Barco Projection Systems Cases Analysis

Company Background

Barco N.V. began in 1934 as a producer of radio broadcast receivers. In 1984, Barco came up with its first TV receiver and since then it was a big a part of its sales. The company was very well known for its strong R&D and product quality. Between the years 1950 to 1977, the company grew very rapidly and expanded the business into broadcast monitors and professional video equipment. At the end of the 70s, and due to the economics recession, the company narrowed its focus and targeted industrial markets.

The company’s second-largest division, Barco Projection Systems (BPS), had 350 employees and total sales of $35 M in 1988. The division had been formed in early 1980s with the goal of emerging technology of video projection. In 1988, it represented 23% of Barco N.V.’s sales. BPS designed, manufactured and marketed very complex video projectors for industrial applications. In 1989, BPS has developed 3 lines of projectors: video, data and graphics projectors.

BPS market share was as followed:

Stream Line Market Share %

• Video Projector • 4%

• Data Projector • 23%

• Graphic Projector • 55%

Competition analysis

Four companies were highly present in the market in 1989: Sony, BPS, Electrohome and NEC. Below I will summarize the competition in every product line that Barco is in:

• Video Projectors:

Several companies operate in this business line including companies like: Panasonic, Mitsubishi and GE. However, these companies were not considered as a threat to Barco since they were considered as small competitors.

• Data Projectors:

The following table lists the largest market share holders in order:

1. Sony

2. Barco

3. Electrohome

4. NEC

• Graphic Projector:

BPS was in the first place with 55% of the market and the only competitor was Electrohome with 44%

SWOT Analysis

The following table will be discussing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Strengths

• Excellent scan rate