Barco Products Case Study

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was important because lots of money was spent on Barco’s products. However, after the launch of Sony 1270, there were not as many buyers such as dealers and industrial consumers as before because the cheaper and better quality option was available. Barco’s customers still remained very significant; however, there was an even lower-switching cost from Barco’s products to the new Sony 1270. Overall, customer power is high.

*When looking at the threat of substitutes, Barco’s products can be very easily replace by the Sony 1270 because of its better quality and cheaper price. Therefore, there is a very significant threat for substitutes. Overall, Barco is not a very powerful competitor because the competition is strong, suppliers and customers have a lot power and Barco’s products could be easily replicated. Barco should pay extra attention to Sony. Opportunity

*****here are some areas where Barco can use the opportunity to seize the customers once again

the market for video projector was the largest, having 63% of all units sold and data projectors composed of 33% of the projector market. on the other hand, even though graphic projectors had only 4% sales, this had the biggest predicted annual growth sale at 40.2%

Geographic segmentation divides a market into units based on where they are located. Barco is a worldwide company headquartered in Belgium, but sells its products to three main geographic segments. They are Europe, Asia and the United States. The United States market represents the biggest with 50%, followed by Western Europe at 36% and leaving Asia only at 12%. This leads to possible opportunity to expand markets in Asia with because Asia has the largest predicted annual growth of 19% between years 1989 to 1994.

Each global segment has different needs and wants based upon technology currently available in that region, uses of technology in the region and current brand awareness and use of products. It is important for Barco to examine each of these segments and determine what the customers in that specific area need and want. Since Asia has the highest predicted annual growth of sales, it is best for Barco to research the market and plan accordingly.

Threat

*****Barco was a strong player and a market leader in graphics projector that was taken by surprise by Sony’s new product 1270 which was likely to be offered at a lower price. This product, rumored to be cheaper by 20-38% will have a big impact on sales of BG400. In this case, Barco’s profit margin will be heavily influenced, and it may lose as much as 75% of its profits.

With the introduction of 1270, Sony’s market image would change from mass producer of low end products to higher quality with competent prices. As a result, Barco’s image perception may change from the leader of the industry to a company that needs to quickly develop to match the speed of Sony.