(27 February 2008 4:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Total US revenues for installed home theatres and multi-room audio systems will grow from $6 billion in 2007 to more than $11 billion by 2012, says Parks Associates in its latest report and analysis of high-end entertainment systems.

Analysts also claim that the number of new installations will grow by 67 per cent over the same period, from 166,000 per year in 2007 to 277,000 by 2012.

Parks Associates director of home systems research Bill Ablondi said, "The high-end A/V market is in a major stage of transition. Digital content is approaching the quality of analogue media, with added flexibility. Reduced costs with advancements in wireless and powerline networking technologies are also growing the retrofit portion of the market."

"Currently, the majority of high-end A/V customers are wealthy," added Ablondi. "In addition, most installed entertainment systems are sold into new homes or homes going through a major renovation. This mix will change as builders, installers and integrators become more accepting of 'no-new-wires' technologies."

Adoption of networking technologies will make installed home theatres and multi-room audio systems more affordable, opening up this market to more consumers at low-to-medium income level, concludes the report.