October 30, San Francisco –The CEA Industry Forum, which alternates between San Francisco and Los Angeles, this year, it took place in the SF Bay area. October, when the event was held, is Innovation month for that city as declared by its Mayor Ed Lee. The CEA and CE Industry are all about innovation. The event featured multiple presenters giving the Industry Outlook - Sales and Forecast – which looks promising for this year. The CE industry annual revenues are expected to surpass $200 billion for the first time. An estimated $206 billion in 2012 (up 5.9%) with a projected $215.8 billion in 2013(up 4.5%) is in store for the industry.
Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA, in his Industry Update and CEA activities Highlights indicated that the last year Forum celebrated the passage of free trade agreements with South Korea, Columbia and Panama. Since then CEA has had more successes on the government affairs and policy fronts including:
- SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act)/PIPA (Protect IP Act)
o CEA was one of the first associations to take a stand against acts in late 2011 for harm they could impose on innovation and the Internet.
o CEA encourages smart IP policy for the U.S. that doesn’t infringe on innovation.
- Spectrum
o CEA has helped lead the charge for the allocation of additional spectrum for wireless devices, arguing spectrum is the “oxygen” of an innovation economy.
o FCC recently took the first step toward implementing an auction. CEA will be actively engaged throughout the process.
- JOBS (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act
o To promote the startup economy, CEA pushed hard for House and Senate passage of the JOBS Act.
o In March, the JOBS Act was passed by a bi-partisan congressional majority, a huge win for the tech sector.
- Innovation Movement has grown to more than 200,000 members
- eCycling - Participants of the eCycling Leadership Initiative arranged for the responsible recycling of 460 million pounds of consumer electronics, a 53 percent increase over the 300 million pounds recycled in 2010.
The biggest Consumer Electronics Show, which is being held in Las Vegas, CES 2013, is expecting 150,000 attendees including plus 35,000 international guests from 150 countries in the world that can interact with 3,000 technology companies. There will be some changes at CES 2013 including new Opening Keynote speaker, Dr. Paul Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of Qualcomm. As announced last year CES has transform the prior years tradition and Microsoft, and it CEO Steve Balmer, will be is no longer the pre-show Keynote speaker.
What’s New at CES 2013?
There will be new Cloudbase3 Apps Tech Zone located at Venetian Hotel. The automotive manufacturers continue to have a large presence exhibiting auto companies include: Audi, Chrysler, Ford, GM/OnStar, Hyundai, Kia, and Subaru. “Eureka Park”, the zone for early stage, innovative startups that was just established last year will be 40% larger in the second year. The LVH will be the home to the iLounge, PMA@CES and Safe Drive TZ. The Venetian Hotel in 2013 will be the main stage for keynotes (this year from leaders of Panasonic, Samsung and Verizon), International Gateway, HPA exhibits and techzones including HigherEd Tech, Kids@Play, and Sustainable Planet.
During the CEA Industry Forum they announced the inaugural winners of the Innovation Entrepreneur Awards Program, recognizing entrepreneurs and the contribution they make to U.S. economy. The Awards recognized two small businesses and an executive in the CE industry that demonstrate innovation, dedication to the industry and tenacity to survive economic challenges. The judges selected the four companies as finalists: Audio Video Interiors, ecoATM, GrandCare, Ibiquity Digital; and the following executives: Sandy Gross, David Lorsch and Jake Sigal.
The winner of this year competition was ecoATM, an innovative green company that great idea in 2008 was beneficial to both customers and the environment. EcoATM encourages consumers to recycle their used CE devices to cut down on eWaste. Its automated kiosk buys used cell phones, MP3 players, iPods, iPads and game devices and provides cash or in-store credit on the spot.
The second awards went to GrandCare Systems, which idea came from the desire to help an elderly aunt live independently. GrandCare Systems uses a touch-based system to integrate daily activities, health monitoring, social networking and medication management for seniors by using the Internet.
The final award went to an executive Sandy Gross, who is a serial entrepreneur and has founded three innovative loudspeaker companies: Polk Audio, Definitive Technology and latest business, GoldenEar Technology.
In the evening the CEA Industry Forum attendees celebrate Hall of Fame Winners and their long life achievements.