Menlo Park, California, USA – May 11, 2011. Pacific Media Associates (PMA), the worldwide market information experts on front projectors, have just released the results of their first quarter census of all front projectors, finding that worldwide shipments of the  mobile, battery-powered, ones grew to 235,000 units compared with 109,000 in the year-earlier quarter, an increase of 116%.

PMA currently believes that the industry is on track to grow at an average rate of 93% per year through 2015, reaching over 17.2 million units. And if that rate were to continue for the following 5 years, the 2020 shipments would be over 460 million. These impressive figures include both the stand-alone accessory (AKA companion) products now selling at prices as high as $500 and the optical modules embedded in a wide range of other battery-powered gadgets such as smartphones, digital cameras, camcorders, notebook computers, and even tablets.

“People are increasingly mobile today, and their desire to carry pocket-sized gadgets but look at big pictures can only be met by some form of pico projector technology,” said Dr. William Coggshall, President of Pacific Media Associates. “Many companies are currently making components, optical engine modules, and complete projectors, using combinations of imager chip technologies such as DLP, LCOS, and MOEMS scanners, with illumination system technologies such as lasers and LEDs.”

About Pacific Media Associates

Pacific Media specializes in worldwide front projector market information, including New Era (sub-500 lumens), Mainstream (500-4999 lumens), and High-End (5000+ lumens) categories. Their Industry Service family of publications provides detailed worldwide quarterly updates (sell-in data and forecasts) on front projector markets, newsletters on new products and other key industry developments, and biennial Web surveys of North American dealers and end users (including organizations and individual consumers). Their Tracking Service family of monthly reports offers timely sell-through data and analysis on unit sales, true volume-weighted street prices, and inventories of front projectors sold by leading North American retailers, resellers, and distributors. Pacific Media Associates was established- by Dr. William Coggshall, who was a co-founder of Dataquest (now part of Gartner) and helped start the syndicated high-tech market information business. The company headquarters is at 1060 Siskiyou Drive, Menlo Park, CA 94025. Telephone +1 650-561-9020 www.pacificmediaassociates.com