Business forecasting is a critical competency for successful companies. This Stimson Group survey contains valuable insights about 2012. 

AV Industry Trends

What We Expect for 2012

 

This survey was conducted in November of 2011 and received 119 complete responses. Approximately 55% of respondents were Rental/Production/Live Event and 40% AV Integration/Contracting. The rest were a smattering of manufacturers and distributors. Having said all that, The Stimson Group presents all responses as anecdotal information that might be used as part of your analysis of business trends.

The chart below summarizes the single quanitifable question: Which of these best describes your REVENUE forecast for the first half of 2012 compared to 2011? Almost half of respondents expect between 10% and 25% growth and one-tenth expect 25% growth or more. About one-third expect to be flat. Only 7% of responding companies see a downturn in business. These responses looks a lot like forecasts conducted pre-Recession.

The best parts of any Stimson Group survey are the written comments. This is where we see what’s going on in the minds of our readers. This particular survey drew a higher percentage of thoughtful comments, but clearly there are still many, many folks that have succumbed to negative thinking.

To read the comments: download the survey results Trends Survey_2012 Forecast.