Distributed-Audio’s Potential Growing: CEA/NAHB Survey

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 9/6/2004

Arlington, Va. — More new-home builders are offering custom-installed distributed-audio systems as a standard or optional feature, and more new-home buyers are buying them, according to a survey of builders.

The survey was the second-annual builder survey conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Home Builders. A total of 454 builders were surveyed randomly in February 2004 about their 2003 business practices. A similar number were surveyed in early 2003 about their 2002 practices.

The survey also found that builders became slightly less likely to offer custom-installed home theater systems and that the percentage of homes sold with custom home theaters dipped slightly in 2003.

The percentage of new homes sold with automated lighting and structured-wiring systems, on the other hand, went up in 2003.

Custom-Install Market Size

Estimated 2003 revenues of installing residential dealers (includes the dealers’ revenues from commercial sales)
Total revenue (residential plus commercial):	$6.3 billion (+19%)
Total Commercial:	$1.2 billion
Total Residential:	$5.1 billion (+19%)
Residential Hardware:	$2 billion
Residential Installation:	$3.1 billion
Estimated 2003 residential revenues by product category (includes installation revenue, in millions)
Audio	$1,400
Home theater	$1,390
Controls	$1,120
Wiring	$470
Lighting	$340
Security	$200
PC Networks	$180
Other	$70
*(based on installer surveys conducted over past two years by Dallas-based Parks Associates, which incorporated estimates of dealer population from CEDIA and other third-party sources) ©TWICE 2004

Percent Builders Offering Distributed-Audio As:

	2002	2003
Standard	1.5%	2.7%
Optional	51.3%	59.6%
Standard & Optional	4.0%	2.2%
Not Offered	43.2%	35.5%

Percent Builders Offering Home Theater Systems As:

	2002	2003
Standard	1.3%	2.7%
Optional	50.5%	47.6%
Standard & Optional	3.3%	1.7%
Not Offered	44.9%	48.0%

Percentage Of New Homes Getting Distributed- Audio, Other Custom-Installed Systems

	2002	2003
Dist. Audio	8.6%	12.0%
Home Theater	9.2%	8.7%
Monitored Sec.	17.7%	26.3%
Automated Light Control	1.0%	7.4%
Struct. Wiring	42.1%	58.5%