InfoComm International, the trade association representing the commercial audiovisual industry worldwide, recently released seven research studies commissioned to investigate trends in various customer segments served by the pro-AV industry.
The seven InfoComm 2015 Vertical Markets End-User Perspective Studies offer critical insight into the corporate, education, government, retail, healthcare, hospitality and venue (including house of worship) markets. Each in-depth study is roughly 80 pages and based on secondary research and interviews with technology end users around the world.
InfoComm commissioned Acclaro Growth Partners, which has worked in the past on the association’s Global Market Definition and Strategy Study (MDSS), to conduct the international vertical markets study. Among the goals was to explore the profiles of people who buy AV goods and services and the decision-making criteria they employ. According to InfoComm’s 2014 MDSS, the worldwide market for pro-AV products and services grew to $91.8 billion in 2014, from $75.5 billion in 2012. It is projected to hit $114.2 billion in 2016.
The 2015 AV Vertical Markets study for the corporate vertical offered some great insight into what corporate clients are looking for from AV installations:
- In all parts of the world, corporate is the largest individual customer segment.
- End users project increased spending on Av technology. The corporate market is projected to grow at a 13-percent CAGR for the next two years.
- Although the economy is improving, new construction has been slow to pick up. Therefore, the bulk of the opportunity still lies in retrofits, renovations and technology refresh programs.
- End-user awareness of pro-AV technology is greater than ever. Especially in North America and Europe, end users are taking the time to educate themselves on AV products and solutions.
- Convergence has impacted the way corporate end users purchase AV technology. The decision-making process has become more “IT-like,” with shifting decision makers and decision-making roles.
The study goes on to break out statistics on a number of factors for corporate end users. Statistics are broken up into overall percentages, and further segmented by percentages for respondents in the service industry, energy, and manufacturing/products/tech.
Overall, 27 percent of respondents consider their organizations to be in the early adoption life cycle of pro-Av technology, meaning that corporate is a lead driver in AV integration and adoption. 43 percent of purchases are driven by products and brands, versus 30 percent of purchases driven by the service provider, and among those service providers, 77 percent of respondents have a high interaction with AV Integrators, 43 percent with manufacturers, 30 percent with distributors, 28 percent with IT integrators and 21 percent with consultants. Interestingly, 63 percent of end users place a low value on turnkey solutions from a single provider, while only 15 percent place a moderate or high value on turnkey solutions. 35 percent of respondents say that the value they place on post-installations services has increased. Only 26 percent of respondents say that ROI on a technology is a non-factor.
The most commonly-mentioned products used among corporate end users, in order, were Unified Communications and Collaboration, Mobile and BYOD, Video, Wireless, Displays and Sound Masking.
While key future investment areas over the next five years include displays and digital signage, Mobile and BYOD, 4K, wireless tech, broadcast quality video tech and collaboration tech.
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