Dave Haynes says almost no companies claiming micro LED displays actually make them, and many call transparent LCDs or spinning LED rotors holograms.
Dave Haynes says about 90 of every 100 press releases open with a company name and supplier line instead of explaining what the product does.
Haynes cites a report finding just 0.6 percent of retail media network dollars go to in-store screens, making that channel hard to win.
Digital signage veterans warn complacency leaves the industry open to disruption
Digital signage veterans argue their industry has grown complacent. Vendors hype mislabeled technology and market specs instead of relevance, while installations, software and buying decisions stay stuck in old habits and silos. Because the industry innovates only when customers pull, outsiders from point of sale or big tech could step in and disrupt it.
Takeaways
Vendors misuse micro LED and hologram labels. Haynes says almost no firm claiming micro LED actually makes it, and most sell mini LED. Transparent LCDs and spinning LED rotors get called holograms. Proto's founder admitted Portal was not a hologram but needed an understandable name.
Speakers split on how much terminology matters. Rotberg tolerates the micro LED label, defined as sub-millimetre pixel pitch, for the sake of standards, and calls digital signage itself an awful term. Schieker wants imprecise terms replaced. Haynes says video walls already look great without micro LED.
In-store screens get almost no retail media money. Retail media is cited as a 100 to 150bn dollar market. Amazon's roughly 40bn is 95 percent online or mobile. A report Haynes cites puts in-store media at 0.6 percent of retail media network spend.
Vendor marketing buries relevance under specifications. About 90 of every 100 press releases Haynes receives open with the company name and a leading supplier line. Engineer-founded firms often hire marketing directors who do not understand the industry, and Rotberg wants more relevance and fewer specs.
Installations waste energy and invite costly truck rolls. Schieker cites outdated cabling, missing security updates and screens left on at night. Showing black saves no energy. Haynes says remote device management should be the first question, since a 400 dollar truck roll is unrecoverable.
Silos keep buyers from integrated solutions. Rotberg found 50 or more UK universities and corporations still thinking in silos. Schieker sees hardware, CMS and device management split apart, with online and offline campaigns hard to join. Haynes wants solution stacks, not separate logins.
Green signage has faded from show floors. Green products dominated ISE last year but were nearly absent this year, and the first green-labelled product appeared at InfoComm China. Rotberg says Europe should lead. North American buyers care only if energy bills drop around 30 percent.
Where disruption could come from
Schieker says the industry pulls innovation from customer projects instead of pushing limits, and rarely questions the manufacturer operating system on screens.
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On this episode 3
Show 1
He points to SignageOS as tackling mixed hardware fleets and warns outside companies could disrupt a static industry.
Haynes says NCR could easily add a basic menu board platform that signage software firms would struggle to match at point of sale.
Google entered around 2013 or 2014 with Sign Builder, retreated, and returned with a credible offering. Rotberg calls the first try a disaster and insists the industry is not too small for big players.
Trusting market numbers
Rotberg mocks Indian research claiming 50 or 100bn dollar markets. Haynes checks unknown firms' offices on Google Street View and calls their reports garbage.
Rotberg trusts the Avixa YOTA study and FutureSource but says Chinese figures are impossible to believe.