Mitsubishi, Epson and Sony top US projector dealer survey

'The market for front projectors was starting to go through wrenching changes during the second half of 2008 when this survey was taking place. But those companies with well-established and ‘rich' marketing programs continued to be well-thought-of by their dealer networks,' said Michael Abramson, who directs Pacific Media's research on front projectors and was project manager for the dealer survey.

'Many of the aspects dealers considered most important in the past continued to be significant in 2008, and will probably remain important going forward. The top three manufacturers had strong scores in many individual aspects, especially those considered most important by dealers. Mitsubishi has been rated number one by dealers for five out of the last seven years, with a changing list of dealer respondents over these years,' added Abramson.

The survey ranks 25 aspects of marketing support, products, and after-sale support according to their importance to dealers. Dealers then rated their key suppliers on each of these aspects. Ratings were based on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good). Manufacturers with high scores on the more important aspects posted higher overall composite scores than those who scored well on less-important aspects. The report includes numerical ratings for each manufacturer for each aspect. This data can help manufacturers learn whether efforts to improve certain aspects are yielding results, and to see where they lag behind their competitors.

The 2008 survey is the 13th that Pacific Media has conducted, and spoek to 163 participating dealers.