Screen Innovations Readying 2017 Product Line for Low- to Mid-Priced Segment

Screen Innovations is planning to “reinvent” the low- to mid-range of the projection screen market, founder Ryan Gustafson told us at the Home Technology Specialists of America fall meeting in Chicago Wednesday. It’s part of the company’s mission to make Screen Innovations the only screen brand an AV dealer needs to carry, Gustafson said. The company has screens for the customer who wants to pay $20,000 for “the best” screen or “for the guy who only has $500 to spend” who wants “something awesome.” Next year, Gustafson said, the company is going “completely change everything about the bottom to middle” segment of the category. The company has been only partly successful in achieving its goal as a one-stop screen brand as dealers “cherry-picked” its popular Black Diamond screen, viewable in dark or ambient light environments, rather than selecting the entire product line, he said. The screen coming next year will target high-end, mid- and entry-level customers, he said. “It’s opening up a whole new market,” he said. “You won’t be buying one screen anymore. You’ll be buying two or three,” he said, declining to elaborate. On concerns about product cannibalization, Gustafson said customers at the low and high end “will always be there.” Last month, the company began shipping the Zero-G, calling it the first “levitating” screen because it appears to float in air, said Gustafson. An 80-inch version of the Zero-G sells for $5,700.