Mitsubishi is on top of the projector world thanks to its top scores on six of the 25 aspects of an annual survey conducted by Pacific Media Associates (PMA), the Menlo Park, Calif.-based market research firm that tracks the large-screen display market.
Mitsubishi scored well in marketing support,
products, and after-sale support related to resellers’ sales of professional front data/video projectors, the survey found. Mitsubishi came out on top in the overall composite rating for the second year in a row in PMA’s Annual Reseller Survey is widely recognized as the authoritative source of independent, unbiased ratings of large-screen displays manufacturers by resellers throughout North America.
Because of the extremely competitive nature of the professional front data/video projector market, manufacturers strive mightily to offer sales and marketing programs that are attractive to resellers to assure that resellers give their brands high priority. Although these three brands topped the list of our composite of the 25 different aspects, actually 15 different brands were tops in one or more of the individual aspects, indicating an overall high level of satisfaction by the resellers.”
The survey also ranked the aspects according to their importance, so manufacturers scoring highly on the more important aspects boosted their overall composite score more than those who scored well on less important aspects. Since the report includes numerical ratings for each manufacturer for each aspect, manufacturers can learn if they are doing well on those aspects to which they have dedicated the most effort, and to see where they are lagging. The individual top-rated companies for the most important eight aspects are given below:
- Product Quality/Reliability – NEC
- Product Price/Performance – Hitachi
- Knowledgeable After-Sale Support Persons – Sharp
- After-Sale Return/Repair Programs – NEC
- (Marketing Support) Capable Dealer Reps – Mitsubishi
- On-Time Product Delivery – Eiki and Sanyo (tie)
- Responsive After-Sale Support Persons – Sharp
- Product Availability – Hitachi
The 2002 survey covers a broad range of facts, figures, and opinions from the 221 participating resellers, many of whom are among the largest in North America. Although the number of responses for any particular pair of brands might not be large enough to make strong statements about the true statistical difference if the ratings figures are close, the difference between the highest and lowest rated brands for any given aspect is clearly statistically significant.
William L. Coggshall is the president of Pacific Media Associates, a market research and publishing firm that specializes in the large-screen displays business, covering all technologies that can produce a 25-inch (diagonal) or larger picture on a wall or screen from an electronic (video or computer) signal.
