Reuters is reporting that Emerald Expositions LLC, the major trade show exposition company that bought the CEDIA show last week, is considering putting itself up for sale. This report became public on Wednesday, January 25th…the day before CEDIA announced it has sold its trademark show to Emerald. All of which leads to the distinct possibility of the show changing hands again, in just a matter of weeks.
Industry Trends
CEDIA Sells Off Their Show to Emerald Expositions
BREAKING NEWS
The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) announced today that it has sold off their annual show – previously called the Expo, now known simply as CEDIA2017 – to Emerald Expositions, a company that they say is the largest trade show operator in the United States. The news, likely to be a surprise to many in the industry, is effective immediately, although CEDIA will continue to have a prominent role in the 2017 edition, with Emerald taking full control in 2018.
See more on CEDIA’s surprise announcement… [Read more…] about CEDIA Sells Off Their Show to Emerald Expositions
Sprint Throws a Life Preserver to Drowning Tidal
Cash Infusion Buys Time for Struggling Service
Tidal, the musician-owned music streaming service put together by rapper Jay Z, announced this week that it has sold a third of the company to telecom giant Sprint. Although the original announcement did not disclose the price, Billboard, the music industry trade journal, said that Sprint invested $200 million for a 33% stake in the company.
See more on the dynamic situation surrounding Tidal… [Read more…] about Sprint Throws a Life Preserver to Drowning Tidal
Strata-gee Editor on Latest ResiWeek Podcast
ResiWeek, a podcast from AVNation.tv focused on the residential audio/visual market, once again invited Strata-gee editor Ted Green to participate on this week’s episode, recorded on Monday, January 9 and hosted this week by AVNation founder Tim Albright. The show, which has a strong bias towards the integration community, is known for its at-times vigorous and at-times humorous conversations with a rotating series of guests commenting on the topics of the day.
See what we talked about and view the episode below… [Read more…] about Strata-gee Editor on Latest ResiWeek Podcast
Have the Tables Turned? Internet Users Research Online, Buy In Store
The data coming out of the most recent holiday shopping period continues to offer up some surprises. Take for example, the concept of “webrooming,” or the practice of researching products online, then purchasing them in a brick-and-mortar retail store. This is sort of the opposite of the dreaded “showrooming,” where the shopper goes to a retail store to select an item…then buys it online.
In an interesting new study from ORC International conducted in September 2016, a surprising number of consumers – fully 85% – said they would be webrooming this holiday shopping season.
But what is really surprising, is the number of millennial’s who said that. Read on to find out… [Read more…] about Have the Tables Turned? Internet Users Research Online, Buy In Store
Sony Makes It Official – We Are OLED
It was a strange press conference as compared to those held by Sony in the past – only one speaker (Kazuo Hirai) who methodically gave a summary of the new models the company was launching at this CES. The whole press event lasted a mere 24 minutes. No Hollywood movie stars…no musical performances…no custom video clips…no movie clips…no cars driving on the stage. Just the Sony CEO calmly listing the new models. In fact, at one point, Hirai introduced Sony US President Mike Fasulo who stood and waved to the audience – then was told to sit down and not steal Hirai’s spotlight. Strange…
But there was one really big star of the conference – the company announced the new Bravia OLED TVs, a major expansion of the OLED camp.
See more on Sony’s OLED announcement…and other new models… [Read more…] about Sony Makes It Official – We Are OLED
Thiel Launches Multiple New Products at CES
Thiel Audio, in a series of press releases on their website, announced multiple new products to be launched at this week’s CES in Las Vegas. Some of these new products are being launched under the Thiel brand name, while others are being offered under the Aurora brand – a brand that was originally created for a 4K music venue at the company’s headquarters in Nashville, TN.
This launch represents what the company hopes will be the next chapter in the troubled brand’s long-running saga.
See more on Thiel’s new models… [Read more…] about Thiel Launches Multiple New Products at CES
Technology Integrator Prints Its Last Magazine
Calling 2016 “a year of transition,” NAPCO Media announced yesterday that it has printed its last Technology Integrator (TI) magazine – deciding to withdraw from print media and reinvent itself into an online-only property. The move has been rumored for weeks, and in an online post yesterday attributed to the “TI Staff”, the company made the news official.
See more on what’s going to happen with Technology Integrator… [Read more…] about Technology Integrator Prints Its Last Magazine
Apple Wins Holiday Smartphone Wars
In new research from Flurry Analytics, Apple clearly won the battle for holiday shoppers smartphone dollars. Based on activations of smartphones and tablets during the period of 12/19-12/25, Apple took a healthy 44% bite out of the market…well ahead of second place finisher Samsung (21%), who has struggled in the wake of a battery-blowup scandal. But when compared to last year…some surprises emerge.
See more on this research, released just days after the holiday season… [Read more…] about Apple Wins Holiday Smartphone Wars
Sharp Strikes Again – Terminates LCD Panel Supply to China’s Hisense
Sharp Parent Foxconn Appears to be Playing Global Hard Ball
Just days after we told you about Sharp’s decision to stop supplying LCD panels to global TV leader Samsung – a decision that shocked many in Japan – apparently, they’ve done it again. The Nikkei in Japan is reporting that panel pricing negotiations have apparently broken down between Sharp and China’s Hisense Group with the parties unable to agree on a fair price. As a result, Sharp has notified Hisense it will also stop supplying them with panels in 2017.
