Strategy in TECH...
Airzone, a maker of smart HVAC control solutions, announced today that it has launched a new integration with Lutron – a leading brand of lighting and shading solutions supported by many residential integrators. This integration brings precise temperature control and empowers HVAC energy efficiency via Lutron’s Homeworks home automation system.
What a crazy couple of weeks it has been for exhibitors of CEDIA Expo 2021, and also for potential attendees who watched a slow-motion train wreck unfold right in front of their eyes. It was almost exactly two weeks ago – on August 10th – when Savant CEO Robert Madonna suddenly announced that Savant was pulling out of CEDIA, due to concerns over the surging infections from the Delta variant of COVID-19.
Little did we know then that this was the trickle before the flood…
This morning, within just minutes of Crestron’s announcement, Lutron announced that they too have decided to withdraw from CEDIA Expo 2021. One of the top lighting control and systems providers to custom integrators, this announcement is likely to hit hard, as potential attendees weigh whether attending the show will be worth their time, and their added risk in the face of the rapid spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
OK…I don’t want to overstate this, but over the last few years, integration industry giants Crestron and Lutron have been…shall we say…a little competitive with each other. Maybe not directly so, but certainly there have been skirmishes over several lines of products. Over time, the two companies’ line extensions have been progressively encroaching more and more into each other’s territory.
Well, that’s over now, as Creston announced last week that it has forged “an alliance” with Lutron – integrating several of the lighting company’s products into the Crestron Home ecosystem. Dealers who sell both brands are undoubtedly rejoicing – Hallelujah! Peace has come!
SnapAV announced today that it has partnered with lighting kingpin Lutron to offer a special version of their RA2 Select repeater, part of an entire RA2 Select system, that has been natively integrated into SnapAV’s OvrC remote management system. The agreement between the two of them is said to have been taken with the goal of “expanding the market for smart lighting control.”
With CEDIA 2016 now over, those of us in the media are left to try and uncover the underlying themes in order to help our readers wrap their heads around just what this particular CEDIA (formerly referred to as the Expo) was all about. But this show is big enough that no one member of the media can possibly visit all booths, talk to all exhibitor executives, and experience all new models. So each of us have our own version of the themes of the show.
Sonos surprised the industry this week with several announcements, some of which were directly targeted at the custom integration market just two weeks before the launch of the CEDIA 2016 show. But one announcement didn’t surprise us – we first told you about it a month ago when we revealed that we had learned that after announcing they were pulling out of the show, Crestron was back…in partnership with none other than Sonos.
Former Lutron executive Rick Schuett has joined Echelon Corporation as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales, the company announced on Wednesday. Echelon describes themselves as a “control networking company for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).”
Autonomic, a leading brand of digital multi-room music systems, announced at the 2015 CEDIA Expo that it has partnered with Lutron to deliver a seamless user experience via its HomeWorks QS total home automation solution. With the push of a button, integrators’ clients can simply include their favorite music as part of a pre-programmed HomeWorks QS “scene.”
About a week ago, we told you that DOW Electronics announced it was expanding its custom integration-oriented (CI) offerings by adding Logitech’s Harmony remote control line. Now, just one week later, the Southeast-region distributor announces new a partnership with CI cornerstone line Lutron on its wireless Caséta line.
