By 2026, the professional display market is clearly entering a phase of maturity: While the global digital signage market continues to grow, the underlying dynamics of its two core display technologies – LCD and LED – tell a more nuanced story.
Market Data LCD vs LED: Leaders and Global Shipments
According to the latest Futuresource data, glob al professional LCD shipments have stabilized at around 8 million units annually since the end of the pandemic. LED, by contrast, remains the market’s most volatile segment. Global LED volume grew by 24 percent in 2023, contracted by 3 percent in 2024, and rebounded strongly with 14 percent growth in 2025. These fluctuations are largely driven by China, which still accounts for roughly 50 percent of global LED volume.
In EMEA, LED growth appears far more linear. Between 2022 and 2025, LED sales in the region almost doubled. Yet despite this momentum, EMEA still represents only 14 percent of global LED volume, compared with 23 percent of global LCD volume. LED adoption outside China is accelerating – but from a structurally smaller base. In 2025, around 760,000 LED screens were sold globally, with 103,000 projects in EMEA. This reinforces a longstanding industry assumption: LED excels in generating attention, stands for large investments, but remains a minority technology in terms of installed base.
Big in value, small in projects
When LCD and LED are viewed together, the market reality becomes clearer. Approximately 8 million professional LCD displays and 0.8 million LED screens were sold globally in 2025. This results in around 8.8 million addressable digital signage touchpoints worldwide, of which less than one in ten uses LED technology. Value tells a very different story. LED already accounted for 38 percent of global professional display value in 2025, highlighting its capital-intensive nature and its continued pull on investment budgets. For the first time, Futuresource has gone beyond square meters and analysed LED video controller data to estimate the actual number of LED screens deployed worldwide. Futuresource estimates the global LED controller market at 1.2 million units, reflecting the fact that larger LED installations often require multiple controllers per screen.
The contrast between LCD and LED is also evident in market structure. In EMEA, the LED market is highly fragmented. Daktronics leads, closely followed by Samsung and Unilumin, with Samsung’s share less than one percentage point behind the leader. Yet the Top 3 LED vendors account for less than 40 percent of the regional market. The LCD market shows the opposite pattern. Sam sung, LG, and Philips together control 56 percent of total EMEA LCD volume – with Samsung alone holding 36 percent. The LCD market has effectively consolidated around a handful of global brands, while LED remains structurally diverse.
Tech and Market in the invidis Yearbook
This is an excerpt from the latest invidis Yearbook 2026, the “bible of the digital signage industry.” It includes rankings, market and technology analyses, and interviews with leading digital signage companies. Download the yearbook here.