News

CEDIA's Member Survey Points the Way (2/7/2007)

CEDIA (the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) has revealed that a survey of its ESP (Electronic Systems Professional) shows an industry which is prospering and looking forward to the future, but an industry also whose diversity challenges any glib and easy categorisation.

Key findings from the CEDIA survey cover the CI market today, technology and business trends and perceived key challenges for the future.

THE CI MARKET TODAY

* More than 80% of CEDIA members focus their business on home entertainment systems, with multi-room audio and home cinema the defining product categories.
* 53% are designing and installing lighting control technologies on the majority of their projects.
* 40% are providing data networking.
* 33% are designing and installing control systems on most of their jobs.
* 21% are integrating security systems into their installations.
* The number of annual installations per company varies considerably, with more than 30% reporting involvement in between 20 to 30 projects.
* Typical sale prices also differ widely from £5,000 up to £750,000, though one third indicated that the average sale price was in the £15,000 to £25,000 range.
* 60% of respondents noted that the typical age of the client is over 46 years old.

TECHNOLOGY AND BUSINESS TRENDS

* 65% of members expect the market to grow by more than 10% this year.
* 23% believed that they would grow their business between 5 and 10%.
* The most regularly requested technologies in current projects are HD, heating and air conditioning, lighting and multi-room control.
* The most compelling technologies both last year and in 2007 are noted as HD and IP.
* In terms of business size, the majority of respondents (46%) are employing between one and five people. A further 26% have between 6 and 10 staff, and the remaining 28% feature over 10 people. Two years ago member's companies were smaller and employed less people, 67% respondents employed between one and five people - compared to the current 46% level.
* Further evidence of a growth market is confirmed by anticipated recruitment - 66% of respondents noted that they were likely to recruit additional employees, approximately half of these indicated that they would recruit 2 employees, with the majority anticipating that these new recruits would be installers.

KEY CHALLENGES

* The main perceived business challenge is the control of growth and the problem of staff recruitment.
* The main challenge facing the industry is considered the entry of new companies and their effect on margins, and, to a lesser extent, customer awareness.

The email based survey was carried out by Sigma Research and Marketing in March 2007. It covered responses from a total of 43 companies, representing 26% of the total CEDIA ESP (Electronic Systems Professional) membership in the UK. Individual responses were provided in confidence and were analysed by Sigma on behalf of CEDIA. Only participating companies are entitled to a free copy of the report.

www.cedia.co.uk