All Articles Tagged State Of The Industry

Julie Jacobson | 01/04 05:34 AM, 6 Comments

Cloud computing is one of CE Pro's Top 5 Home Technology Opportunities for 2012. We will be profiling each trend over the next week as part of our State of the Industry Report. By now, CE pros are fairly well versed in streaming media and cloud-based content, even if such services can be difficult to manage and challenging to monetize. But there are additional opportunities in cloud-based services. We believe 2012 will be a breakout year for hosted home control, including security, energy management, telecommunications and whole-house automation. We hear… View this story

Jason Knott | 01/03 10:10 AM, 14 Comments

For the past several years, there has been a lot of anecdotal discussion that the traditional manufacturer-to-distributor/rep/dealer sales channel is breaking down. Various manufacturers in recent months made some bold announcements about dropping reps, launching consumer-direct websites, etc. With each announcement, the blogosphere “lit up” with integrators decrying that those manufacturers were either on the verge of bankruptcy or just a bunch of slimy guys bent on destroying the custom electronics channel. Now, for the first time, there is real evidence that traditional sales channels are being eaten away. According… View this story

Jason Knott | 01/03 10:02 AM, 3 Comments

Notwithstanding the Mayan calendar predictions for 2012, integrators are facing some challenging questions about the future, especially related to the effects of cloud-based content on their ability to sell “black boxes.” That uncertainty was certainly reflected in the 2012 CE Pro State of the Industry special report that shows the typical custom integration firm continues to be a lean-and-mean operation with four employees earning a median $541,000 in 2011. That revenue figure represents a 4.5 percent decline from the previous year, while the employee figure is the same as 2010… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 01/03 09:57 AM, 3 Comments

Few aspects of “smart home” technology have been lampooned as much as voice control. Consumers who think they’re really hip still love to cite, “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” Very clever, like all those stale references to the Jetsons. More recently, voice recognition has been famously skewered by Howard Stern and the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. In the real world, though, it’s not that funny anymore. Why? Because we’re so used to barking orders at our cell phone to “dial so-and-so” or “play such-and-such.” And we think nothing… View this story