Channel Best-Sellers: Peripherals

The Wilsonville, Ore.-based projector maker finished 2006 with a whopping 32.3 percent of the U.S. dollar volume share for projectors sold through certain distributors, according to data from The NPD Group/Distributor Track. The closest competitor was second-place Epson, which claimed the title of top-growth best-seller by capturing 14.5 percent of the U.S. dollar volume market in 2006, up from 11.5 percent in 2005.

Rounding out the top five were NEC Display, Sony and up-and-comer ViewSonic, which had the second largest gain, shooting up to a 5.6 percent share in 2006 from a 3.4 percent share in 2005, according to the NPD data. ViewSonic has been aggressively pushing the projector product envelope. Earlier this year, the company released the first portable projector with an iPod docking station.

Patrick Derosier, co-owner of The CPU Guys, a Hanson, Mass.-based solution provider, said InFocus' product strength, strong technical support and no-holds-barred channel partnering efforts make the vendor formidable in the projector market. Unlike some of the offerings from rivals, InFocus' products provide robust profit margins for channel partners, he said.

As for Epson, Derosier said the company has made big gains with some impressive offerings, particularly those aimed at the entry-level market.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give Epson an 8," he said. "But InFocus is a 10. They are just a good partner. They do everything right."

John Marks, CEO of JDM Infrastructure, a Chicago-based solution provider, said the most notable part of InFocus' channel program is its aggressive spif offerings aimed at solution provider sales reps.

"InFocus gets a lot of sales-rep mind-share from those spifs," he said.

In an intensely competitive segment of the market, InFocus stands out, differentiating itself from a pack of competitors, Marks added. "They make good-quality products, and my salespeople love them," he said.

Next: Desktop LCDs (19- to 30- Inch)