Projecting into the noughties

In an environment where the bigger vendors continue to saturate the market, Wilkins said offering the Planar range to a small number of resellers was a good way to ensure margins were preserved. Having already signed 12 resellers nationally, he said Planar's competitively positioned products, coupled with a three-year warranty in all market segments and a $25 flat swap-rate, were a good enough proposition for another dozen or so resellers to come on-board.

"Over time, resellers that sign with us will benefit from a simple, inexpensive product and a distribution model that takes away the pressure of servicing," Wilkins said. "In addition, when they're promoted to a school or a business, that client will not be able to drive the price down by contacting a myriad of Web suppliers or 50 different resellers." Although he admitted Planar didn't offer any standout selling features to differentiate the product in an already flooded market, Wilkins claimed the range had a good value proposition.

"The market is showing increasing demand for more portable products with high output quality, and Planar's projector range has been designed to meet both the price, and the functionality and portability imperatives," he said. "It's just phenomenal what you can do under $1000 these days that's a real benefit to governments and business - it used to cost $15,000 only a few years ago."

Like Wilkins, Epson director of marketing communications, Mike Pleasants, sees the rise of the sub-$1000 market as a big opportunity rather than a threat. "The market is polarising into two camps - the home projector area and the business area - and, generally, there is big growth in both," he said.

"It is true that there is saturation, but the saturation is driven by the number of vendors in the business. The projectors business is still growing and it is an attractive market. Prices have been creeping down over the last 2-3 years. There are models now under $1000, which is still big money, but the rate at which prices have eroded has opened up the market both in the home and small business segments."

Better educated

Does that mean the 94,000 units to be shipped next year are bound for homes and small business? Well, not exactly. The education sector, which has traditionally been a major consumer of projectors, is still the strongest market indicator around, with roughly 10-15 per cent of annual sales going into primary, secondary and tertiary institutions. Driven by the rise of the interactive whiteboard and the government's commitment to installing one of these futuristic mega-gadgets in every school, the sector is also expecting another spike off the back of new short-projection models later in the year.

"Education is really driving business at a significant level," Pleasants reiterated. "Other market segments are growing, but growing steadily, especially in the entertainment business for larger projectors. But the truth is, all of them have been overshadowed by the growth in the education area."

Pleasants said the small business sector is also catching on and will start providing more portable projectors to their sales staff as prices come down. Installations in clubs and pubs, as well as in churches, are also growing steadily. And as long as the vendors keep delivering simpler and more efficient products, and move towards wireless environments, growth is likely to follow.