INTRODUCTION
STUDY GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
BCC's goal in conducting this study was to explore the different factors affecting the industries directly related to home theater technology. Our key objective was to present a comprehensive analysis of the current home theater technology market categories and market trends, market drivers and inhibitors and the size and growth of identified entertainment technology categories.
In considering entertainment technology industry-wide, business professionals in the home theater products and services industry can see how their product offerings fit into the bigger landscape of home theater as a whole. This knowledge can help with product placement, market penetration and better and more focused marketing in general. BCC used real revenue numbers and primary sources to measure the global market value of the different entertainment technology related products that we presented in this report.
REASONS FOR DOING THIS STUDY
Information and knowledge in the cutting-edge technologies behind home theater systems move so rapidly that even someone who was an expert 2 years ago would find that his or her information was mostly obsolete today. Many of the primary companies in the home theater industry are highly innovative, filing and being issued many dozens of patents regularly for innovations in sound quality, picture quality, ruggedness of equipment and a vast number of other innovative areas. While this industry is highly adaptive over time, it is also by all appearances quite patent savvy so any company doing business in this industry would be wise to understand patent-strong companies that might be competitor companies. Looking at industry-wide metrics is an excellent way for industry providers to determine which spaces are crowded and which are sparsely populated, representing opportunities for current or future strategic growth.
With home theater technology readily accessible for only a few hundred dollars of expense, an increasing number of consumers are turning their living space into connected entertainment spaces facilitating superior enjoyment of music, movies, television and even gaming. An outgrowth of this advanced technology includes companies that produce companion equipment, for instance, theater seating marketed for the home which is now readily available at most higher-end furniture stores.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
We have compiled a study of home theater products and services organized by category. Market segment financial numbers were based on real reported revenue and estimations and forecasts use conventional statistical estimation and forecasting algorithms and techniques.
Home theater technology is largely a consumer-driven market, although technology development plays an important part as well. It is important for anyone operating in this industry to understand how these two symbiotic drivers work together and sometimes work in opposition in order to make better data-driven strategic decisions about their product or service. Marketing in this industry is critical as well and that is readily observed by some of the entertaining and innovative but largely uninformative advertising campaigns designed to incite consumer interest in a product by name, announcing that this product will soon be in every household, but failing to identify what that product is until the very end of the television ad. This is a sophisticated tactic and it is based on the assumption that every consumer purchase for this or any type of entertainment technology is based on consumer interest and consumer choice and not simply to fill a genuine pre-existing need.
This study will be of particular interest to professionals operating in any capacity in the home theater industry. It may well be that a company known for high-quality life-long products should avoid entering the lower end of this market because their product differentiation is for something so good that consumers are willing to pay the extra price. On the other end of that spectrum, a company known for providing inexpensive solutions for consumer needs would do well to identify and recognize companies operating in this industry because companies produce inexpensive equipment for many different reasons and those reasons are not limited to providing an inferior product.
SCOPE OF REPORT
The scope of this study encompasses several identified categories of home theater components and services for new home theater systems and retrofitted home theater systems.
BCC analyzed the industry on a worldwide basis, both from a market and product perspective and a technology perspective. Regulations in the U.S. and global markets were also examined to identify product introduction and product safety regulatory issues for stakeholders and potential stakeholders in this industry.
METHODOLOGY
BCC presents an analysis, across the entire home theater market based on reported revenue dollars and units shipped as reported to the SEC and/or other governmental agencies. We also analyze data gathered from various research sources via the Internet including large databases such as the United States Patent Office (USPTO) databases of U.S. Patents and Patent Applications, Micropatent’s searchable databases for U.S. and international patents and other IP issues, and the searchable database available on the Internet from the European Patent Office for World and U.S. patents and patent applications.
INFORMATION SOURCES
BCC interviewed primary sources from many different stakeholder companies in the home theater industry, analyzed public documents, SEC filings, corporate white papers and other technical documentation for several dozen U.S. and international companies directly involved in manufacturing and distributing utilizing entertainment technology.
Additionally, BCC analyzed 267 design and utility patents filed in the U.S. and throughout the world on home theater related technology inventions.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jordan Sheridan is a technology analyst and writer with more than 20 years of experience who specializes in technology and intellectual property strategies and develops IP documentation and analysis studies for Fortune 100 companies, with particular emphasis on IT technology and algorithmically-based inventions. Sheridan’s publications for BCC Research include RFID: Technology, Applications, and Market Potential (IAS020A); The Global Market for Energy Management Information Systems (EGY052A); Technologies for Air Pollution Monitoring, Prevention and Control (IAS001G); Artificial Sensing: Technologies and Emerging Markets (IAS021A); Advanced Materials for Sensors (AVM058A); Active, Controlled and Intelligence Packaging for Foods and Beverages (FOD038B); Emergency Response Technologies: Global Markets (SAS014A); Process Spectroscopy Market and Technology Update (IAS008C); and Entertainment Technology Market Dynamics and Technology Innovations (IFT067A).
Report Code: IFT069A, Published: September 2008, Analyst: Jordan Sheridan
