At the beginning of 2025, AV News, Avixa and many others published forecasts of what the year ahead would bring to the AV and UCC sectors. The consensus was that 2025 would see significant progress with AI, immersive technologies and sustainability, reforming how content is created, exchanged and consumed. The impact of AI was almost universally acknowledged for its potential to enhance AV experiences. In the meeting environment, for example, features like automated transcription, real-time language translation and smart content personalisation were considered to be ‘must-haves’ in the short to medium term.
While not universal, high-up on many shopping lists were AV-over IP solutions, supporting easier and more scalable content distribution across networks. Less certain. At least in the foreseeable futures, were the prospects of the xR realities, VR and AR. We can all see the potential, but the business case is often harder to make. VR in particular is a problem in outdoor and potentially hazardous environments. In order to present a convincing experience, many pundits argue that 4K resolution displays will soon be superseded by 8K – but it didn’t happen in 2025.
What did happen in 2025 was a renewed push for sustainability as the corporate market, in particular, realised that energy-efficient systems and practices now align with corporate sustainability goals. Equally valid is the migration to cloud technology enabling seamless integration and natural interactions and efficient communication in hybrid workspaces. Smart meeting spaces with AI-driven tools will enhance collaboration and support features like voice-activation automated camera tracking, and self-adjusting acoustics. In conclusion, Avixa forecast that the AV landscape in 2025 would be characterised by rapid technological advancements that enhance user experiences, improve collaboration and promote sustainability. In general, we agree but this industry is more than capable of producing those ‘rabbit out of a hat moments’ that do more than just keep it interesting.
Highlights of 2025
It was undoubtedly true in 2025, as in just about any of the last 20 years, that AV technology is evolving faster than ever, with new tools that are transforming how we can connect, present, create and consume experiences. But as an industry, divided between the ‘tech giants’, smaller specialists and plucky start-ups seeking to develop emerging technologies and applications. But will the current round of rationalisation through mergers and acquisitions produce the best possible industry to best exploit these new opportunities? Here are some of the year’s highlights:
January 2025
Sustainability
Lifetime extension for CTOUCH displays
CTOUCH, said to be the world’s most sustainable touchscreen brand, presents its newest solution for display lifetime extension: CTOUCH Heartbeat Life is a comprehensive set of services designed to extend the lifetime of CTOUCH touchscreens. With Heartbeat Life, users can ensure their CTOUCH displays remain uniform, secure and supported for up to 10 years from purchase. This package guarantees that CTOUCH touchscreens remain future-proof and fully operational, meeting the evolving needs of modern workplaces and classrooms. Offering up to 10 years of support and warranty, Heartbeat Life provides unparalleled peace of mind for IT administrators, users and sustainability officers.
February 2025
Inclusivity
Women-Led companies shine
‘Best Places to Work in AV’
The PSNI Global Alliance has announced this year’s winners of its “Best Places to Work in AV” awards: PCC and ClarkPowell. Notably, both organisations are women-led, marking an inspiring milestone in the program’s seven-year history. PCC, led by Samantha Haun, was recognised as the top workplace for organisations with under 50 employees, while ClarkPowell, under the leadership of Kathi Cline, earned the title for companies with over 50 employees. More than 2,500 employees from PSNI’s Certified Solution Provider (CSP) network – spanning over 65 countries – participated in the annual survey. The results evaluate key workplace factors including culture, leadership, growth opportunities, and overall employee satisfaction.
March 2025
Productivity
Kinly report tackles
“the UK productivity slump”
British businesses are fighting back against the UK’s productivity slump, with nearly half (41%) prioritising employee productivity in 2025, compared to a third of enterprises in Europe (36%) according to new data from Kinly. The new ‘Trusted Connections 2025’ research report, which surveyed 425 enterprise AV professionals working in the UK, Germany, Nordics, and the Netherlands, highlights an urgent need for UK businesses to modernise their technology and support employee wellbeing to overcome the productivity slump. Despite ambitions to improve productivity, UK businesses are struggling with systemic challenges, including outdated technology and budget constraints. Less than a third (31%) of UK organisations are investing in replacing legacy technology, falling behind other European counterparts such as Germany (36%) and the Netherlands (44%). This comes at a time when outdated AV technology is increasingly damaging productivity in remote work, with 62% of UK respondents citing it as a challenge – up from 60% in 2024.
April 2025
Crime
Shure scores ‘major victory’ against counterfeiters
Shure has collaborated with two other international audio equipment brands to address a network in China engaged in the large-scale manufacture and export of counterfeit products, including microphones, headphones and amplifiers. In May 2023, Shure received information about a network of nine entities in China exporting counterfeit audio equipment to Southeast Asia. The network operated more than 80 separate online stores selling to customers in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines. Shure, working through IP services business Rouse and its strategic partner firm, Lusheng, collaborated with two other audio equipment manufacturers to launch coordinated action against the counterfeit operation. China’s police force in the province, the Guangdong Province Public Security Bureau (PSB) launched simultaneous raids against the targets, seizing counterfeit products onsite at several locations in August 2023. The PSB investigated the trading company at the heart of the network and through careful forensics, discovered records showing more than $1.7 million USD in sales of counterfeit products from various international brands, including nearly $900,000 USD of counterfeit Shure products.
May 2025
Hacking
New study highlights prevalence of cyber risks
The Business Digital Index (BDI), created by Cybernews, evaluated the cybersecurity postures of 75 European Union government institutions and found that 67% received a D or F rating – placing them in high-risk or critical-risk categories. The BDI also revealed that every institution in the study had experienced at least one data breach. Email spoofing vulnerabilities were found across all C-rated institutions and in 96% of D- and F-rated ones. In addition, 46% of F-rated institutions had suffered a recent breach, and 85% of employees in the lowest-rated organizations were reusing passwords that had already been exposed in previous leaks – a major red flag for security hygiene.
June 2025
Partnerships
Solstice AV partners with i3CONNECT
Solstice AV has announced a new strategic UK partnership with i3CONNECT, one of the world’s leading brands of large-format touch displays and interactive technologies for collaboration and education. With Solstice AV now handling local distribution, resellers across the UK will benefit from faster delivery times, enhanced availability and a more efficient ordering process. Born from the merger of i3-Technologies and CTOUCH, i3CONNECT combines cutting-edge technology with a strong commitment to sustainable innovation. From classrooms to boardrooms, i3CONNECT brings meaningful solutions designed to shape the future of learning and collaboration, with a portfolio that includes touchscreens, interactive boards, wireless presenting and more. “We’re excited to join forces with Solstice AV,” said Kurtis Oliver, Country Sales Manager UK at i3CONNECT. “This partnership is a key milestone in our UK growth strategy. By working with a trusted and service-driven local distributor, we can offer our partners a smoother and more responsive experience: exactly what the UK market deserves.”
July 2025
Partnerships
PPDS and Shure announce strategic global alignment
PPDS has announced a ‘landmark’ global alliance with Shure to deliver the industry’s most advanced range of full room audio visual solutions, for seamless user experiences. The collaboration sees PPDS enter into a global alliance with Shure, combining the power of Philips Professional Displays with Shure’s premium audio systems. Ron Cottaar, Director of Global Marketing at PPDS, said: “Our collaboration with Shure further extends our commitment to bringing ‘total solutions’ to market, delivering the industry’s most advanced and complete range of hardware and software. Together, we are empowering our customers to purchase with confidence for all their project needs, no matter how complex or creative they might be.” PL Wang, Vice President at the PPDS’ mother company, TPV Technology, said: “This industry first agreement marks the start of a powerful alliance between two global AV leaders, offering ultimate assurance to customers seeking integrated, proven, and scalable meeting room and learning space technologies.”
August 2025
Reinvestments
DCC sells off Info Tech business
DCC plc has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of DCC Technology’s Info Tech business (‘the Business’) in the UK and Ireland to AURELIUS, a globally active private equity investor (the ‘Transaction’). The Transaction values the Business at a total enterprise value of c.£100 million on a cash-free, debt-free and normalised working capital basis. In the year ending 31 March 2025, the Business recorded revenue of £2 billion and represented approximately 1% of DCC’s continuing operating profit. The net cash proceeds to DCC of the Transaction are not material, reflecting the working capital seasonality, and the supply chain financing (£156 million as of 31 March 2025) associated with the Business. DCC also retains freehold title of our UK national distribution centre in Burnley, England. The remainder of DCC Technology, our Pro Tech business, is principally based in North America, with a smaller growth platform in Europe. DCC Technology is the largest specialist professional AV distributor globally and has a complementary position in high-quality Life Tech products in North America.
September 2025
Market growth
AVIXA: Pro AV industry to reach $402 Billion by 2030
AVIXA’s Industry Outlook and Trends Analysis (IOTA) predicts pro AV revenue will grow from $332 billion in 2025 to $402 billion by 2030. Previously, the IOTA predicted market growth to reach $325 billion in 2024, but growth was slower than previously predicted, reaching $321 billion instead. However, the pro AV industry remains resilient, with a forecasted increase of $70 billion over the next five years. The IOTA report is a comprehensive analysis of the pro AV market, using data from the previous five years and input from various market stakeholders. By providing a snapshot of end-user spending, the report presents data on the size of the pro AV industry with a global perspective, segmented by geography, vertical markets, solution areas, and product categories. Based on discussions with industry experts along with observations of macroeconomic pressures, the previous 5-year projection of a 5.3% growth was revised to 3.9%. Even with this notable decrease in the growth rate due to the dampening effect of uncertainty in tariffs, geopolitics, and high interest rates, pro AV is expected to outpace the global GDP growth by 0.8 percentage points.
October 2025
Mergers
i3CONNECT new website and free online Academy
i3CONNECT announced the launch of its brand-new website, now live at www.i3 connect.com. Designed with clarity, usability and purpose in mind, the site brings the i3CONNECT brand to life – making it easier than ever for educators, business leaders and partners to explore our solutions, get inspired and take the next step in their digital journey. The new website reflects the bold new brand born from the merger of i3-Technologies and CTOUCH. It showcases i3CONNECT’s complete range of touch displays, software and accessories for classrooms and meeting rooms, while offering practical solutions to help people connect, collaborate and grow. “What you’ll find on www.i3-connect.com: A fresh, intuitive design that puts users first; Inspiring content for both education and business; Clear product overviews.
November 2025
Sustainability
Epson launches new circular leasing programme
Epson has announced a new strategic business model designed to make its technology more accessible for large corporate and public sector organisations, while advancing its sustainability commitments. In partnership with BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions, a European leader in equipment financing, Epson will introduce a comprehensive leasing programme covering its entire product portfolio. “This is a significant strategic milestone for Epson and will help us better support large scale customer requirements through a more competitive proposition,” says Rob Clark, COO, Epson Europe. “The solution means our customers can access the latest Epson technology without the burden of up-front investment.” The leasing programme spans Epson’s full range of solutions – from business printing and scanning to projection, retail technologies, industrial print and robotics, including its latest collaborative robots. Customers will also benefit from 360° support delivered through Epson’s partners providing fleet management, maintenance and servicing solutions, enhanced by Epson’s open API to enable integration with partners’ management platforms. A unique feature of the model is Epson’s retention of product ownership at the end-of-lease, ensuring all equipment is returned for refurbishment, reuse or recycling.
December 2025
Partnerships
Barco ClickShare deepens partner ecosystem
Barco has announced the expansion of its strategic ClickShare partnerships with Sennheiser, Logitech, and Huddly. These long-standing partners have been selected for their critical role in the development of certified room system bundles built around the ClickShare Hub. Together, they strengthen the ClickShare ecosystem and enable Barco to deliver fully integrated, high-performance meeting room solutions. This marks an important step in Barco’s strategy to bring the ClickShare experience into every meeting room: from BYOD to room system, from huddle spaces to large meeting rooms. ClickShare has established the leading position in the wireless Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) market and is now expanding its portfolio into room systems. ClickShare Hub is the company’s first room system device, built on the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP), which provides a future-ready foundation and paves the way for certification. To support this evolution, Barco is working closely with trusted partners who bring deep expertise in audio and video and who share a commitment to quality, interoperability, and user-centric design. Each partner adds unique value to the ecosystem. Their combined strengths allow Barco to offer modular, high-performance bundles that meet the needs of modern meeting spaces.
That was the year that was!
In our opening remarks, we suggested some of the technology trends that we thought might be realised in 2025. AI, for example, is no longer one for the future – it is here now and already starting to impact the AV world. This trend will undoubtedly continue into the future – particularly in the UCC space with automated transcription, real-time language translation and personalised content provision soon on offer. We are equally assured that the race to higher resolutions will see 4K supplanted by 8K as new mmersive applications are adopted by the market.
So, which of our new year trends for 2025 were somewhat wide of the mark? The growth in availability of 5G technology was tipped to revolutionise AV systems in 2025, offering faster and more reliable mobile network connectivity. It did, but only in very limited circumstances. And what happened to the clamour for immersive audio? Yes, it exists – but again in limited and often trial or experimental circumstances.
Perhaps our biggest surprise / disappointment was the failure of xR technologies to really breakthrough to the mainstream in 2025 – in particular, VR and AR. These tools allow people to interact with digital spaces in real-time, making experiences more immersive and ‘real’. Despite the obvious advantages of novelty and, in some use cases, cost savings, VR and AR are still left in the margins of mainstream AV.
While, as an industry, AV has a formidable reputation for pioneering adoption of leading-edge technologies, we are bound by cost constraints and the conservatism of markets. Where the cost-benefit works in our favour, such as interactive digital signage, wireless AV, AVoIP and Cloud-based solutions, buyers will give these options serious consideration. Perhaps the one exception to this is the rise of sustainability in AV. Buyers are choosing energy-efficient products from suppliers that demonstrate a commitment to reducing waste. Long may it continue!
