Barco Projection Systems

Section B Group 4
Anwesh Mukherjee 16P072
Bhavya Dwivedi 16P076
Kaushalendra Thacker 16P086
Rahul Dwivedi 16P101
Sivasubramanian V 16P113
Srestha Sinha Roy 16P115
 Barcos Evolution
1934 Barco N.V. Began producing radio broadcast receivers
1948 Built its first television receiver, with consumer TV forming
the bulk of the sales
1955-1975 Rapid expansion, broadcast monitors and
professional video equipment
End of 1970s (global recession) and 1977(oil supply shock)-
demand for Barcos consumer products sagged
1980s- The company strategized to have:
Niche markets+ effective technology
Strong commitment to R&D
Grow international presence
1989- with 2400 employees- Barco became one of the top 3
producers of:
Automated production control systems, graphic arts,
computer aided design and industrial projection
 Barco Projection Systems (BPS)

BPS designed, manufactured and marketed Video projectors

for industrial purposes
1989- Claerbout was named the general manager of BPS
Barco International- group to manage the marketing of
certain Barco product lines, including the projectors
BPSs USP was its SCAN RATE (to measure the speed at which
the projector read and processed the incoming electrical
signals)
Segmentation based on scan rate
1989- established in the entertainment, training and
presentation markets
IBM- one of BPSs best consumers
 Sony 1270

1989- Sony launched the 1270 as a superdata projector with a

scan rate of 75 KHz (BG400s scan rate being 72 KHz)
Sony entered the high performance graphics applications
market which BPS could not enter
Better than BG400 in brightness, image quality and resolution
also
Barco was shocked as they were expecting a product that
was in the BD600 category (46-50 KHz)
1270- excellent positioning
Largest ever publicity campaign in the projection industry
Sony was aiming to establish a dominance in the data and
graphics markets by stopping mass production of low-end
products
 SWOT Analysis

Strengths:
Niche Product
Technology cant be copied easily
Very strong R&D
High brand Value (amongst top 3 in every segment

Weaknesses:
High Cost/Selling Price
Complicated systems (less user friendly)
Overdependence on competitor for supply
Take the opponent less seriously
 SWOT Analysis

Opportunities:
Hand-held remote
Can start developing for post 1994 scenario

Threats:
Sony 1270 (possibly low price, better brightness)
Second best performing division at risk
Low confidence among distributors
 Possible Solutions

1. PRICE Reduction
PROS
At different price levels, SONYs 1270 could eat anywhere
between 30% to 60% of BG400s Market share. In addition it
would also cause share erosion of BD600.
Various distributors (German and French in particular) were
calling for a drastic price due to intense pressure faced by
them.
CONS:
Difficult to fight a price war with SONY.
Might Damage reputation among customers.
1270s exact cost unknown. Cutting cost would lead to
decrease in profits as well
 Possible Solutions

2. Product Development Options

To continue development as planned
PROS
The product BD700 already has advance orders with various
distributors.
Important for the morale of engineers and customers to
complete BD700
180 person months already invested. Only 27 more needed.
CONS
BD700 wont be able to compete with SONYs 1270 on any
front.
Any new orders for BD700 might not be there. Old orders might
be cancelled.
 Possible Solutions
Postpone BD700 introduction
Use advances made in BD700 as a foundation for the digital
graphics projector BG700
Impact Analysis
BG 700 would take 2-3 months time to develop - smooth
Sole addition of higher scanning frequency and were there.
Considerable amount of person-months 180 out of 207 were
already invested. ~87% completion; So this option was
practical and financially viable.
Postponing BD700 would cause delay in deliveries of advance
orders
With 7 tube (as 8 tube requires special lens) our digital
graphics would still be inferior to 1270 in picture quality,
resolution and light output. As 1270 superdata projector had
8 tube with better brightness.