According to a new report by IMS Research growth in the worldwide digital signage market will exceed 40 percent in 2013, totaling $7 billion.

The report, The World Market for Digital Signage, 2011 Edition, reveals that global revenues for digital signage equipment and software were $5 billion at the end of 2010, and when service and advertising revenue is included, this increases to $6.5 billion. In hardware, the primary revenue drivers were displays (including LED arrays), projectors for digital cinema and PCs contributing $4.5 billion.

IMS Research’s new study shows that retail continues to be the largest of the digital signage verticals at just under 25 percent for equipment and software sales, even when the digital cinema industry is included, driving over $1 billion in value. While growth in retail is not forecast as strong as other sectors, it is forecast to maintain the dominant share reaching nearly $2 billion in infrastructure sales by the end of 2015.

IMS Research asserts that businesses of all sizes will benefit from the proliferation of digital signage – especially with affordable leasing agreements and software as service – in extending the SMBs’ reach to new audiences, while enabling companies of all sizes to more accurately engage with their target audiences.