In our tech industry we always look forward but sometimes it’s fun to look back. For example, AMX now celebrates its 30th year in business.
In 1982, salesman Scott Miller was convinced people would gladly give up being tethered to a slide projector for the ability to move around a room during presentations. He developed a way to use a wireless garage door opener to control a slide projector. This wireless concept would drive the vision of the company he and his wife Roslyn would start. He built the first product run and sent several to customers with an offer: “If you like them, pay me for them. If not, sent them back.”
With that first product batch ($1237 in total value), the MX20 (and AMX) was born.
The company gained regional, domestic and international attention and in Nov.1995 the company went public on the NASDAQ (under the”AMXX”). Shortly after, AMX made its first couple of acquisitions (AudioEase and PHAS) as part of a strategy to penetrate the residential market.
Starting in 2001, the future president and CEO Rashid Skaf spearheaded a succession of innovative products: The Modero line of touch panels. Next AMX announced another important product, Resource Management Suite (RMS), a software solution designed to enable customers to manage and control a limitless number of resources and services, all from a single point. In 2003, AMX added the NetLinx line with the introduction of a whole new control platform.
In March 2005, after bringing hundreds of revolutionary innovations to the marketplace, The Duchossois Group, a privately held, $2-billion company took notice and added AMX to their corporate family and group vision.
In 2005, AMX appointed Rashid Skaf as president and CEO. Skaf acquired six companies between 2006 and 2008 including Matrix Audio Designs, AutoPatch, Endeleo, Inspiration Matters, ProCon Technology, and Atrium Group.
Thus AMX grew into an enterprise with products spanning automation and control, signal and media management, hybrid switching, user interfaces, digital signage and more.
When the AV industry moved toward an IP-centric model, AMX created their Enova DVX and Enova DGX switching families (as well as the world’s first panoramic line of touch panels - the Modero X Series).
AMX is launching a year-long celebration to commemorate the anniversary. Everyone is invited to visit the AMX30 Facebook page to share well wishes, favourite memories and pictures. But more importantly, says AMX, “…to honour its dealers, distributors, customers, partners and employees - all of whom have been the most critical component for driving the company’s success.”