the Sony.
The other take-away though, is that this Sony FHZ55 is probably the first really successful laser projector in the commercial class. That's a good thing.
Solid state light engines no doubt will dominate in a few years when their costs are significantly reduced, and some "issues" to be worked out.
Meantime, while the value proposition aspect still favors the high power lamp based projectors, the Sony certainly can do battle in overall performance with many competitors, even if the best of the competition do offer more bang for the buck. It comes down to what "your" requirements are.
Best Selling Pico and Personal Projectors 8/14 | |
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Projector | Comment |
#1 AAXA P4X | Pico, DLP, WVGA (low res, wide), 80 lm, media player, battery |
#2 Optoma ML750 | Pocket/Personal, DLP, WXGA, 700 lm, media player |
#3 AAXA P300 Pico | Pocket/Personal, DLP, WXGA, 300 lm, media player, optional battery |
#4 AAXA P2 Jr. | Very low cost Pico >$200, WXGA DLP, 55 lm, battery, media player |
#5 ASUS S1 | DLP, WSVGA (low res, wide) up to 200 lm, battery, media player |
Pico and Pocket Projectors - so far, the brightest personal projectors - those over 500 lumens, typically do not have battery options, but four of these five do. These LED projectors are extremely small and light, but no match in brightness to conventional lamp based projectors, but then, we're talking from under 1lb to 3lb here. Note most of these have power bricks. The larger projectors in this group are powerful enough for serious business presentations, to smaller groups.
OK, that pretty much covers the winners.
Interesting, very interesting. Time to digress:
Every year Projector Reviews manages to review a total of roughly 20-30 business, education, commercial and Pico/Pocket projectors combined, out of perhaps 500 projectors on the market. So, it's rather interesting, that we've managed to review most of the projectors in these lists above. In some cases, we've reviewed a "sibling" projector - same series, but perhaps a different resolution, or different lumen count but almost identical.
It's really mostly in the Pico / Pocket projector class that we missed a few. We did the #1, an AAXA, and the older version of their P2 Jr. We also did a less powerful Optoma ML550, but not the ML750. We've reviewed an ASUS, but not that one.
Anyway, we seem to have a knack of picking to review, what later prove to be the top sellers out there.
Coincidence?
Stay tuned for the October update, which should publish first week of December 2014. -art