CEDIA Expo 2025 wrapped last week, and show-owner Emerald Exposition’s Group Vice President Jason McGraw gave the event a solid thumbs up. In an email to Strata-gee, McGraw told me that, “All reports we’ve received from exhibitors have been positive and we’ve had a very successful rebooking for next year’s show.” But my survey of exhibitors and attendees – and my own observations – uncovered some dark and disturbing undercurrents that – absent any corrective action – portend a troubling future for the event.
See what I discovered at CEDIA Expo 2025
I have to tell you, I was really excited to attend the Expo this year, even more so than in the past. Due to illness, I had to cancel my attendance at Expo 2024, so it felt really good to head to Denver this year. Beyond that, I was quite curious to “take the temperature” of this key industry event, and see how the attendance would look this year. The last industry event that I had attended – a regional CEDIA Tech Summit in New Jersey – had clearly experienced a very visible and significant drop-off in attendance. Was that a fluke, I wondered…or is it a trend?
It is quite hard to gauge attendance just by looking around. This is especially true for me, as I had dozens of meetings scheduled and was almost always on the move. I try to gain a better perspective by polling the exhibitors themselves, who have the advantage of being in a fixed position and, therefore, are better able to gauge the ebb and flow of attendees. Also, most exhibitors capture leads from the badges of those visiting their booths, yielding a somewhat rough ability to compare with previous years.
CEDIA Expo 2025 Opened With a Steady Stream of Attendees
On Thursday, September 4th, the show opened with a steady stream of attendees flowing into the hall, as you can see in the photo at the top of this post. Pretty quickly, the first few rows on the floor – you know, the ones where all the anchor brands like Crestron, Sony, Nice and other major brands are positioned – were very busy…a good, but typical, sign. I held off on polling until later in the day on Thursday, as well as all day on Friday, in an effort to get a more complete picture.
So below, I will share what that poll revealed, as well as some of the other data points I observed on my own.
What Exhibitors and Attendees Told Me
Frankly, I was surprised by the feedback I received. To my eyes, the floor looked pretty busy – maybe not shoulder-to-shoulder as in years past…but relatively busy. What may have been misleading me is that my early schedule kept me at or near the front of the hall. As my schedule progressed, moving me around the venue, including to the middle of the hall and even back of the convention center, it did appear as though the traffic was more of an “ebb and flow” situation. The front of the hall tended to have a more consistent flow.
But as I began my survey, exhibitor after exhibitor told me attendance was down…some said “down a little,” others said “down a lot.” By the time I had completed my survey Friday evening, the estimates I obtained ranged from a best-case estimate of “flat with last year” to a worst-case estimate of “well below last year.” Nobody that I surveyed suggested attendance had increased.
Keep in mind, this was a totally non-scientific poll of a small subset of exhibitors and attendees. However, it did include a wide mix of company sizes and industry business segments. (Note: I did not poll CIX exhibitors or attendees.) I had a surprising number of conversations with exhibitors telling me they were actively researching alternatives to CEDIA Expo – a conversation I don’t think I’ve ever had in past CEDIA Expo polls.
Pre-CEDIA Buzz, A ‘Historically Low’ Pre-Registration?
About three weeks prior to the CEDIA Expo, I received a tip from a reliable source that registrations for Expo were running disconcertingly low this year…perhaps even historically low. I reached out to Emerald to try and confirm or dispel this news. McGraw told me that registrations were low three weeks before the show, but he said that was not uncommon and he denied it was at a historically low level.
According to McGraw, it’s very common for people to wait until the last minute to register for the event and they were currently (at the time of that conversation) being swamped with last-minute registrations. The Emerald VP declined to share any registration numbers with me at that time, and we are now waiting for a press release announcing the final tally. However, McGraw’s prediction was that attendance would be at, or a little better than, the level in 2024.
Other Signs the Show is Shrinking… Smaller Booths, What’s Behind the Curtain, Floor Exits
Perhaps my observations were more acute this year, having missed last year. But a few things jumped out at me immediately. First, many booths shrank this year. It hit me almost immediately, as it included some of the largest organizations, like Crestron, Savant, and others. It’s not a bullish indicator when your largest exhibitors are scaling back their Expo presence.
Also, several exhibitors and attendees noted that it appeared that the empty space behind the draping at the back and sides of the hall was noticeably larger this year. This suggests that the Expo’s footprint is getting smaller.
Merging Two Booths Into One; Others Move to Hotels in the Area
As I have reported recently, some brands have left the show floor. You may have seen my coverage of LG Electronics’ decision to exit the floor, ultimately deciding to set up in a meeting room. LG used to have a very large booth on the main show floor, often with lifestyle vignettes covering their wide range of products. This year, they consolidated everything into one off-the-floor meeting room.
Samsung stayed on the floor, but it too effectively reduced its presence. In the past, Samsung filled up one large exhibit space, while its Harman Luxury Audio division, separately, had its own large booth as well. This year, the two combined for just one space covering both groups’ extensive lines.
For the last few years, more and more companies have pulled off the show floor and taken space in hotels. This is often more cost-effective for them. In the not-too-distant past, for example, Premium Audio Company brands Onkyo and Integra used to each have their own booth on the floor…as did Klipsch, if I remember correctly. Now, none of these brands are on the floor as the company has moved to hotel suite presentations. I also noticed that Russound pulled off the floor and took a hotel space as well…and I am sure there were others.
Some of This Was Offset by New Exhibitors and/or Expanded Booths
I did notice some new participants, which helps to offset some of the losses above. For example, Daisy, the new national franchise chain, had a large booth on the floor as it sought new franchisees and vendor partnerships. I also noted SoundTube Entertainment had a larger booth in the CIX section.
But I think it is safe to say, when all is totaled up, those of us who love this industry have some cause for concern, as these changes are ominous and suggest an event that is losing momentum.
External Factors Could Be Partly to Blame
To be sure, there are many external factors that could be impacting CEDIA Expo attendance and exhibitor investment. Manufacturers are being hit by high tariffs, painfully squeezing their bottom line. Also, consumer spending is slowing, perhaps reducing integrators’ pipelines. We are also seeing consumer credit debt at significantly high levels. In general, there is a lot of uncertainty about the direction of the economy, and that can impact activity in our industry.
Whether the economy is the culprit or our industry is losing its mojo, something impacted this show in ways that are troubling.
See more about CEDIA Expo by visiting cediaexpo.com.
E3, COMDEX, and many previously successful auto shows no longer exist. All industry leaders in their time, many went away.
We live in a very different world attempting to attract a very different trade show consumer. We have communication ability we did not have at the high point for these and other trade shows. Those that still exist are threatened.
Trade shows/consumer shows need to evolve to survive. What is, is not what should be.
I am glad you are well and have recovered, Ted. I haven’t been able to make it to a CEDIA since 2019 and I was hoping to go this year to see all of my industry friends on the residential side, but I couldn’t not take the time off.
Tradeshows are just as much about the people as they are about the products.
However, manufacturer’s budgets are shrinking, the pressure to provide a measurable positive ROI is intense and the economic situation is not that great either. Agree with Bill that it’s time for reinvention….
Thanks Petro… I would have enjoyed bumping into you had you made it to Expo, but yes it is a serious time commitment. I’m glad I went, though, to feel first hand the winds of change blowing…
Ted, AVPro, Cleerline, and Savant appreciate you making the trek to Denver and spending time with us! Thank you !!
Micah, It was truly my pleasure. Attending Expo was a real challenge for me and I count it as a great personal victory – in no small part from collecting great stories from the meetings I had, including those you mention.
I have been a regular attendee for the past 10 years or so. I chose not to attend this year and heard the same thing from many of my fellow Canadians. Due to tariffs, tightening passport controls and a general feeling of “not being welcome here” from the US government, many of us decided not to spend our time and money at the show this year.
A majority of American citizens are sorry that some of the people here have made you feel that way.
Thanks. It’s not an issue with people, it’s the government policies. These policies unfortunately make a real difference.
Great write up Ted! I wasn’t able to attend this year but heard similar comments from others like, “the walkways were much wider). It’s time to rethink the trade show (it has been for a while). Education used to start three days before the show, for the last few years it now starts 1 day before the show. So, does the content need to be refreshed or is it something else? I spoke at ISE along with many others from the US. That show attracted over 80,000 people and I had 8 (yes 8) show up for my class. My counterparts had a similar turnout. I’ll let you go research who handles and markets the education for ISE so you can draw your own conclusion. Shows like InfoComm, ISE, IBS/KBIS all have great attendance still so it makes you wonder why CEDIA Expo can no longer draw the crowds. Tech Summits have been on life support for years. CEDIA should’ve figured out a way to support the reps to build that out rather than buy it and watch it tank. We’ve already seen rep firms break off and start their own again. I think a big reason the manufacturers are also scaling back is that they have more places to exhibit at that have a higher ROI. Lightapalooza has a great turn out. Yes it’s a much lower overall attendance however it’s a more ideal attendee to get in front of with a much higher ROI. Their education is off the charts! They offer multiple days of education with PACKED classes. You also have the buying group events that manufacturers have to attend as well as additional lighting trade shows that they are all flocking to. Something has to give and if the ROI isn’t there…well…we see what happens. Emerald is trying to hold onto a show that is no longer relevant and the education portion needs to be revamped…dramatically. Tech Summits should just go away if they can’t figure them out as it’s a waste of resources for those that have to exhibit. I think CEDIA Expo should partner with IBS/KBIS. That’s the crowd we are trying to partner with right? Why try to pull them to our tiny little trade show that is dying? Go where the crowd is!
Hi Jason, Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hi Ted,
Not discounted economic uncertainty and let’s not forget all the merging that is happening in every vertical in the industry I firmly believe there is a level of staleness that is happening with this show because of Emerald’s location choice. 2-3 years in one locution is about all a trade show (in my humble opinion) should commit to. The days of the industry commencing in one location like Indy are gone. Dealers, Vendors, Exhibitors etc want and crave freshness and like movement and that again IMHO is what this industry needs is movement of this show. I can’t be certain this would change the current state, but it may cause all of the aforementioned (especially the dealers and integrators) the wanting to travel and invest the time away to go to the show.
There is also an element that seems to suggest this show is nothing but a big industry party and less about technology or anything having to do with our industry.
I will finish with this. A trip to Denver for anyone coming from the East Coast is becoming or has become a challenge and because of this some are choosing to either invest their times in other shows, or attend Cedia every other year.
Hi James,
Thanks for sharing your interesting perspective on the current state of the CEDIA Expo. I’m not sure how much the locale plays into attendance, but you may have a point.
Years ago, you may recall the show moved to Atlanta and attendees reportedly hated Atlanta for a variety of reasons. After that event, I conducted a poll to try to discern which locations were most preferred. At that time, Denver did emerge as a popular destination. But, as you propose, perhaps it is getting stale.
I do think we agree on one point, there is a confluence of factors impacting attendance.
Oh, and by the way, your comments on the challenges of travel from the east are well made. My flight to Denver out of Newark was scrubbed due to a “mechanical” problem, delaying my arrival by hours! And my return flight after the show – which was supposed to get me back by 8:30 pm…finally got me home by 2:00 am the next morning due to storms!
Thanks for contributing!
Ted
Great article Ted and glad to hear you are back at the CEDIA this year.
The logistics you mention are critical and moving the show does help draw more attendees. When in Dallas or Indy it becomes easier for companies to bring not just top management, but Sales & Techs for additional education and exposure. Most integrators will let the team drive in for a couple of days, but scheduling airfare, rental cars, for multiple staff can be a difficult.
The show’s not as big as it used to be, Ft.Worth, Kansas City, or Nashville could be potential locations for the show in the coming years.
Thanks, Jason.