NetStreams: Nothing Says I Love You Like Dealer-Direct

I think AVAD and Netstreams are good examples of failing A/V companies.  The custom A/V indsutry is on its last leg.  Julie, you have an advanced degree in Economics.  Why don’t you put some (objective) numbers together to disprove my A/V statement.  Or, do you agree? 
Yummy boogers

booger-man, you are wrong.

As an economist, I say to you: “Numbers don’t tell the whole story.” (Men have won Nobel prizes for much less!)

Agreed, though, that custom A/V as we know it is on the way out. But it’s only being replaced by another kind of custom and different business models.

That will be the theme of EHX 2011: The New Opportunities Show

Hey Boogereater you can make that statement about almost any industry to some degree. Business as we all know it is changing. Is Custom AV dead!! HELL NO. Is it changing, of course. You can take the same equation and look at the CEDIA channel 10 years ago. Looked very different, functioned differently and also had difference players. Look at where some of the big names are today. Business changes aren’t always a simple matter of numbers. As they say change can be good if your open and ready for it. Also how can you say Netstreams and AVAD are failures??!!

Julie,

Am I to understand that the theme of 2011’s EHX is going to be “Contradictory statments by Julie Jacobson?”

You tell boogereater he is wrong and then agree with him two lines later. 

dkippy,

The only differnce between the CEDIA crowd today versus 10 years ago is that they have mostly cut off their pony tails, and they can no longer rip people off by providing equipment supplied by manfacturers who “protect” pricing and allow a middle man to make outrageous profit margins.

The internet killed custom A/V because people hate being ripped off just like the internet is killing print media because people hate being lied too.

Boogereater:

I agree, boogers are tasty.

Yaherdme?

Am I to understand that the theme of 2011’s EHX is going to be “Contradictory statments by Julie Jacobson?”

LOL! That would make it a week-long show, though.

I agree with portions of everyones statement. Custom is NOT DEAD. This year we are having a record year! Because everyone involved has always change with the industry as fast “if not faster” than the products we support. We have moved away from products win bids, to installation wins bids, then away from that because now services and support wins more bids.
We all know that the internet has killed us for years, but that is now changing also. Now Sony has closed all internet sales for the ES lines and made them for the custom channel. This move by netstreams is the same motion just more severe. A lot of great product lines are doing this now. They see that selling to professionals makes for greater installation and support, which in turn breeds customer satisfaction and rewards the line. I could go on and on about this, but Custom is not dead.

If these moves in the securing of product to the custom line continues the CE channel will see massive profit growth, recognition across the board that DIY is not always a good idea, and a much more satisfied customer base.

This means one of two things.

they will be selling a few systems to exclusive dealers. more than a few means no way of insuring dealer margins, or that product won’t end up on Ebay. they will be betting on getting some new investment capital until bankruptcy or hopefully buyout.

or more likely, they will redesign and simplify it to sell to end users, or anyone else that will buy… great way to show love for the dealer base!

For years I made a living stealing high end custom market share, I soild bang fro the buck. the stuff we couldn’t do, you probabbly didn’t want to pay for anyway.

And like many of my former coworkers, I am now unemployed, and thinking of bailing out of the custom world altogether.

pronouncements in the media “The end of Mcmansions” and the rise of service based netflix, blockbuster, Pandora and I tunes, combined with increased plug and play capabilities, i am discouraged.

I know many of the manufacturers look to big box outlets for future sales. Plug and play seems to be the future. All the big players in automation see it.
A set top box, connected to a display or TV, Other devices using RF or powerline. name the device using an on screen GUI. Press a program button. Easy-do-it-yourself.

Customized systems will once again be only for the 1%ers. the billionaires,  with the Mclaren and Rolls in the garage.

Can I make a living in that market?

the plain old Millionaires will for go for plug and play displays which are getting easier and easier to DIY.
With Hollywood and the music industry concerned about piracy, They turn to online trackinga and subscriptions. we are a heart beat away from all online content with monthly subscriptions. Plug a computer, Boxee, or game system into teh internet and go. all content one color coded connection. to make. In the end most people will use a single, “squishy source”, the internet.. It has all the content a person could want. And I am afraid that a high school kid will be able to put it in for them.

I am looking forward to find a new a"must have” solution, that still requires some expertise to sell and install. I am looking, but I still haven’t found it.

With that said, I am still eagerly looking to the future possibilities! As well as a manufacturer that is hiring people with expertise.

I’ll see you at CEDIA!

to getting out of the business,

I don ‘t know what you’ve been smoking, but plug and play is more like plug and pray in the world of electronics, large companies like Samsung aren’t smart enough not to make remotes which don’t have a direct input comstmand on their remotes,

how are the end users who have never searched for a discrete hex code or no anything about programming a system or designing a macro supposed to do this for themselves, without ending up frustrated.

Custom installation professionals are the glue which makes the customer happy and ensure that the customer gets the magic of what we can offer and create for them.

We are not going away, there will always be a migration to simple, less expensive systems for the masses, like Bose, and Sonos, but I don’t see real home theaters coming out of a box.

A few comments:
NetStreams was acquired in 2009 by ClearOne Communications. .  It is a public company (CLRO) and is not seeking any venture funds. The company is profitable.  I don’t think you will find more then a dozen companies at CEDIA Expo who can claim that!  And you would be shocked at how much money some of the marquis brands in our business are losing..

ClearOne has a history of providing state of the art equipment which requires expertise in system design and installation. NetStreams’ DigiLinX is similar.  ClearOne invested both in NetStreams and the infrastructure to be able to sell direct to dealers in the U.S.
We just showed a slew of new products and technologies at CEDIA.

We strongly believe in networked delivery of entertainment and have been granted some very interesting patents on our technology to do so.  You will see a lot of companies adopting StreamNet (see http://www.streamnetpartners.com).

And we KNOW we need good dealers to install the technology.  We are not in Best Buy, we are not sold online and we are not in AVAD.  We are sold in over 45 countries and we are hiring!  And we want good quality direct dealers.  Give us a call and see what we are doing at http://www.netstreams.com