Question

How is the LED display business in a small county town right now?

I used to work in the LED industry in Shenzhen, but now I'm considering starting in my hometown county town. I'm wondering if there's a market there? What kind of LED-related businesses could I start?

Answer 1

In the overall market environment of 2025–2026, developing an LED display business in a small county town generally presents opportunities, but it's crucial to have a clear understanding of industry trends, opportunities, and challenges, and avoid blind optimism. Below is a comprehensive analysis (combining industry market data and current situation):

Overall Industry Development Trends

✅ Market Size Continues to Expand

The Chinese LED display industry market size continues to grow, and is expected to expand further in the coming years, especially driven by increased demand in areas such as outdoor advertising, commercial displays, and smart cities.

The market for fine-pitch LED displays (high-resolution/high-definition screens) is growing rapidly.  As technology matures and costs decrease, the possibility of deploying smaller screens in more scenarios is increasing.

✅ Digitalization and Smart City Construction Drive Opportunities in Lower-Tier Markets

Increased demand from governments and businesses for urban digitalization, promotional displays, and traffic information dissemination creates a strong demand for LED displays.

County towns and third- and fourth-tier cities, with the upgrading of public facilities in tourism areas, commercial streets, and cultural squares, will also utilize LED screens as a medium for information dissemination and promotion.

Specific Opportunities in Small County Town Markets

1. Advertising + City Image Businesses

LED screens have real demand in commercial districts, pedestrian streets, billboards in urban-rural areas, and commercial plazas. Especially during peak tourism seasons and festivals in county towns, large LED screens can enhance the city's image and communication effectiveness.

2. Public Information Dissemination and Government Applications

Government bulletin boards, transportation hubs, cultural square event information displays, and emergency notifications are all potential applications for LED displays. This is especially true with the recent push for digitalization in county-level governance.

3. Community Commerce and Brand Promotion

Shops, supermarkets, real estate promotions, and wedding hotels in small county towns have a demand for small LED screens/electronic advertising screens to display promotions and event announcements.

⚠️ Challenges Faced

❗ 1. Fierce Market Competition and Price Sensitivity

Overall competition in the LED display industry comes from provincial capitals and large brand suppliers. Product homogenization is serious, and customers in small county towns prioritize cost-effectiveness and after-sales service over high-end technology. ❗ 2. Long Payment Cycles and High Market Education Costs

Many traditional businesses in county towns have varying levels of understanding regarding the effectiveness of LED advertising, requiring significant time investment in educating clients; some clients have limited budgets, leading to longer project approval and payment cycles.

❗ 3. Limited Town Size and Advertising Value

Compared to large and medium-sized cities, small county towns have smaller populations and commercial scales, meaning the return on advertising investment may not meet expectations, and sales prices are lower. A thorough return on investment assessment is necessary.

Strategies for Successful Market Entry

1. Adopt a Low-Cost + Customized Approach

Provide small-sized, cost-effective LED screen solutions for county town businesses, better matching their budgets and display needs.

2. Integrate with Local Scenarios

Utilize opportunities such as tourist seasons, holidays, town markets, and night markets to introduce temporary advertising screens or collaborate with cultural events to increase exposure.

3. Provide Content Operation Services

Selling equipment alone is insufficient; offer value-added services such as content playback, design and production, and regular updates to increase customer loyalty and renewal rates.

4. Collaborate with Government/Chambers of Commerce

Participate in county town public facility construction, characteristic street upgrades, and chamber of commerce advertising projects to secure stable orders.

Summary

Market Outlook: Opportunities exist, but it's not a high-profit industry.

Main Customers: Businesses, government, tourist attractions, public facilities

Key Challenges: Price sensitivity, fierce competition, long payment cycles

Success Factors: Low price, service, deep local market penetration

Overall, there is market demand and opportunity for LED display businesses in small county towns, especially in areas such as advertising screens, public information screens, and cultural event screens integrated with local businesses. However, it's crucial to focus on market education, local service, and differentiated positioning.  Instead of just selling large screen hardware, building a "service + solution" approach is essential for enhancing competitiveness.

Answer 2

In China, the LED display business in small towns currently exhibits the following characteristics:

1. Gradually increasing market demand

With economic development and accelerated digitalization, the demand for LED displays in small towns is gradually increasing in areas such as commercial advertising, municipal projects, cultural activities, education, and healthcare. For example, commercial streets, squares, schools, and hospitals in these towns are beginning to use LED screens for information display, promotional purposes, or visual presentations, and the application scenarios are becoming increasingly diverse.

2. High price sensitivity

Customers in small towns are relatively price-sensitive and tend to choose cost-effective products. Therefore, some mid-to-low-end, standardized LED display products are more popular, such as regular-sized outdoor advertising screens and small indoor display screens. Companies need to control costs while ensuring quality to meet market demand.

3. Prominent demand for localized services

Due to geographical distance and the convenience of after-sales service, customers in small towns prefer to choose suppliers from their local area or surrounding regions. Companies that can provide fast installation, debugging, and maintenance services locally have a competitive advantage. For example, companies that provide "one-stop" solutions, including equipment sales, installation and debugging, and after-sales maintenance, are more likely to win customer trust.

4. Emerging demand for creativity and customization

Some unique commercial projects, cultural activities, or high-end venues are showing an increasing demand for creative design and customization of LED displays. For example, irregularly shaped screens, flexible screens, and interactive display screens are beginning to be used in high-end commercial areas, tourist attractions, or cultural venues in small towns, but their overall proportion is relatively small.

5. Fierce market competition

Although the market size in small towns is relatively limited, it has attracted many LED display companies to participate in the competition. In addition to local companies, some companies from other regions have also entered the market through agents or direct sales, leading to fierce market competition. Companies need to enhance their market competitiveness through differentiated competitive strategies, such as technological advantages, product quality, and service features.

Overall, the LED display business in small towns is in a stage of steady development, with gradually increasing market demand, but also fierce competition. Companies need to combine the characteristics of the local market demand and provide cost-effective products and services with good localized service and a certain degree of creativity and customization capabilities to secure a place in the market.