CE Pro 100

This year's prestigious list of top 100 US Custom Electronic companies, CE Pro 100, proved an interesting insight into how the financial crisis has impacted the custom electronics industry.

While the top companies on the list remained very stable from the previous year, lower down on the list is where the tough market conditions of 2009 are reflected. The No. 100 company this year is Newport Audio Video in Newport Beach, California, with US$1.31 million in revenue - that represents a 40 percent decline from the revenues of last year's No. 100 company, which came in with residential income of US$2.19 million.

For the third year in a row, Guardian Technologies (a division of Guardian Protection) tops the list. The company is a perfect example of the 'new breed' of custom installation company that understands the value of recurring revenue. As primarily an alarm company, Guardian relies on monthly alarm bills as well as alarm-only installations for the bulk of its income. Overall, the company had revenues of US$124 million last year.

Another key to Guardian's success could be that it carries very few product lines compared to other custom electronic pros. This tactic is purposeful - the company isolates only a few brands and services, such as mounting flat-panel, installing in-wall/in-ceiling speakers, and, of course, installing security systems.

This year's No. 2 company is Just One Touch/Video & Audio Center in Santa Monica, California. The company was able to experience only a slight decline in revenues in 2009 (just 3 percent) by doing 437 more installations.

Houston-based Modia (formerly Home Theater Store), a regional hybrid retailer with 10 stores, dropped from second to third. Modia experienced only a 3 percent decline in 2009. Back in 2007, the company had revenues of more than US$33 million.

The No. 4 company - Abt Electronics in Glenview, Ill. - is new to the CE Pro 100 and it represents still another type of custom installer: a retail appliance company that also sells and installs electronics. Abt did 8,000 installations in 2009 valued at US$25 million. Overall, the company has revenues of US$120 million that includes a vibrant online sales presence.

At No. 5 is Audio Command Systems, a high-end "traditional" A/V integration company with strong links to the architectural community. Audio Command earned US$23 million in 2009, down US$3.7 million from 2008 or nearly 14 percent.

The data show only the second year in a row of declining revenues among the CE Pro 100 since the inception of the list 12 years ago. (The list only had 50 companies for the first two years.) Very few companies reported increases in revenues in 2009, a sign that the recession was certainly nationwide and not isolated to housing-boom locations.

The average revenue per employee also rose by 3 percent ...a sign that integrators are tightening their belts to be more productive with fewer employees.

This article is sourced from www.cepro.com