Seiko Epson Corporation

3LCD projectors opened up the niche for PC-based presentations, and continue to lead the projector market.

But recently, as the market matures, it has become necessary to create new applications or another new market to continue this growth. We regard it as crucial to listen intently to the voice of customers, and pay careful attention to changes in society. The screens of LCDs and PDPs continue to grow bigger and bigger, and for projectors to stay ahead of the competition it is essential to differentiate by emphasizing the features and qualities that direct-view-type FPDs do not possess.

As one example, projectors hold an environmental advantage in that they use less-space and energy. Also, the projector business is comprised of a wide variety of value chains; images are created through a system incorporating not only the display panels, but also optical components, machine parts, circuit boards, software, and screens. Careful consideration of the total sum of these technologies and their utilization may be one way to differentiate projectors from direct-view-type FPDs.

The history in which 3LCD projectors overwhelmed CRT projectors and provided new value is very similar to the case of direct-view-type liquid crystal displays. As the liquid crystal industry created by Japan has grown into a huge industry including Taiwan and Korea, the projector industry can learn a lot from that.

Reprinted from "Nikkei Microdevice" June 2008 issue, p73-81.