The Glory of Everyone Making Everything

Are companies diversifying well or are they losing focus? Is there an opportunity for integrators amidst all this diversification?

Tim Albright

Recently Extron Electronics announced its MediaPort 200. It’s a device that takes AV sources and inserts them into soft codecs.

This isn’t the first product in this category but it is another tool for those who use Extron as a major equipment source. However, it led to an interesting discussion topics on one of our recent AVWeek episodes: those that supply everything.

There are two schools of thought on this. The first is that if you buy everything from one supplier you only have one company to complain to. There are those manufacturers that offer speakers, amplifiers, control systems, and video switchers. It is a great strategy for them as it gives them several opportunities into your integration hour. The downside to this is the old adage of “not putting all your eggs in one basket.”

The second thinking is that these companies are losing focus. As a company diversifies sometimes it loses focus on its core competencies. Now, I’m not saying these companies have, but it has happened in the past. If you are a large company like Google or Microsoft you can do things like Android or the Xbox without losing focus because you have the resources. Most of the companies in the AV space are not this large.

I’d like to offer a third opinion, though. It’s a great opportunity to see who makes the best of what and how they work together. If you think brand X makes a better amplifier and brand Y makes a better control system, then use them. You don’t have to put all your eggs in one basket.

This is also highly subjective. Yes, there are metrics you can measure such as line noise, ease of programming and switcher functionality. Whichever one solves the problem you are tasked with is the best one to use.

That may seem simplistic but if you put the client’s need, and the system solution as a whole, in mind, you can come up with a great design that gives an exceptional experience, regardless who makes the boxes you put in.

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