With the economy so bleak, why are so many AV professionals bullish about the future?
If Matt Dlouhy is nervous about how the implosion of the worldwide financial markets might affect pro AV, it doesn't show. His firm, Communications Engineering Co. (CEC), had its highest-booking month of the year in September 2008, and when he talked to Pro AV, he was forecasting sales just as high for October.
"If anything, we're seeing business pick up," says Dlouhy, president of the Hiawatha, Iowa-based integrator. "Last year was a record year for us, and this year we're tracking ahead of it."
Dlouhy isn't alone in his optimism, judging by an InfoComm survey conducted in August. "More than two-thirds of integrators said that they're doing better financially than they were six months ago," says Betsy Jaffe, InfoComm's director of public relations.
Even in an exclusive Pro AV survey, conducted in late October after the financial markets were in freefall, the commercial AV industry was mostly optimistic that 2008 would turn out well, and that 2009 was looking up, too. More than 60 percent of respondents said they expect to see more revenue in 2008 than in 2007, and 58 percent expect more revenue next year. More to the point, only 9.4 percent of respondents in Pro AV's forecast survey are predicting less revenue in 2009. (For more results, see "Inside the Numbers.")
Regardless of their optimism, AV pros are adjusting to what's going on around them. Many integrators and manufacturers aren't taking anything for granted, and none are immune from the aftershocks rippling through the economy. They're starting to take steps to protect themselves in case the economy takes its toll on their clients. In CEC's case, for example, that means requiring deposits.
"The current credit issues have forced us to implement a deposit policy, which we've never done before," Dlouhy says. "We were exercising our credit line with the banks on a regular basis because we could have anywhere from 150 to 250 projects going on at any one time. That would tie up a lot of capital for us."
What's more, AV pros say they're preparing to address changes to their industry that may accelerate in a challenging economy. From possible integrator consolidation to fending off competition from IT companies, one thing is clear: 2009 will be a period of change for the AV industry.
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