There’s been a definite change of tune amongst members of the CE Pro 100. While some might still be singing Bruce Springsteen’s “Glory Days” song, longing for the heady years of 2006-07, others are humming the old 1929 standby “Happy Days are Here Again.”
Either way, the results of CE Pro’s 15th annual list of the highest revenue residential integration companies in North America are in and the data is improving. Both high-end custom integrators and entry-level home automation-based dealers reported improvement in 2012. Th e list also marks the continuing entry of large security-based players off ering low-cost connected systems to the market.
The most significant trend in this year’s list is the emergence of bigger and bigger companies into the market coming from outside the industry. Th e top three integrators — AudioVisions/Best Buy/Magnolia, Vivint and ADT — are joined this year by other mammoth fi rms off ering entrylevel home automation: Nebraska Furniture Mart ($800 million in total revenue and owned by Warren Buff ett’s Berkshire Hathaway) and Vector Security ($236 million in total revenue).
