Barco

3 Pages 798 Words

Since the 1980’s, Barco has focused its efforts upon creating top of the line products exclusively for complementary niche markets in which it can remain among the top three manufacturers. Among its competitors Barco has always maintained a strong research and development program, which has helped it attain a number of international awards, such as the international Emmy Award for its studio monitors in 1988, and have given it a reputation as a technological leader in its field.

Barco’s customers are divided primarily between three categories: entertainment (video projectiors), training and presentation (data & graphic projectors), and customized markets (specialized systems). The product segments are divided into three categories: 1) Video projectors capable of displaying television and V.C.R. inputs 2) Data projectors that are capable of displaying computer inputs as well as traditional video inputs and 3) Graphics projectors - which are their premium products capable of displaying graphic laden computer programs such as C.A.D. and C.A.M programs as well as both video and data inputs.

The criteria used to evaluate customer satisfaction are picture clarity, scan rate (For data and graphics use), ease of operation and ease of installation. Barco rates very high in picture clarity and scan rate but has received mixed reviews for ease of operation and ease of installation.


II. Company/Value Chain Relationships:

Barco maintains 45 distributors (four are Barco owned in Belgium, France, United Kingdom and United States), worldwide. Their four owned distributors represent 61% of Barco’s total unit sales. Barco also has a relationship with 400 dealers worldwide. There are two types of dealers, “box” dealers and system dealers. “Box” dealers represent roughly 20% of Barco’s dealers, and are those individuals who sell projectors on the basis of cost alone, offering no service. Service dealers repr...