In view of the product's immense potential, Taiwan's Advantech Co., AU Optronics Corp. and Qisda Corp. joined hands with Intel Corp. of the United States to form Digital Signage Special Interest Group in November. Advantech is the island's leading producer of industrial computers, AU is the world's third largest supplier of liquid crystal display panels, while Qisda manufactures various flat-panel display products.
Aided by the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Market Intelligence Center under the Institute for Information Industry, the consortium will establish technology specifications and integrate resources and effort among the four companies to foster Taiwan's digital signage industry. According to the locally published newspaper Digitimes, the market value of the country's output is estimated at US$300 million for 2008, representing roughly a 15-percent market share worldwide.
As opposed to traditional prints and other static displays, digital signs can provide dynamic information and multimedia presentations to reach its targeted viewers in a highly effective way. "Public site owners are seeing that digital signage is the way to communicate mission-critical messages, whether it's information services or advertising," said Sid Stanley, general manager of Sony Corp., the developer of jumbotrons. The company is now installing the largest signage network in Europe for the French postal service.
Marketing professionals see digital signage as an effective advertising tool, citing studies that showed as much as a 60-percent increase in in-store sales in pilot marketing campaigns. Not only is the retail sector excited about the prospect of using electronic displays to boost sales, the new technology is also being embraced by education institutions, sports arenas and political campaigns, to name a few. Even churches are using it to engage their congregation. With the aid of advanced broadband technology, digital advertising will soon go mobile as well.
The choice of digital signage as one of the strategic industries for Taiwan makes great sense, because a complete ecosystem includes industrial computer producers, display panel manufacturers, software solution providers, content developers and system integrators. "As the world's major supplier of LCD panels, Taiwan stands a very good chance in the digital signage space," said Joyce Chang of the III. "The country's many business sectors can benefit from the development of this particular industry," she added.
Most electronic display systems operate from a centralized location, where message updates and stunning content are created and sent via a network to various locations. The flexibility of the system enables users to change their messages and visual content on demand around the clock, thus saving on processing cost and time. Combined with touch panels, it can also provide interactive experience to its audience. The advertising medium can be plasma display panels, liquid crystal displays, rear projection screens, light-emitting diode boards or video cube walls. PDPs are the most commonly used for the commercial market, but LCDs are gradually catching up.
With the maturing of the personal computers market, digital signage has been targeted as the next major application of LCD panels. "As manufacturers constantly expand production capacities, costs of large-sized display panels that digital signage typically uses will gradually fall into a reasonable range, making it a major application after LCD televisions," said Y.C. Lai, an industry analyst at the locally based Industrial Technology Research Institute.
According to iSuppli Corp., a global market survey institute, the digital signs and professional displays market is expected to maintain an average annual growth rate of over 30 percent until 2010. The market value is set to expand to US$14.6 billion within the following four years to become the medium of choice for mass communication. Another global market research firm, DisplaySearch, also agrees that this market segment has reached the tipping point, as the Flat Panel Digital Signage Conference held in June in Chicago stated that the industry has finally transitioned to a business that is positioned to "take off."
Taiwan has long been a strong competitor in the manufacturing of computers and display products. But having the hardware and software in place to create digital signage is only half the work done. Marketing professionals often say that content is king, because that is what really catches the audience's attention and where the added value comes from. "Taiwan still has a long way to go with regards to digital content. So, this will be a great opportunity for the country's players to learn and grow," said Chang.
Write to Meg Chang at Meg.chang@mail.gio.gov.tw