A focus on fixed installations from Barco

• Features

• 27/06/2019

Barco recently showcased its full range of display and control products at an exclusive event held in Singapore. Inavate APAC with Gan Ta Loong, who has taken over the position of managing director for Southeast Asia at Barco. He discusses his plans to implement a ‘cross-selling’ approach to help the manufacturer reach new heights in APAC.

According to Gan, Barco is well established across the globe. He starts off by saying: “We have been enjoying a position of market leadership. We are comfortably number one in terms of market share for high lumens projectors and also leading when it comes to event control systems.”

However, Gan sees opportunities for additional growth. He says: “We are seeing a lot of business opportunities in the fixed install market. The rental market, in terms of the addressable market for Barco, represents about 5% of the total share. That means 95% of the market is still up for grabs. We have been enjoying dominant leadership in the events market, so how can we move from events to fixed install and towards things like large LCD and LED videowalls?”

Gan believes that moving towards the fixed installation market would require a change in strategy. He details: “In the past, Barco has been organised in silos. We have the pro AV division, we have the control room division and we have the enterprise division. Each has its own unique go to market strategy and there isn’t enough collaboration across the division. So, my first job at Barco is that I am trying to break down the silos and promote integration between the platforms so that when we go to market we can present Barco as one platform.”

Barco already possesses the tools for success in the fixed install market in Gan’s opinion. He explains: “The key thing is that Barco already has a very comprehensive offering. When we talk about displays, Barco is a ‘triple threat’ since we have projectors, LCD panels and LEDs. If you move downstream, at the centre of every AV solution are controllers and scalers. There are a lot of vendors that specialise in displays, but they may not necessarily have the controller to go with them.”

He continues: “In the past, some of our controlled were confined to the rental space or to the control room environment. But now, we are launching new controllers that are ideal for any size of view and we can power any kind of display even in the corporate environment, for auditoriums and lobbies and even boardrooms. We see ourselves as being in a unique position to offer more comprehensive visual and control solutions. Not to mention the wireless presentation solutions we already have collaboration spaces and huddle rooms in the form of ClickShare and WePresent.”

The end goal is to provide a unique benefit to the fixed installation AV integrator. Gan concluded: “Our solutions complement each other, and we want to present the whole range of Barco offerings to the integrator. So instead of talking to three different vendors to get the solution moving forward, they can come to Barco where we have a comprehensive offering which I think is pretty unique in the market.”