IN THIS age of high technology, LCD projectors have become ubiquitous gadgets. Gone are the days of making paper-and-pen presentations, as well as those that make use of acetate sheets placed on bulky overhead projectors. These days, LCD projectors are the norm.

Businesses are not the only ones taking advantage of this technology. Many schools have shifted from traditional blackboard and whiteboard instruction use to computer-generated presentations. Churches are using projectors during masses and services, while government offices use it for meetings and presentations as well.

Even home users are starting to see the benefits of having their own projectors for stay-at-home DVD marathons.

Koichi Kubota, chief executive for the visual instruments operations division of Japan?s Seiko Epson Corp., relates that businesses continue to make up the biggest chunk of the company?s projector business. However, there is a thrust to also create demand for homes.

?There is more commitment than ever before for our projector business,? he says. ?We?re doing great on the entry-level to professional categories, but we want to be No. 1 in all segments.?

Top spot

According to Epson?s in-house estimates, using independent market research data, the company?s global market share for projectors from April-December 2009 is pegged at 22.7 percent.

Third-party consulting firm Futuresource, on the other hand, places Epson?s share of the projector market in Asia and the Pacific, excluding Japan, at 13 percent.

In both instances, Epson trumps all other projector brands.

Here in the Philippines, Futuresource data shows that Epson holds a 20.2-percent share of the projector market, mostly in the corporate sector, giving it another first place finish.

Epson Philippines Corp. (EPC), which first made a name for itself in the country through its dot-matrix printers, believes it can grow its market share for projectors to 24 percent for this fiscal year, which starts in April and ends in March 2011.

The 4-percentage-point projected growth is attributed mainly to an expected sales volume increase in the corporate and retail markets in the Greater Manila Area, as well as to the company?s provincial market.

A whopping 70 percent of the sales growth projection will come from corporate clients in Metro Manila, 20 percent from retail customers also in the GMA, and 10 percent from Northern and Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

Direct engagements

Since Epson is obviously not the only projector brand in the local market, EPC product manager Lyn Lizardo says the company will step up its marketing efforts this year to reach its growth targets.

She relates that the company will continue to hold ?direct end-user corporate engagements? through trainings on the advantages of the company?s proprietary 3LCD projector technology, as well as through technology updates with its distributors, dealers and resellers, and even end-users.

Epson?s proprietary 3LCD technology differs mainly from the more common one-chip DLP (digital light processing) technology in that it uses three chips ? one each for the primary colors red, green and blue ? to receive electronic signals instead of the latter?s one chip.

The effect is that even with the use of less lamp light, which in effect consumes less power, the images that are produced by 3LCD projectors appear to be more vivid and lifelike.

Apart from direct engagements, EPC will likewise maintain product placements at key concept stores, at the Octagon store at SM Megamall for example, ?to enhance awareness of Epson projectors in the retail storefront,? Lizardo says.

Globally, Epson regional product management division director Yasuhiro Kasai says the company will enhance its sales network, and aggressively target the corporate and education sectors, both of which are heavy projector users.

Kubota expresses confidence that with Epson?s wide range of projector offerings, it will be able to corner the corporate, education, and entertainment markets.