Navigating Digital Signage Tariff Turbulence: How Poppulo Empowers Businesses

As global trade tensions rise and tariffs on electronics and AV hardware fluctuate, many AV/IT decision-makers find themselves in a holding pattern. Whether you're rolling out digital signage across facilities or refreshing aging endpoints, uncertainty around cost and availability is forcing teams to rethink their timelines, budgets, and vendor relationships.

If you're feeling the ripple effects of tariffs on digital signage hardware, you're not alone. But with the right strategy, there's still a clear path forward—and Poppulo is here to help. We understand these challenges and are committed to helping our clients not just weather the storm, but thrive in this evolving landscape.

The 2025 Tariff Whiplash: What's Really at Stake?

Recent trade disputes have led to significant fluctuations in tariffs impacting the digital signage industry:

• April 2025: According to fredlaw.com, U.S. reciprocal duty on most Chinese imports—including pro-AV gear—jumped from 34% to 84%.
• April 2025: Invidis reported that a new exclusion list temporarily removed LCD/LED displays, media players, and PCs used for digital signage from those surcharges after industry pressure.
• Ongoing: Other electronics, like power supplies, semiconductors, and cabling are likely to still be impacted by tariffs for the foreseeable future.

This isn't just about higher price tags on screens and media players. It's about the potential stalling or slowing of projects, scaling back features, and ultimately not delivering the intended experience. The impact of those things is much harder to quantify.

What Tariff Uncertainty Means for Digital Signage Projects

Tariffs can create unpredictable spikes in cost for key components of digital signage ecosystems—displays, media players, mounting hardware, and more. Digital signage buyers face three key risks:

1. Budget overruns: Projected hardware costs can shift overnight, making it harder to get internal budget approvals.
2. Delayed rollouts: Longer lead times or limited availability may stall deployments and damage internal credibility.
3. Fragmented ecosystems: Sourcing "whatever's available" can lead to inconsistent performance and integration headaches.

Strategies for Success in a Tariff-Impacted Market

While you may not control international trade policy, you can take strategic steps to mitigate risk:

• Shift to a software-first mindset: Hardware may fluctuate, but the software layer is where long-term value—and flexibility—lives. Prioritize platforms that can run across a wide range of endpoints.
• Choose hardware-agnostic solution: Don’t get locked into a single vendor’s proprietary stack. Open, interoperable software lets you adapt quickly as supply chains change.
• Use content and strategy to maximize current assets: You don’t need new screens to boost ROI. Optimizing content delivery and communication strategy across your existing network can drive measurable impact today.
• Optimize Existing Infrastructure: Before investing in new hardware, focus on maximizing the lifespan and efficiency of your current setup. Poppulo's remote management tools can help detect issues early and optimize performance.
• Leverage Data for Smarter Communication: Use Poppulo's analytics to tailor your content strategy, ensuring every message counts and maximizes the ROI of your existing hardware.

The Poppulo Difference: Turning Challenges into Opportunities

At Poppulo, we've helped thousands of enterprise customers thrive through change. Our cloud-based, hardware-agnostic digital signage software gives you options, not limitations. Here's how we support AV/IT teams during volatile times:

• Hardware flexibility: Our software works across virtually any commercial display or player—so you can source hardware that meets your price and availability needs.
• Smart scheduling & targeting: Use our advanced content management tools to dynamically update messaging across locations, even as deployments evolve.
• Seamless scalability: Whether you need to scale up or pause expansion, our flexible platform adapts to your timeline and budget.
• Integrated analytics: Prove the value of your signage network with near real-time insights, regardless of hardware constraints.
• Adapt quickly: Respond to market changes and communication needs in real-time, ensuring your messaging is always relevant and impactful.

Looking Ahead: A Future-Proof Approach

Tariffs are just the latest in a long list of external forces reshaping the AV/IT landscape. Organizations that take a software-first, adaptable approach to digital signage will be best positioned to ride out uncertainty—and emerge stronger.

While tariffs may present short-term challenges, the long-term outlook for digital signage remains positive. By partnering with Poppulo, you're not just getting a digital signage solution; you're gaining a strategic ally in your communication efforts.

Even though tariffs impact the digital signage landscape, they also present an opportunity to reassess and optimize your communication strategy. With Poppulo, you have a partner ready to help you turn these challenges into opportunities for growth, engagement, and success.

Let’s talk about how Poppulo can help you build a future-ready signage strategy—no matter what the market throws your way.