One of the strongest industries in terms of actual growth and the ability to continually create new, innovative products is consumer electronics. Sales this year should top $125 billion.
"We are hot," says Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). "Our industry may be dramatically changing the way consumers receive information and entertainment."
Home networking is one example. Digital radio represents another arena with popular new products and applications. For example, carmakers are teaming with Apple Computer so drivers can play iPods through their car stereo. Even more exciting, perhaps, is that each new product generation introduces new forms and styles.
There's no shortage of highly innovative products hitting the market. Wireless phones now operate as content command centers. Also, multisystem HDTV-capable media servers and DVRs are becoming mainstream. Nearly half of all consumers plan to make their next TV purchase a high-definition (HD) set, according to a new consumer survey by the CEA. Voice-over-Internet-Protocol, HD, satellite radio, vehicle navigation, and next-generation gaming also seem to be on a meteoric ascent.
But Shapiro and the industry he represents also are mindful of potential legislation that could put a huge crimp in the CE companies' efforts to continue to offer innovative products. Immediate concerns include proposals for new recycling fees on products, as well as requirements that video products be sold with digital TV tuners. Another major issue under current debate in the consumer electronics industry is IP and how it's affecting new product designs and content protection.
RACING TO BE MORE HIGH-TECH Cars can do just about everything but drive themselves... for now. But automobile manufacturers are just warming up to new high-tech features that help differentiate their vehicles, ultimately giving them a more competitive edge.
"The automotive electronics market is tough to compete in due to stringent automotive performance specs and pricing pressures," says Chris Webber, an industry analyst and vice president of automotive practice with Strategy Analytics. "However, the attraction of automotive electronics to electronic-module, semiconductor, and sensor vendors is clear when you look at the growth of electronic content in cars and light trucks. There are no boom and bust cycles like in telecom or PCs."
Automakers are feeling the technology-investment pressures as electronic content expands in cars. Current and emerging applications include in-vehicle entertainment and wireless systems (e.g., satellite radio and Bluetooth), navigation and position-location services, displays, keyless ignitions, cameras, biometrics, text-to-speech voice recognition, radar, fuel economy control, tire pressure, and other driver safety and assistance devices. Some luxury cars now come with as many as 18 antennas.
One recent concern revolves around event data recorders (EDRs), which resemble the "black boxes" of the airline industry. These devices now reside in millions of American cars to record speed, seat-belt use, and other driving data. Privacy advocates have been trying to put the brakes on EDRs.
The main fear among auto manufacturers is that states, rather than the federal government, will begin passing legislation covering EDRs. If these bills get through, then there's the potential that carmakers would have to build different systems for different states.
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