Audio
56
Architectural Speakers
Freestanding Speakers
Whole-House Audio/Video
A/V Sources
Preamplifiers/Processors
A/V Receivers
Acoustical Treatments
Media Servers
Video
57
Front Projectors
Flat-Panel TVs
Scalers/Video Processors
Blu-ray Players
Projection Screens
Outdoor A/V
Home Enhancements
More
on the Menu
A number of categories have been added to this year’s CE Pro 100 Brand
Analysis to reflect the evolution of the custom channel. By Robert Archer
O
ne of the most interesting byproducts of the annual CE Pro 100 list of the highest-revenue
custom installation companies is the companion product brand analysis. Each company that
submits for the CE Pro 100 includes its most common brands used in every technology category, and after adding everything up we report the top five (go to the web for more).
Loyal readers of this data will notice some changes that were made in an effort to stay current with
the industry’s evolving trends and technology advancements, starting with the addition of several categories. This year’s brand analysis features 41 categories, which is up from 2010’s 38 total categories.
The other important fact to point out about this year’s numbers is the level of dealer participation. Typically there’s an approximate dealer turnover rate of 10 percent. This year’s list saw a
turnover of about one-third, which means that comparison to any previous year may not provide a
complete and accurate statistical snapshot.
The numbers are still important nevertheless, because they offer an indication of what is happening in the field on a street level that’s unfiltered.
To access the complete rundown of brands in each category, visit www.cepro.com.
54
CE Pro June 2011
57
Wiring/Cable
Structured Cabling
Central Vacuum
Telephone Systems
Racks
Power Conditioning
Lifts
Mounts
Intercom Systems
Seating
Furniture
Control & Automation
59
Whole-House Automation
IR Distribution
Remote Controls/Tablets
Lighting Control
HVAC/Energy Management
Shade Conrol/Window
Coverings
Remote Diganostics
Networking/Connectivity 60
Wireless
High-speed Internet Devices
Computers
Gaming
Security
60
Security
CCTV
Miscellaneous
60
Back-office Software
Healthcare
www.cepro.com
CE Pro 100 Brand Analysis
audio
Architectural Speakers
For the first time since CE Pro began
tracking the architectural speaker category, Sonance lands in the top spot.
43%
Preamplifiers/Processors
45%
For the third year in a row Integra
leads the pre/pro category. Surprisingly, Lexicon has fallen out the top
five, while legacy performance manufacturer McIntosh makes its return.
37%
29%
22%
in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers
in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers
in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers
in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers
Bowers &
in-wall/in-ceiling
loudspeakers
Sonance
SpeakerCraft
Wilkins (B&W)
Triad
19%
21%
PREAMPS/PROCESSORS
Klipsch
Integra
in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers
in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakers
in-wall/in-ceiling loudspeakersFreestanding Speakers
30%
23%
22%
Sneaking into the top five after a
short absence is Triad Speakers.
The rest of the most frequently
used floorstanders remains the
same as 2010.
12%
freestanding loudspeakers
11%
freestanding loudspeakers
freestanding
loudspeakers
Bowers
freestanding
loudspeakers
& Wilkins
Monitor
(B&W)
Klipsch
Paradigm
Triad
Audio
Marantz
27%
Integra
freestanding loudspeakers
17%
16%
15%
Savant
Niles Audio
Sonos
14%
AV RECEIVERS
21%
AV RECEIVERS
AV RECEIVERS
AV RECEIVERS
Marantz
Denon
Sony
25%
whole
Acoustic
Innovations
56
av sources
av sources
Sonos
Kaleidescape
14%
av sources
av sources
CE Pro June 2011
av sources
Auralex
StartingACOUSTICAL
in 2007 when CE TREATMENTS
Pro began
documenting the media server cateACOUSTICAL TREATMENTS
gory, Kaleidescape has been the market leader. Over the five-year period,
Kaleidescape has nearly doubled its
leadership position, but Apple made
significant inroads this year.
31%
ACOUSTICAL TREATMENTS
19%
Crestron
Sony
9%
ACOUSTICAL TREATMENTS
whole house audio/video
AppleTV
9%
CinemaTech
RPG
ACOUSTICAL
TREATMENTS
ACOUSTICAL TREATMENTS
ACOUSTICAL TREATMENTS
ACOUSTICAL TREATMENTS
Kinetics
59%
18%
whole house audio/video
All of these brands have been in a market share leadership position since CE
Pro began tracking the category in 2008.
10%
whole house audio/video
19%
Yamaha
Media Servers
This category reveals CE pros are
comfortable using both high-end
houseand
audio/video
affordable go-to sources.
20%
16%
AV RECEIVERS
12%
whole house audio/video
whole house audio/video
whole house audio/video
whole house audio/videoA/V Sources
25%
24%
AV RECEIVERS
This is the debut of a whole-house A/V
category in the brand analysis. Control
and automation companies take the top
three positions before a traditional wholehouse manufacturer (Niles) appears.
Retrofit-friendly Sonos lands in fifth.
Control4
McIntosh
Acoustical
Treatments
AV RECEIVERS
AV RECEIVERS
Whole-House Audio/Video
Crestron
Anthem
The most used manufacturers list remains
unchanged other than Rotel, which was
tied with Yamaha in 2010 and fell to sixth.
Of note is the appearance of Anthem
(seven dealers) after the Canadian company
released its first A/V receivers.
freestanding loudspeakers
46%
Rotel
PREAMPS/PROCESSORS
PREAMPS/PROCESSORS
PREAMPS/PROCESSORS
61%
11%
Revel
PREAMPS/PROCESSORS
A/V Receivers
freestandingfreestanding
loudspeakersloudspeakers
61%
PREAMPS/PROCESSORS
PREAMPS/PROCESSORS
17%
15%
PREAMPS/PROCESSORS
13%
Control4
Kaleidescape
Apple
ReQuest
16%
Crestron
6%
Control4
MEDIA SERVERS
MEDIA SERVERS
MEDIA SERVERS
MEDIA SERVERS
www.cepro.com
MEDIA SERVERS
MEDIA SERVERS
video
Blu-ray Disc Players
Front Projectors (FPTV)
From 2008 to 2011, Digital Projection
has nearly tripled its representation.
SIM2’s market share has also increased.
46%
38%
34%
front projectors
front projectors
projectors
front
Digital
Projection
(DPI)
Sony
55%
30%
24%
front projectors
Runco
63%
JVC
Epson
blu-ray
20%
SIM2
blu-ray
Samsung
Sony
78%
blu-ray
30%
81%
Samsung remains comfortably in place as the
most widely used flat-panel TV. Sony picks up
nine percent from its 2009 and 2010 standings.
23% 22%
57%
flat panel tvs
Sony
Klipsch
tvs
Panasonic Triad
Paradigm
11%
30%
Monitor
LG Audio
11%
22%
Runco
Revel
Stewart
Filmscreen
The continued adoption of HDMI and
inclusion in preamplifier/processors
flat panelits
tvs
and receivers are hurting this category’s
12%
market figures.
flat panel tvs
Crestron
Runco
DVDO
33%
7%
Key Digital
Lumagen
SunBrite TV
front
scaler/video processors
Wiring/Cable
front scaler/video processors
30%
Monster
Tributaries
8%
8%
8%
SnapAV
For the second straight year, display manufacturer
SunBriteTV leads the outdoor A/V category, with
audio companies
placing twoscreens
through five. The one
projection
difference is Klipsch taking Niles’ spot in fifth
21%
17%
SpeakerCraft
12%
Sonance
James
Klipsch
Structured Cabling
outdoor av
The market has remained
stable
outdoor
avwith companies
like Legrand, Liberty, Channel Vision, Leviton and
Linear consistently ranking as the top brands.
Honeywell
Perfect
Path
Planet
Waves
12%
Legrand
www.cepro.com
10%
16%
14%
front scaler/video processors
AudioQuest
Draper
Vutec
projection
screens
outdoor av
but the companies that follow have always varied other
than Tributaries as a consistent top-five manufacturer.
Liberty
Da-Lite
16%
outdoor av outdoor av
front scaler/video
Libertyprocessors
has led the cabling category for several years,
17%
The 2011 list of top five brands ranks
in the same order as 2010 with one
exception, but all of the companies
lost market share when compared
with the previous year.
projection screens
home enhancements
17%
Projection
blu-ray Screens
projection screens
22%
7%
front scaler/video
frontprocessors
scaler/video processors
47%
13%
Panasonic
projection
screens
Outdoor
A/V
projection
screens
Scaler/Video Processors
8%
LG
18%
flat panel tvs flat panel tvs
14%
17%
39%
34%12%
Bowers
& Wilkins
(B&W)
flatSamsung
panel
blu-ray
blu-ray
24%
Integra
front projectors
front projectors
Flat-Panel TVs
This is the first year that Blu-ray has
been broken out into its own category.
Not surprisingly, Samsung places first
and Sony second. These positions are
likely linked to their leadership spots
in the flat-panel TV category.
outdoor av
Liberty
Channel Vision
11%
8%
Leviton
June 2011
Linear
CE Pro
57
CE Pro 100 Brand Analysis
home enhancements
15%
14%
Central Vac
Mounts
With profit margins
that touch approximately 50 points, it’s
surprising that only
37 CE Pro 100 companies offer central
vacuum.
This the first year CE Pro has itemized the mount
category independently from lifts. In the 2010 list
four of the top five companies would be classified as
mount manufacturers, and just like this year the list
was led by Chief, OmniMount and Sanus.
63%
37%
35%
3%
HP Products
Beam
21%
Honeywell
Chief
66%
OmniMount
Sanus
Peerless
15%
SnapAV
Telephone Systems
Panasonic has dominated the
telecommunication category for a
number of years.
Panasonic
6%
5%
NEC
Cisco
Intercom
20%
16%
The intercom category has been a hotly contested market for several years.
Legrand loses a couple of percentage
points off a lead it established in 2009.
12%
86%
8%
Racks
Middle Atlantic remains as the goto manufacturer, but competitors
OmniMount, Sanus and SnapAV
have made gains in the category.
Middle Atlantic
68% 68%
16%
16%
OmniMount
Sanus
Legrand
12%
SnapAV
Power Conditioners
Panasonic
Crestron
Control4
7%
M&S
Seating
The seating market is a medium-size category that’s always been
one of the most competitive areas in the custom market. With the
shutdown of perennial top-five company Berkline, there could be
interesting movement in the 2012 survey.
17%
15%
The power of the Panamax and Furman brands
is chosen by twice as many installers as the next
closest brand. Over the past three years, Monster has lost approximately 40 percent of its CE
Pro 100 market share in the power category.
13%
11%
9%
30%
17%
Furman
Panamax
APC
Monster
7%
Richard
Gray’s
6%
6%
Crestron
Tripp Lite
CinemaTech
24%
Fortress
Salamander
Acoustic
Innovations
Furniture
Lifts
26%
Berkline
The lift category is one of the smaller
groups in the industry and two manufacturers seem to be the vying for the
top position: Auton and Chief.
32%
These five companies have most of the A/V furniture market share, with a large number of other
manufacturers splitting up the rest of the field.
21%
21%
BDI
Sanus
14%
11%
Auton
Chief
Inca
Nexus 21
8%
Electro Kinetics
Salamander
7%
7%
OmniMount
Bell’O
furniture
58
CE Pro June 2011
www.cepro.com
control & automation
55%
Back in 2008 Crestron owned an advantage of 50 more CE Pro 100 dealers
than its next closest competitor AMX.
Crestron’s dominance of the category
has been minimized with both Control4
and Savant having gained market share.
24%
Crestron
Control4
Savant
30%
19%
12%
AMX
Elan Home
Systems
IR Distribution
24%
21%
Xantech maintains its
lead in the IR distribution category, but sister
companies SpeakerCraft
and Niles have narrowed
the gap.
7%
Xantech
79%
SpeakerCraft
Niles Audio
Sonance
25%
51%
www.cepro.com
Crestron
31%
13%
9%
Crestron
59%
Control4
Aprilaire
HAI
Control4
RTI
7%
AMX
Shade Control/Window Coverings
For the third consecutive year, the window/shade
control market has yielded the same approximate
dealer representation. Lutron continues to dominate the category.
Lutron
12%
10%
4%
4%
Somfy
Mechoshade
Crestron
Draper
Remote Diagnostics
15%
This is another new category, and it’s still developing in its adoption and how installers are approaching the products and technologies.
11%
11%
6%
19%
Apple
Panamax/Furman
Control4
Crestron
Ihiji
Lighting Control
Other
Lutron maintains a healthy lead in
the lighting control category. Overall
every company except for Control4
lost CE Pro 100 market share.
In this category dealers mentioned manufacturers and solutions ranging
from Trufig and Seura, to Kohler generators and Harmony digital signage
solutions. In total 15 manufacturers were mentioned as “others.”
39%
Lutron
HVAC/Energy is a category that CE
Pro started to track in 2010. For the
second straight year Crestron leads.
HVAC/Energy could be one of the most
important offerings as more consumers
educate themselves on the money savings potential of these products.
34%
25%
67%
Elan Home
Systems
URC continues to lead the remote control category.
Over the past three years Control4 has pulled itself
into a near tie with Crestron. Making its debut as a
top-five remote company is Apple.
Crestron
47%
6%
Remote Control/Tablets
37%
URC
HVAC/Energy Management
Whole-House Automation
64%
Control4
14%
9%
Vantage
URC
Trufig: 2
Lifesize: 1
Bosch: 1
Linear: 1
Brivo: 1
Polycom: 1
Harmony: 1 (digital signage)
Seura: 1
Holovision: 1
(security, access control)
Silent Knight: 1
(fire, access control)
Isonas: 1
Thermal management: 1
Kohler: 1 (generators)
Viking: 1 (access control)
LED lighting: 1
June 2011
CE Pro
59
CE Pro 100 Brand Analysis
networking/connectivity
The wireless category is newly created for 2011 and the relative age of the
category beyond CE Pro’s tracking of
it shows, with an audio company, a
control company and three networking companies all in the top five.
16%
9%
Sonos
58%
Computers
28%
Wireless
26%
Control4
7%
Cisco/Linksys
Ruckus
20%
6%
Netgear
High-Speed Internet Devices (Broadband)
Since Cisco acquired the Linksys brand the networking giant has held a wide lead in the broadband
category. Netgear and Pakedge have made gains to
cut into Cisco’s lead, and Ruckus appears in the top
five for the first time.
Dell
Apple
More than half of the CE Pro 100
dealers (52) don’t offer computers,
but of the ones that do, their go-to
brands are Dell and Apple. Since
2008, Dell’s lead over Apple in the
category has shrunk from 30 dealers
to eight. There’s no data to indicate if
the iPad has skewed these numbers
to enhance Apple’s standing.
5%
3%
HP
Sony
2%
Toshiba
Gaming
Sony holds a slight lead in this new CE Pro category. Of the 100
dealers on the list only 40 offer gaming systems and of those 15
of them offer all three major brands.
34%
26%
22%
23%
Cisco by
Linksys
19%
Netgear
15%
Pakedge
D-Link
10%
10%
Apple
Ruckus
Sony
Microsoft
Nintendo
security
Security
39%
Installers seem to be under-utilizing
the recurring revenue potential of
home security.
CCTV Cameras
31%
As a smaller manufacturer,
IC Realtime has garnered
a high market share in the
category.
28%
25%
19%
20%
GE Security
Honeywell
13%
DSC
11%
6%
HAI
Bosch
10%
Panasonic
Back-office Software
Dealer Software is another new category in the
brand analysis. D-Tools is the leader with 28
dealers using its program. Sixteen dealers noted
that they implement custom software products,
and after that, mass-market programs like AutoCAD and QuickBooks are popular choices.
8%
D-Tools
60
AutoCAD
7%
7%
6%
6%
QuickBooks
SRS
Excel
Horizon
CE Pro June 2011
Axis
Communication
Speco
GE
cctv
cameras
cctv
cameras
security
security
Miscellaneous
28%
IC Realtime
3%
Healthcare
3%
2%
Control4
Life
Control
GrandCare
The Healthcare category is still
in its infancy stage, with seven
manufacturers represented on the
list and a total of just 11 installers
offering the services.
1%
1%
1%
1%
Alarm.com
CloseBy
GE
LifeLink
www.cepro.com