China’s top maker of laser cinema projectors is turning its beams on electric vehicles, as cut-throat competition among domestic carmakers creates demand for advanced displays and new kinds of in-car entertainment to make their models stand out.Appotronics — laser display tech provider to more than 30 per cent of China’s cinemas and with a 70-80 per cent share of the country’s market for laser movie projectors — is now offering cinematic experiences to back-seat passengers with big-screen displays.

Its products can also project route information on to windscreens for drivers and cast personalised messages on to the road for pedestrians from the car’s headlamps, such as “Stop” warnings to walkers wearing headphones.

The Shenzhen-based company’s founder and chair Li Yi hopes between 10 and 30 per cent of this year’s revenues will come from EV equipment, up from “almost nothing” in 2023. Analysts expect group revenues to grow 25 per cent to Rmb3bn ($420mn) this year, according to a Bloomberg poll.