Receivers & Home Theatre Proving Popular
According to exit research of products shipped from distributors to resellers and specialist installers the market for receivers and related 5.1 home theatre systems has been steadily climbing with several distributors claiming that the demand is being driven by the lowing in price of flat panel TV’s and manufacturers building in iPod connectivity and other key video and sound capability into the receivers. However according to GFK the 7.1 home theatre market has declined over 56% since 2006. Among the brands to be benefiting from the growth are Yamaha, Marantz Harmon Kardon Pioneer and Sony with some of these brands now tipping further growth as flat panel manufacturer’s move to a new generation of thin flat screens? Distributors also believe that as vendors launch a new generation of flat screens some as thin as 6mm that they will struggle to incorporate quality sound into the TV’s. Ralph Grundl the Marketing Manager at Qualifi the distributor of Marantz home theatre kits said “The market for receiver based 5.1 and 7.1 channel home theatre kits has defiantly grown. Our researchers are saying that in the last 12 exit research from manufacturer and distributor to reseller reveals around 10% growth”. |
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He added” I believe that consumers are now investing in a quality sound system from money they have saved on their panel. We are also seeing a new generation of receivers coming through that have built in iPod docking capability, Ethernet, multiple HDMI and in some cases wireless. These features appeal to consumers as well as the mass market resellers who are now selling a lot more receivers”. Dale Moore Product Manager of AV at Yamaha said “The market for quality home theatre kits is growing and during the next few months we will see Blu ray enabled receivers” One of the driving forces behind the growth is the mass market resellers who claim that their CE staff are better trained in the features that a quality receiver is able to deliver said a senior JB Hi Fi executive. Geoff Mathews Marketing Director at Convoy who distribute a Harmon Kardon range of home theatre kits said “The market is growing however we are struggling to sell the 5.1 channel sound systems delivered via two speakers. We will be getting out of this market soon”. |