According to AVIXA’s ongoing ProAV market research, September’s so-called “AV sales index” (AVI-S) was down from 68.2 in August to 62.6 in September. AVI-S respondents claimed a number of issues, including the pandemic, supply chain issues and a general uncertainty. However, the light in the month was a positive trend in return to live events, preparation of offices opening again and ongoing AV spending. And while the results mark a slowdown from August, the September 62.6 AVI-S is still high relative to most of the index’s history. For example, in 2019, only two months saw faster growth rates. Going forward, AVIXA is confident that the index will show accelerating sales growth, with a higher AVI-S likely in October.

AVIXA has a talented team of analysts, and although I don’t always agree entirely with their summations, for September 2021, they are on target. That said, AVIXA isn’t tracking digital signage — outside of hardware. That segment of AV is flying high with creative and consulting services. So those integrators doing work in the digital signage markets will report positive month-over-month results across the board.

We here at rAVe have seen a much larger request for support for experiential advertising projects globally. That’s another area not currently tracked by AVIXA. That said, these monthly reports are the best indicators we have of our market’s health.