Strategy in TECH...
Next Level Distribution is reportedly planning to shut down operations after it completes the liquidation of its existing inventory, according to multiple reports. The multi-location distributor/fulfillment house of major brands of automotive and residential electronics was founded in 1993, first under the name of Audio America. In 2020 it changed its name to Next Level Distribution.
Attendance at this year’s CEDIA Expo, held in Denver at the Colorado Convention Center from September 7-9, was a bit of an illusion. The Expo, which is owned and operated by Emerald Expositions, announced final attendance figures nearly two weeks after the event closed. At the event, many exhibitors expressed satisfaction with the number of attendees they saw – yet the final announced attendance numbers turned out to be not quite as significant as some had thought. How did that happen?
Well, another CEDIA Expo is in the books and we return to our daily duties and launch into a new Fall season full of promise…and concerns. What were the big stories of this year’s edition of Emerald’s (a public, for-profit company that owns the show) CEDIA Expo? Well, I’ve scanned several summations from others in the media and it almost seems like we attended different Expos. Here’s what I think they are…
Friends of Ron Meyerowitz have arranged for a gathering to celebrate his life on September 27, 2023, in New York City. The gathering is open for any friend of Ron’s (invitation required) who would like to join with others to share some food and drink, and most importantly, share stories about Ron, an influential manufacturer sales representative in the New York Metro market – and a very good friend to many in the industry.
Yet another sign of the struggling housing industry as climbing mortgage rates and historically high home prices combine to drop new residential construction – known as housing starts – to their lowest level in three years. Both single-family housing starts and overall housing starts, which includes multi-family dwellings, saw significant declines in August.
Lenbrook Corporation, a Canadian company that holds a portfolio of premium specialty brands, announced this morning it has acquired the assets of MQA, ltd., the U.K.-based company behind the Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) high-resolution audio encoding system in a transaction it hopes will breathe new life into the technology that had fallen into a form of receivership upon the loss of its major financial backer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed as part of this announcement.
The crowds on Day 2 of CEDIA Expo 23 were equally as impressive, if not more so, as they were on Day 1. I had a mid-day meeting at the Snap One booth and as you can see in the image above, I couldn’t even get into the booth! Of course, I can only give you my impressions as there is no official count as I write this, but to my eyes it sure looks like attendance is going to be a pleasant surprise when Emerald announces the final count.
Snap One, a leading manufacturer of a diversified group of custom integration (CI) brands, announced on the eve of CEDIA Expo 2023 that it is “increasing investments in software research and development (R&D)” for the purpose of enhancing the “performance, reliability, and scalability” of its solutions to yield “more efficient backend processes and better user experiences.” The release goes on to note the importance of software for the residential and commercial custom integration industries.
Ellipsys Commercial Technology Group, part of the Nationwide Marketing Group family of dealer buying groups, announced ahead of CEDIA Expo 2023 that it has sealed a big deal with industry leader Sonance as a founding vendor partner for the new group. The news will surely provide a big boost to the young, rapidly growing, commercial integrator buying group.
Well, the question I posed yesterday as to whether we’d see CEDIA Expo 2023 attendance up or down as compared to the show last year appears to have been answered. Aisles and booths were filled on Day 1 of the event, suggesting that CEDIA Expo 2023 attendance is not only ahead of last year’s numbers…but perhaps well ahead. So it seems we are all on a Rocky Mountain High.
But was there anything interesting to look at on the show floor? See some of the items I found interesting…
