2010 saw the surprising departure of two key players in the control market, casting uncertainty over the direction of the industry. So what does the future hold – are the iPad and iPhone taking over, or will the trend soon end?

On 29 October 2010, Philips made an announcement that was almost 12 months in the making – it was pulling the plug on the popular Pronto brand of remote control.

At the time, a representative for the company stated: “In December 2009, Philips announced the intention to relocate some of its existing remote control activities in Leuven, Belgium to Asia. At the same time, the intention was communicated to investigate alternative strategic options for the Pronto business, as this activity no longer fits with the Philips strategy.

“Following thorough research, no suitable partner was found for the acquisition of these activities. As such, Philips confirms today that it will discontinue the Pronto product line and related activities.”

Little did we know that just a few short months later we would also be saying goodbye to Universal Electronics’ Nevo remote controls. Rather, the company will focus its time and energy on it’s cash-and-carry One For All brand of remotes and licensing its technologies out to other manufacturers.

So, how did we get here?

Joe Salamanca is the visual and control product manager of Pronto’s Australian distributor, QualiFi.

“Philips is playing at a different level to us – we’re in a niche market, which is growing, and the need for those sorts of products is growing, but for them it is small so they decided to pull out,” he says.

“We knew very late in the piece that they were looking to sell, but truthfully I don’t think they did a very good job of looking for a buyer.

“I say that because I was around for the launch of the first Marantz touch screen in 1999, and knowing who the players are, I know that they weren’t approached. And if they were, it was done in a way that meant a sale wasn’t feasible.

“We even made attempts to take it over as part of a consortium, but I believe that Philips had no idea what they were selling off. The asking price was quite out of skew with what it was worth and Philips wouldn’t give any exclusivity on any technology Pronto had. Realistically, I think every effort was made to buy it, but I don’t think they have the desire to sell it.”

As a result of this deal not going through, Joe says the news of Pronto’s closure means there is now a growing global control market that has fewer players in it to service the needs of end users and installers.

“People are putting more and more technology in their homes and there are now fewer options for controlling it. Yes, there are some new players popping their heads up and there are a lot of small fledgling iPad/iPhone control type devices and applications, but there’s nothing that’s really that professional – no larger scale supplier that is completely focused on the market.

“This is why I’m surprised that Nevo pulled out so soon after Pronto did, because they had a lot to gain.”

THE ALTERNATIVES

The news of Pronto and Nevo exiting the market has left the path clear for the handful of control manufacturers that remain, in particular Universal Remote Controls (URC) and Remote Technologies Incorporated (RTI).

“While it is sad to see these long established brands disappear, anyone who sells/installs/programs either of them obviously needs to make a change to ensure continuation of supply to their client base,” Hi Fi & Video Marketing (HFVM) manager Tony Ingrisano wrote in a letter to his dealers.
HFVM is the local distributor of URC.

“Now is the perfect opportunity to revisit the URC brand of control products as an alternative and in fact, we believe, an improvement to either of the two above mentioned brands and others in the market.”

URC was established in 1991 and has since sold over 50 million remote controls. In its 20 year history it has won a multitude of industry awards for design, technology and functionality of its products. One of its latest products, the MX-5000, has recently received the highest design accolade by the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York by being named as a permanent exhibit.

The PC-programmable MX-5000 touch screen wand remote is based on URC’s flagship controller, the MX-6000 two-way touch screen, with the exception of its smaller 2.7-inch LCD colour touch screen, its GUI (which is optimised for the different screen and button layout) and its chassis.

URC has invested thousands of man-hours to develop the first two-way database, which enables installers to integrate two-way IP and RS-232 devices without scripting. For the first time, an installer can provide a fully customised two-way handheld remote that does not require the expense of a programmer who is fully versed in a script programming language; any technician capable of a final hook-up can program the MX-5000, without weeks of training.

In the next one to two months, URC will also launching its new Total Control line of products in Australia that was introduced to great acclaim at CEDIA US Expo 2010. This additional line consists of streaming network players, personal AV servers, networked multi-zone amplifier/controllers, and other networked products.

Training can be accessed 24/7 online as a self-paced webinar.

Tony says that it’s not difficult to change from Pronto or Nevo to URC – all it takes is a basic training session that you can do in a couple of hours.

“We’ve even got training sessions that only take an hour that should be sufficient,” he says.

“All of the different platforms nowadays are essentially similar when it comes to programming. The way URC creates its software is to essentially guide you through as a wizard-based system to expedite the process.

“Further, URC has the largest database available out of all the remotes. This is because they either manufacture or code remote controls for a vast number of major manufacturers around the world, such as LG and Samsung.”

Another company that is set to benefit from the closures is RTI, which is distributed in Australia by Avation – a company that knows all too well what issues the fallout from changes in the control market can create.

Managing director Mark Hamilton for one was surprised by the closure of Pronto and Nevo because RTI has seen year-on-year growth in international markets (outside of the US, where it already has a strong following).

“Clearly there is a market there,” he says. “RTI’s international market share has grown exponentially in recent years.

“Yes, we had concerns when we saw everyone going under. But having seen the numbers, we aren’t concerned at all – RTI is in a fantastic position.”

So much so, it seems, that the company is expanding its product offerings to compete at all levels of the market, from its traditional stronghold of the high-end to the entry level domain of the iPad.

Pro Controls, for example, is a division of RTI that was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2010. Now it’s in Australia (also through Avation).

With simple wizard-style programming through a Windows-based software package, along with an attractive price point, Pro Control products are the perfect solution for any media room in which affordable control of today’s technologies is needed.

“Pro Control allows installers to create custom designs for their projects quickly and easily while affording consumers a powerful solution for complete control of any size system,” says Pro Controls general manager Mike Everett.

“Consumers can select an IR-based solution for simple yet intuitive control of their media system. For the ultimate in convenience, they may select a more advanced method of control with a Pro Control central processor and compatible remote control.”

For Mark, Pro Controls is an “ideal product for Pronto dealers that were doing a lot of single room solutions – plus, it’s cheaper but will still give you a 30 to 40 point margin.”

While the Pro Control remotes are completely new (they’re not RTI remotes rebadged or repurposed), the same researchers and designers were used in their development, so you can expect the same level of quality as you would from RTI.

“We’re also bringing out a product that will compete with the iPad – a wireless RTI panel that means it can compete directly in terms of display size and functionality and price point.”

On top of this, RTI has also launched the Virtual Panel control interface, which allows users, either locally or remotely, to control and monitor a system based on an RTI XP series processor from any PC running Microsoft Windows and soon from any tablet PC.

Fully configurable using the latest version of RTI’s Integration Designer programming software, version 8.0, the Virtual Panel control interface can be customized to accommodate any size laptop or monitor display and provides full two-way feedback from any RTI XP series control processor.

THE ‘i’ EFFECT

Of course, the change in market conditions forces people to question whether the iPad or iPhone played a role in the closure of two prominent manufacturers.

“While you can’t directly attribute it to iPad and iPhones, they are being driven by end users that aren’t educated in control systems – they have a romantic fantasy of wanting to control their home from an iPad or iPhone but not really understanding everything that it takes to do that properly,” Joe says.

“The control market is growing, but no one can convince me that the iPhone or iPad will make it grow tenfold, or even twofold. An end user wants a control system, they don’t think ‘I wonder if I can do it on my iPhone.’

“The market is only so big; it’s not like it’s going to flush out double the number of customers. And for dealers, because the dealer isn’t selling the touch panel anymore (Apple is), potentially 66% of the gross profit on controls is gone. And the pricing is all out of skew – the programming cost for a $250 iPhone is about $1,000.”

Tony agrees.

“People will get sick of the iPad,” he says.

“In the beginning they’ll like the ‘wow’ factor but will get sick of doing everything they have to do to get it working.”

However, Ben Green of My Remote, a remote control programmer and interface designer, disagrees. And he’s even put his money where his mouth is by establishing a new company called Push Controls, which develops custom interfaces for iPads, iPhones and Android-enabled tablet PCs.

“The effect of the iPad on the control market has been huge. It was also the natural evolution of the market,” he says.

“Nowadays it is very much a case of the consumer driving the custom channel. We live in a world where consumers already own smart devices so trying to sell them another is a very hard thing to do.

“Rather, the industry needs to shift the way it thinks and operates. Yes, an installer won’t be able to make money on the iPad itself, but that doesn’t mean they’ll lose money. They need to start selling a ‘solution’ and making money on system design. Evolving times means you need an evolving business plan.

“New products mean new ways of thinking.”