Optoma to Stick to Premium Projectors as Demand for Big Screen Home Entertainment Rises: Optoma, MD, Vijay Sharma

In an age of fast-paced technology and AI, India's home projector market is growing steadily. A product once considered a luxury for most is surprisingly making its way into more homes. According to Optoma Pvt. Ltd. Managing Director, Vijay Sharma, this isn't limited to living rooms; it's also moving into dedicated viewing areas in enthusiasts' homes, as they seek a larger viewing canvas. I met up with Vijay Sharma at the ongoing InfoComm Mumbai 2026 and quizzed him about why we are gradually seeing a surge in the home projector segment in India, and the answers will surprise you.

Optoma had an interesting lineup of projectors showcased at InfoComm 2026. The managing director shared details, explaining that home projector systems are growing surprisingly fast, even though Optoma's main market remains businesses. Sharma revealed that a market that once saw abysmal growth of around 2 percent is now showing YoY growth of 15 to 20 percent. Optoma claims a solid 24-25 percent market share in the home segment.

Home Projectors Aren't Luxury Products Anymore?

Contrary to what many of us may believe, Sharma explained that consumers no longer see home projectors as luxury products. This came as a surprise, given that the brand's most affordable models start at around Rs. 1 lakh. “Pre-COVID, the home projector was always perceived as a luxury product. Very few people had this kind of product, or even home theatre systems. But during COVID, people stopped going to the cinema halls because they were trying to remain isolated. Post-COVID, many of these people tried to bring the cinema experience home. Around this time, Optoma introduced 4K projectors to the Indian market.” Content wasn't really a problem given the rise of OTT platforms that offered quality streaming content to every home at affordable prices.

Optoma Pvt. Ltd. Managing Director, Vijay Sharma
Photo Credit: Optoma

“So most of the buyers started investing in home projectors, since they want to not just watch their favourite movie on a TV but create an experience out of it,” said Sharma.

Many would expect such a surge in home projectors to come from big cities like Delhi and Mumbai. But this isn't the case. “Post-COVID, demand started coming from tier three and four cities, something which was earlier limited to tier one and tier two.” Today, the brand sells projectors of all shapes and sizes from Rs. 1,00,000 to Rs. 25,00,000.

Laser-Focused on Premium Products

Given that the market is flooded with cheap portable projectors one can get at around Rs. 6,000-10,000, I asked why Optoma didn't dive into that segment. Mr Sharma stated that Optoma had launched a pico projector as far back as 2004. “Today, we do have palm-sized projectors which offer excellent quality at a premium price. There are plenty of Chinese players in the portable projector market, and such affordable products don't always deliver on their claims.”

“Even if a projector can barely manage 50 lumens (brightness), they claim that it offers 1,000 lumens. This misleads customers and creates a poor viewing experience. We feel that as a product company, we should deliver quality products that are useful to our customers and not build products for the sake of making it,” added Sharma.

Competing with TVs

With flat-screen TVs growing bigger, I asked Optoma's managing director whether they pose a looming threat to the home projector market. He quickly said, “Large-format TVs do put pressure on projectors. Companies like Hisense and Xiaomi offer large-format TVs at affordable prices. And this is mainly in the living room projector market. However, it has not impacted the cinema-room market.”

After noticing a slowdown in its laser TV category, Optoma was quick to introduce its own Studio TV series of large-format TVs: “We have introduced Studio series displays, which are offered in three sizes from 75 to 98 inches. We noticed that the living room now has a lot of lighting, so we introduced TVs with anti-glare displays”. Long story short, Optoma is currently testing the waters with its large-format TV range, hoping it will help the brand grow on this front as well, but its main focus for now remains its projector business.