The 2012 CEDIA Expo launched with a bang for me as I previously reported when, upon entering the convention center, I was collared by a PR person who quickly walked me (without explanation) to a high-level executive for a Nortek company who felt the need to tell me – in compelling and direct terms – what he thought of strata-GEE.com’s coverage of the Core Brands consolidation. (Hint: he didn’t like it.) After a few minutes of somewhat hot-under-the-collar conversation, things cooled off a bit and he offered to get me together with the Core Brands management to clarify the situation.
Industry Trends
CEDIA Releases New Market Data It Says is Even More Accurate
CEDIA Market Research
At last week’s CEDIA Expo show in Indianapolis, IN, the trade group released select market data from their second annual survey called the Size and Scope of the Residential Electronic Systems Market in the US 2012. Although compiled and released this year, the data is actually from 2011 and is a follow-up to the same report they excerpted last year for 2010.
See results from this new survey and find out why CEDIA says it’s more accurate than ever… [Read more…] about CEDIA Releases New Market Data It Says is Even More Accurate
EXPO Attendance Declines Again
Then Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) today released attendance data from last week’s Expo in Indianapolis, IN and it was a mix of good news and bad news. Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Total attendance at the event came in at 16,900, down 4 percent from last year’s attendance of 17,600. This figure is also the lowest recorded attendance since 2001, coming in 1.8 percent under that year’s attendance level of 17,200.
But is there a silver lining?… [Read more…] about EXPO Attendance Declines Again
Seeing CEDIA Expo in a Whole New Light
Wednesday, the day before the 2012 CEDIA Expo opens its show floor, is both the day many integrators come to the convention center to take educational classes – and also the press comes for a day full of press conferences.
I approached the event this year with a high level of anticipation, as our strata-GEE.com CEDIA survey suggested that attendance might be better than originally anticipated. As I approached the convention center, I was surprised by the lack of activity around the outside of the hall. Then a CEDIA hotel shuttle bus showed up and – suddenly – we had a fair amount of activity.
Little did I know that when I entered the hall, I had a rather intense surprise waiting… [Read more…] about Seeing CEDIA Expo in a Whole New Light
Nortek Noise Continues – Xantech President Hallett Leaves Company
BREAKING NEWS
Multiple industry sources have confirmed that Xantech President Graham Hallett has resigned his position with the company, effective September 1st. Xantech is one of ten Nortek, Inc. brands being consolidated under the new “Core Brands” umbrella company, the formation of which we recently reported.
Since the consolidation of the various Nortek brands began back in 2010, there have been many employees leaving the company – mostly at lower- and mid-level positions. Recently, however, some of the top-level executives of the various Nortek brands have joined the exodus.
List of Nortek’s ex-execs continues to grow…
[Read more…] about Nortek Noise Continues – Xantech President Hallett Leaves Company
strata-GEE.com’s 2012 CEDIA EXPO Survey is Bigger Than Ever
strata-GEE.com’s survey on the 2012 CEDIA Expo has wrapped up and we want to thank everyone for their participation. And participation this year was up over 90% as compared to last year – which was off 20% as compared to the 2010 survey. We have no explanation as to why so many more people took part in the survey this year – however, we received more support from various industry members spreading the word on Twitter and other social media networks than in year’s past, which may have been a factor. A special thanks to those who helped spread the word!
More of you shared your thoughts…and we heard you!… [Read more…] about strata-GEE.com’s 2012 CEDIA EXPO Survey is Bigger Than Ever
Yamaha Launches New PRO Headphone Line with High Performance & High Design
Yamaha Corporation of America’s AV Division announced today a new line of on- & over-ear headphones that they call their PRO series. Straddling the markets for pro audio, musician, and consumer – the new PRO series is clearly targeted at a more serious listener who appreciates higher fidelity…but with a contemporary, high styling. Featuring what the company calls a “racing inspired” look – the PRO series has a design style more similar to BEATS, SOUL by Ludacris, or SOL Republic, as opposed to previous more utilitarian designs.
But, there is a twist…
[Read more…] about Yamaha Launches New PRO Headphone Line with High Performance & High Design
Is Best Buy Now Worst Buy?
It’s been a rough week for Best Buy. And if something doesn’t happen soon…it’s only going to get worse as the company is on a slippery slope and quickly losing the support of Wall Street. Already the company was embroiled in turmoil having recently dismissed CEO Brian Dunn for an inappropriate relationship with a young, female employee…scolding and then losing founder and chairman Richard “Dick” Schulze who knew about the relationship and didn’t tell anyone…and then enduring a reasonably PR-savvy public campaign as Schulze announced intentions to buy the company and take it private. Finally – as if to emphasize how bad things had become – this past Monday the company announced their fiscal Q2 results with a shocking 91% drop in profits. But wait! There’s more…
How bad is it at Best Buy? They had to pay someone $32 MILLION to come run it!… [Read more…] about Is Best Buy Now Worst Buy?
Forget 4K! Japanese Engineers Create New Global Standard – UHDTV
As the industry is on the verge of rolling out the latest HDTV upgrade – 4K resolution – news comes out of Japan that a coalition of Japanese broadcasters and television equipment manufacturers have collaborated to create the next great standard they call Ultra High Definition Television or UHDTV. Another incremental improvement? Oh no…UHDTV leapfrogs 4K…
Have you heard about UHDTV? You’re going to want to know about this… [Read more…] about Forget 4K! Japanese Engineers Create New Global Standard – UHDTV
J.D. Power & Assocs. Survey Proves What We’ve Said All Along: 3D is Dead as a Sales Motivator
I know not everyone who reads this post agrees with us, and we’ve taken a fair share of criticism for our viewpoint, but we’ve been consistently skeptical of the power of 3D to drive HDTV sales. And now, after the industry spent millions (billions?) of dollars in promotion and advertising , as well as several years of intense sales effort, and probably billions of dollars in research & development – a new survey of HDTV-purchasing consumers from reputable researcher J.D. Power and Associates shows that 3D was ranked a distant last as the reason they purchased their set.
