The Australian channel prepares as AV and IT collide

Ingram Micro Australia’s decision to open up a new Consumer Home and Office Solutions (CHOS) Division has got both the IT and consumer electronics/audio visual industry talking. While the convergence between IT and AV continues, both industries still feel they are two separate markets and this is unlikely to change anytime soon.

In a statement to the media on the 25 February 2008, Ingram Micro said its new Consumer Home and Office Solutions (CHOS) Division will reach out to CE vendors and reseller customers across Australia. The new CHOS Division will cater for the integration of Consumer Electronics (CE), software, networking, digital signage and security products, within the home and office environments.

The move follows what Ingram sees as its recognition of the continual convergence between IT and the CE market.

Matthew Sanderson, director of product management and marketing at Ingram Micro, said the launch of the CHOS Division will provide a ‘one-stop’ shop for resellers, for all their CE, software, networking, digital signage, and security needs.

“The recent market boom in digital signage and security has led to the need for a central location for resellers to access solutions for the home and office customer. Ingram Micro’s IT vendors are expanding their CE product portfolios and CE vendors are also creating more IT products within their range,” he said.

Glenn Richards, NSW director of av Media Systems said: “In the audio visual (AV)/CE market you either cater to the corporate division or the residential division because of different customer expectations. The products for these two areas are different from each other and the plasma screen hanging in the lounge room is different from the plasma used for digital signage,” he said.

According to Richards, he has seen all the big corporate vendors trying to wear two hats. While it might be different for a distributor like Ingram Micro, Richards told CRN the AV market is a “funny industry”.

“Take av Media Systems, we are a reseller and importer/distributor of a high-end projector. We import a brand of projectors called Taxan, which no one has ever heard of. If we were to carry a big name brand vendor, we would have all our customers jumping online to start a bidding war and if we carried Taiwanese brand we would shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Richards.

All the big AV companies made a successful business this way. Electroboard, one of the biggest distributors in the AV market started out by importing the Infocus brand of projectors, he claimed.

While Richards acknowledges the need for these two industries to combine, he likens it to having an electrician talking to a builder.

“The look and similar feel to the IT and AV industry make people assume it’s all meshed. But it’s a bit more than that. There is a reason why there are IT companies and AV companies,” said Richards. “I have heard it all before and at the end of the day if the reseller or vendor doesn’t see any advantage to their customers it just won’t work.”

Kevin Hartin, special project manager at distributor Altech, said: “I think it’s a new market opportunity and a legitimate move. If I was one of those [CE] companies I would have a think about the possible impact this decision would have on my business.”

Hartin told CRN, he wasn’t too sure about the convergence of IT with the AV/CE space. “The response you get from the CE/AV market towards IT companies is fairly cold. IT/CE can be combined at a logistical level after all couriers and deliveries are just that. The sales and support centres needed for products in these fields are totally different animals,” he said.

Hartin believes CE retailers see IT as a threat and believe that small independent IT resellers compete head-to-head with the CE retailers.

“The IT channel has learnt to live with mass merchants. For IT retailers view mass merchants like Harvey Norman, JB HiFi and Myer as just some big shop,” he said. “IT retailers have learnt how to survive by differentiating themselves. Now with Ingram going into CE, these guys need take a good hard look at their business.”

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