Latin America. A wide range of technologies, lifestyle trends and business needs come together in ways that promise to make 2020 a crucial and promising year for commercial and consumer AV resellers and manufacturers, according to Kevin Kelly, president and CEO of Stampede.
"Technology has evolved from being a productivity-enhancing utility to an experience that anchors everything we do at work, at home, at school, and everywhere we travel. The AV experience has become a central element of our daily lives in all walks of life and businesses that can offer an experience will thrive in the new year that has just begun. Those who cannot continue will see their products and businesses increasingly becoming commodities. Value, margin and profit are increasingly found, far from the mainstream of easy-to-buy online solutions and pricing," Kelly said.
According to Kelly, the key to delivering a high-value experience that preserves margin and profit for everyone involved lies in designing and installing system solutions that provide a higher level of engagement than can be found at low cost online. "Packaged system solutions that offer good, better and better choice options, based on the combination of software and hardware, present strong growth opportunities for manufacturers and all types of retailers, resellers and integrators. In particular, audio manufacturers have a remarkable opportunity because it is a critically important component to be able to deliver a quality experience."
As for the main trends that will define the year, Kelly emphasized several. "Feature-rich AV is found everywhere, including mobile life, which we believe will emerge as a major new growth area for manufacturers and resellers," he emphasized. "More Baby Boomers, as well as young families, are vacationing at home, creating a great opportunity for AV-centric recreational living that includes custom-designed and designed displays, components and appliances."
And speaking of Baby Boomers, more and more of them live in their homes longer than ever before, resulting in a historically low inventory of homes for sale in 2020. The option to age in place and make the renovations and investments that allow them to do so is creating new opportunities for manufacturers and retailers to offer audiovisual products and consumer electronics custom designed to meet this new market need.
Kelly also predicted that the construction channel will become increasingly important to both manufacturers and retailers as the next millennial generation of new home customers expect integrated entertainment, security, lighting and energy controls for the smart home. "Smart homes are no longer an option; they are a requirement for today's younger homebuyers who expect to have an app-like experience when they are at home, and particularly when they are away from home."
In hospitality, the customer experience is increasingly digital, as more and more hotels take advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT) to allow guests to enjoy all their devices and control heating, air conditioning, room access, television, lighting and room curtains with their smartphone.
Screens are being updated everywhere to further enhance the customer experience in the room and in the public area. "The need to install larger 4K, OLED and even 8K displays is becoming more urgent across the hospitality industry. In fact, if there was more 8K content available, it would really take off."
The opportunities on the operational side of hospitality are even greater, Kelly emphasized. "Artificial intelligence and voice-controlled customer service, virtual reality-based room and property preview, augmented reality at local tourist attractions and restaurants, security facial recognition, and panic buttons for employees and guests — all of these areas offer growth opportunities for AV resellers and manufacturers that didn't exist before," he said.
Kelly noted that business models are also evolving, thanks to the fact that hardware included with software subscription services is becoming much more common across the industry and not just in the area of unified communications. As a result, AV as a Service is finally gaining importance in 2020. "The reality is that, for more and more end-user customers, it no longer makes sense to own the equipment," Kelly explained. "They can lease it as easily to the reseller or manufacturer as a service that can be upgraded as needed and spent as a lease payment. It works for everyone and will really catch fire this year."
Consolidation is another trend that will continue to impact the industry, he predicted. "More manufacturers are going to acquire their growth through acquisitions and the same is true for resellers and distributors. Stampede, for its part, is going to very aggressively pursue distributors who share our commitment to value-added services and can increase our overall volume."
Finally, Kelly said that 2020 will be the year that Direct View LED displays will become widespread across all vertical markets, at the expense of LCD displays and projection systems. "The difference in display quality outweighs any short-term design and installation issues and pricing is now at a point where they create a real turning point for the industry."
The same is true for other technologies that have slowly leaked over the past few years, including feature-rich, lower-priced drones that are customized for specific verticals; Virtual reality as a tool that accelerates design across verticals and generates a new revenue stream for resellers; and, of course, 5G, which Kelly said will change everything in known and unknown ways.
"It's time to buckle up and seize the opportunities these new trends and technologies are creating," Kelly concluded. "The future always belongs to the bold who are not afraid to invest in the ideas of the future. Our commitment to investing in the future has never been stronger than it is today. We embrace the challenge as the gateway to future opportunities and growth for ourselves and our partners."
