臺大管理論叢 NTU Management Review VOL.29 NO.1

67 NTU Management Review Vol. 29 No. 1 Apr. 2019 4.1.1 Document Camera─Brand-Reliant Dual Business Model Business background: Around 1998, AV-Firm became the first company to launch a portable document camera with a price range under US$500 (see Table 1). Several famous branded firms, such as JVC, Sony, and Toshiba, were already selling platform document cameras for between US$3,000-$30,000. These are mostly used in university auditoriums. AV-Firm’s portable document cameras were not only cheaper than the platform-type, they were also one fourth the size, and therefore better suited to small classrooms. AV-Firm therefore promoted portable document cameras to kindergarten to high school (K-12) teachers under its own-brand name. The US office president explained: “ The platform type’s price was too high and its size too large. K-12 teachers did not like this product. There are around 4 million classrooms in the US and Canada, thus, we found much better opportunities for the portable type’s success in K-12, not in universities. ” Since 2012, AV-Firm has developed an OEM partnership with the market’s largest interactive white board provider (Alpha, hereafter; see Table 2 for buyer’s background). Both firms have strong marketing capabilities and target the K-12 market, but there is no conflict between them. The president of the US office explained: “ The price of Alpha‘s solution is around $10,000 and its camera is treated as an accessory. Ours costs under $500. Alpha focuses on a pulling strategy with its strong brand power. We focus on a pushing strategy. ” Overall, AV-firm has high product/service innovation potential for this product (see Table 3). It was the first company to design the portable type and became the dominant designer. It was not constrained by a standard platform or protocol. As the K-12 market is conservative, schools only purchase products from existing approved vendors.