Although press attendance was down significantly over last year (hello, has anyone seen CNET?) and a few large vendors like D&M Holdings (owners of Denon, Marantz and McIntosh) were nowhere to be found, CEDIA EXPO 2009 in Atlanta last week did offer a wealth of interesting new home theater products and announcements from consumer electronics manufacturers, both large and small.
According to official figures from CEDIA (Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association), individual attendance was down approximately 12% compared to last year's show (down from "over 25,000" to "over 20,000" attendees). However CEDIA reps said that over 50% of EXPO attendees were key decision makers for their respective companies. With any luck, as the world economy turns, CEDIA EXPO 2010 should continue to be a viable event and platform for CE manufacturers to use to introduce new products, services and partnerships.
You can browse our ongoing CEDIA EXPO 2009 coverage here.
 |
| Press, analysts, consumer electronics manufacturers and custom installers descend on Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta for CEDIA EXPO 2009. |
Trends at the 2009 show included:
- More ubiquitous use of LED lighting as an alternative or replacement to CCFL and incandescent lighting in both flat panel LCD televisions and front projectors. Sharp, Sony, Samsung and Toshiba showed off new LED/LCD models, while Runco, Digital Projection and Avielo showed new LED-lit front projectors
- 3D - a number of vendors had effective 3D demos at the show including Panasonic and Digital Projection, and the move is afoot to adopt a 3D Blu-ray standard - sorry but glasses are still required!
- HDTVs get bigger, flatter, better and cheaper - from Samsung's 65-inch LCD to Panasonic's 85-inch plasma, this year's show was less about larger-than-life proof of concept pieces and more about viable production products. Panasonic also offered LED/LCD vs. plasma comparisons so attendees could see the best of both flat panel HDTV technologies side by side
- Blu-ray players are becoming more of a commodity (even Toshiba is in the game now), with the major differentiator being what else they can do for you (e.g., online content streaming)
- Green is good: a number of manufacturers displayed power saving products to help reduce our consumption of electricity while still satisfying our appetite for more and more content
Although there few game-changing new products offered at the show, the mood was generally upbeat and the trend toward better, cheaper, more interactive, more convergent entertainment devices is clearly still alive.
CEDIA EXPO 2010 will return to Atlanta September 22-26. Additional information will be available at www.cedia.org/expo.
