Digital disconnect

Even with the support of specialist IT retailers such as Standard Computers, digital home consumers are still being left to build their own best of breed solutions and do their own systems integration. While enthusiasts and early adopters might be prepared to go to this much trouble in order to experience the digital home lifestyle, shoppers in your average discount electrical goods store need help but are not getting it, says Terry Wiley, business group director of custom research at GfK.

"You can go to any retailer of these products and quite frankly they won’t be able to help you. They certainly won’t come into your home and connect it together, which is the major problem. Until that happens, the digital home ain’t going to happen," Wiley says.

"There’s no reliable, trusted source for the consumer to turn to. There needs to be an integrator and there’s been lots of talk about the IT channel taking on that roll but they’re simply not geared up for it. I think you will inevitably end up with the likes of Harvey Norman doing what Best Buy has done in the US, where you buy your product and someone comes and installs it."

This is exactly what is happening under a new deal between Harvey Norman and Sydney distributor Altech. Harvey Norman is set to sell Altech’s Maestro Media Centre computers, bundled with a one-hour installation and training in the customers’ home, says Altech national sales manager Kevin Hartin.

"Until now you could go into a Harvey Norman store and buy all the bits and pieces you need to complement your Media Centre PC, but they were not necessarily in a position to go out there and do what in the hi-fi world is seen as custom installs," Hartin says.

"One of the components of our Maestro Media Centre system that we see as necessary to take it into some of these channels is to provide onsite warranty services. We offer it through all channels, not just Harvey Norman.

"We’ve partnered up with a company called QuickKnowledge who actually do a lot of the onsite work for Harvey Norman and we’re bundling their 12-month onsite warranty service and also including a one-hour onsite set-up service. Customers will also have the ability to dial a 1300 number and get someone on the phone who understands what’s going on."

Retail giants such as Harvey Norman are sometimes considered more box shifters than specialist retailers. This situation is not helped by the fact that CE and IT departments within many Harvey Norman stores are on individual franchises — limiting convergence expertise.

Hartin is confident structural changes within Harvey Norman will see it well equipped to carry high-end products such as the Maestro Media Centre. "They recognise that convergence is happening. They’ve got the technology centre in at Martin Place, which is a combined IT and CE franchise; they’ve just opened up one in Castle Hill and they have 22 other stores where they’ve actually merged the two franchises into one with joint proprietors," Hartin says.

"They’ve made that commitment so I feel confident that with a product like ours going into those 25 or so stores, we’re going to get the products displayed in the store in the correct manner. I’m talking about a Media Centre plugged into a hi-fi system as opposed to computer speakers, and plugged into a plasma or LCD TV as opposed to a monitor. I feel confident they are now ready and able to sell a Media Centre PC as a component within the home entertainment environment."

Combined IT and AV franchises within Harvey Norman stores are a valuable asset in the company’s push in the digital home market, says Harvey’s computers and communications general manager Rutland Smith. ‘As we see more and more AV products take on IT qualities, we’ll be looking to those stores where they work as one for some guidance to the best way to sell those products.

"Even so, it is not uncommon in any of our stores to get knowledge from a variety of different salespeople no matter what the sale. As we continue to evolve we’re investing very heavily in staff training because we think that’s probably one of our key strengths in the marketplace," Smith says.

Harvey Norman has offered home installation services on some products for several years, Smith says, but he does not believe they are vital in order for digital home products to reach a wider market.

"I don’t think it’s integral to the future, particularly as companies like Microsoft and Intel work together on things like the ‘PlaysForSure’ standard, which will make these products relatively easy to install and operate," he says.

Microsoft and Intel will be pushing the Media Centre hard this year, but it is only one of a whole new generation of IT devices sporting AV features.