St. Albans, UK (November 3, 2017)—UK analysts Futuresource Consulting predict the global pro loudspeaker market will hit $3.6 billion by 2021, fueled largely by increased demand for quality installed sound and investments from the commercial retail world in creating more enticing shopping environments.
The report places the market currently at a $2.6 billion value worldwide, examining seven product segments (point source cabinets, line arrays, column arrays, compact systems, studio monitors, flush mount and cinema sound) across five broad segments (rental, portable sound, installed leisure, cinema sound and installed commercial).
All regions of the global market are expected to grow, with the Americas remaining the top market, but the report predicts that Asia will soon become the second largest market as it grows to an expected $1.3 billion by 2021. EMEA would accordingly slip to third place, but it should still see growth during that time regardless.
There’s numerous parts of the pro loudspeaker industry that will be powering that hardy growth, but none more pressing than installed leisure and installed commercial verticals; they are expected to be the busiest sectors, with more higher-value projects in the former, but far more work in the latter. The report expects that touring loudspeaker brands will increasingly take aim at the installed leisure segment. That may be due to the observation that while artists are touring more and investing as much or more in production than in the past, audio’s portion of that budget looks to be shrinking, as evidenced in tighter margins for touring sound providers, who presumably would be buying less gear as a result.
With the retail world combatting online shopping, the report expects some retailers to draw on audio to help create more enticing shopping venues, which in turn would mean more work and product volume going on in that sector.
“Moving forward, the brands that will succeed will be those who reinvent themselves as end-to-end solution providers,” says Chris McIntyre-Brown, Associate Director at Futuresource Consulting. “When it comes to installation, being able to offer a complete system which includes amplifiers, microphones, networking, zoning systems and security systems could be the difference between winning and losing. Bosch is already successfully doing this and Harman is well placed to do the same.
Futuresource Consulting
www.futuresource-consulting.com
