Menlo Park, California - November 9, 2005. Pacific Media Associates (PMA), the global leader in value-added demand-side market information on large-screen displays, announced that combined professional and consumer front projector sell-in shipments during Q3 '05 reached 1,069,000, representing 20% year/year growth and besting the previous quarterly high set in Q4 '04.

"Strong Q2 '05 sell-thru, particularly in education, helped balance inventories and set the stage for robust Q3 '05 sell-in," according to PMA Vice President Michael Abramson. "And as the price gap continues to shrink for XGA versus SVGA projectors, growth in the sub-$1,000 and $1,000-$1,499 XGA market also fueled the record-setting shipments in Q3 '05."

Regionally, the Americas continues to lead the world with about 40% share of the worldwide market. In Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), which represents 35% of the worldwide market, the projector market rebounded from a challenging second quarter thanks to improving economic conditions in Western Europe and continued healthy growth in developing economies. And in Asia, red-hot sales of professional projectors into China and a bounce back in Japan's professional market propelled the region to the fastest year/year growth in the world.

"We expect the momentum to continue throughout the fourth quarter led in part by strong sales of widescreen projectors," said Abramson. Year/year worldwide growth in the just-finished quarter reached nearly 30% for native 16:9 projectors. While EMEA, led by Western Europe, remains the leading market for widescreen models, the U.S. continued to close the gap during the third quarter. "We see a strong start to the holiday buying season for consumer front projectors," Abramson predicted. "There will be more widescreen models available for under $US1,000. This will also be the first full holiday season for the new 'instant theater' 480p models with built-in DVD players. And in the market for 720p models, consumers can now choose from a number of notable upgrades with dramatic improvements in price/performance."