Steljes hits home run
Scion deal ensures distributor's access to multimedia home market
Audiovisual (AV) distributor Steljes has signed a deal with vendor Scion Technologies that gives it exclusive access to Scion's low-cost, home multimedia distribution systems until 2006.
Newbury-based Scion is a specialist in developing switching devices for AV communications. By developing a proprietary signalling system, it has produced a switch - the ID-1000 - that can handle video, audio and infrared input and output channels, and convert them to a format that can be used by Cat 5 cabling.
This slashes the cost of large-scale AV communications and has won Scion multimillion-pound orders from three top UK retailers.
Scion has produced a cut-down version of these switches - the ID-6000 - that caters for the home market. The 'baby switch' allows for 13 input channels and six output channels, meaning that any room in any part of a house can be connected to a terrestrial TV channel, DVD, Freeview box, video or CCTV input.
The same connectivity with an analogue switch would cost about £3,500, whereas Scion resellers can offer a solution for £730, claimed Mark Brown, marketing director at Scion. "The price will be the key to making this a mass-market product," he said.
Jonathan Pengilley, commercial director at Steljes, said the home market is a massive opportunity for resellers because the products are the right price, but they are often too complicated for most home users to implement themselves. "There are real opportunities for our resellers with this product range," he said.
According to Pengilley, estate agents also represent a considerable growth market for display technology. "You can have five 17in screens suspended in a shop window, each on a loop, displaying different types of property details. It makes for a more impressive display, and the technology is now affordable," he said.