Healthy pro AV growth forecast in latest AVIXA IOTA

The latest Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) report from AVIXA predicts that that pro AV revenue will reach US$422bn in the next five years. Revenue will grow a healthy 6.1% this year – $306.4 billion in 2023 to $325 billion in 2024 – but is down slightly on the previous year’s 6.9%. The market will add $98 billion over the next five years, a 5.35% CAGR.

“Digging into the data, we see that growth has varied extensively across the broad landscape of pro AV,” explains Sean Wargo, VP of market insight, AVIXA. “Technologies supporting conferencing and collaboration within enterprises are not performing as well as those positioned for entertainment and events. So, companies focused solely on collaboration may not be faring as well as those serving entertainment. IOTA helps provide greater visibility to where growth is strongest, highlighting opportunity for the AV channel.”

Pre-pandemic, the experience economy was one of the most influential trends, and has now regained its strong position. From 2024 to 2029, global revenue for venues and events will grow to $57.2 billion, at a 6.3% CAGR, making it the fastest-growing vertical market. Anything related to in-person entertainment is growing fast. This includes content production and streaming, also known as broadcast AV.

The future of the corporate office remains secure. As pro AV’s largest vertical market, office spaces were a source of anxiety during the pandemic. However, as trends have moved toward hybrid working, those concerns are said to have diminished. Revenue from corporate spaces will reach $91.4 billion by 2029, fuelled by new construction, more opportunities in conferencing and collaboration, expanding content capture and production, as well as security, surveillance, and safety. Growth in this sector is nevertheless expected to decrease to just under 5% over the next five years.

Despite a decline from 7.3% to 6.9% from 2023 to 2024, largely due to China’s decelerating growth, the Asia Pacific region continues to present robust growth in pro AV. Within the region, India stands out as the fastest-growing AV market, though China is the largest. In the Asia Pacific region, live events and security/surveillance/safety show strong growth rates of 10.8% and 8.3%, respectively.

In EMEA, the $86.4 billion market is bolstered by mature European markets with steady strategic investments and promising developing markets in the Middle East, where GCC countries are experiencing notable growth. The fastest-growing pro AV sectors in the region are live events, performance and entertainment and security.

North America still leads the way with a projected market size of $104 billion in 2024. The region as a whole is experiencing a surge in pro AV revenue in venues and events, with 8.5% growth in North America and 10.2% in Latin America.

The report also highlights that globally, pro AV market challenges are shifting from supply issues to labour constraints, similar to before the pandemic. Salary increases show continued labour market tightness and more workers are staying in their jobs at higher rates.