As many of you know, the ProAV industry’s largest trade show (InfoComm) was held earlier this month in Orlando.  After walking the show floor for three days, teaching a few classes and meeting with both exhibitors and some of the more than 29,000 people (a record for InfoComm at an east coast venue), I have some observations of things that WILL affect the HomeAV market.

1.  There were a record number of HomeAV integrators at this year’s InfoComm: The crossover integration firms have always attended both CEDIA and InfoComm, but this year I noticed a lot more traditionally exclusive HomeAV integrators there taking classes and perusing the show floor.  I tried to talk to all that I personally saw and get their impressions of the show and even asked why they were there – the most common response:  digital signage (DS).  The DS market seems to be not only appealing to the HomeAV integrator but also pushing them into the ProAV market.  There are a lot of similarities between DS installs and HomeAV installs in that they are both network-centric technology markets now and, let me honest here, the ProAV market is yet another opportunity for the HomeAV integration firm to grow their business vertically (especially smaller jobs).

2.  The economy is recovering:  The 29,000 attendees that made their way to Orlando was impressive.  Pre-show, many manufacturers cut their InfoComm staff considerably in anticipation that the bad economy would kill show attendance – in fact, some major manufacturers either dropped out of the show or cut their booth back – only to make an appearance at the last minute after realizing the attendance would still be high.  Not a single manufacturer I spoke to was disappointed with the show or the attendance of this year’s event – it either met or exceeded expectations.  So, I am bullish on CEDIA Expo 2009.  I am hopeful that this will be a great show as the economy seems to be coming back (although slowly, people ARE spending money) and the ProAV market does offer an entry point for Home AV integrators in the DS market.

3.  New simplification-based technology is driving growth:  One of the main factors that has kept the ProAV market in a growth (or flat) mode rather than a slide is new simplification technology.  The move from analog to digital and the drive towards simplification of technology is helping the market – especially in certain segments (such as education, government, etc.).  The same thing’s actually occurring in the HomeAV market too – it’s just many out there may not like that fact, and therefore don’t know how to leverage it.  The move to digital TV, the addition of home media PCs, Apple TVs, and now very sophisticated DirecTV settop boxes are helping to drive adoption of simplified home technology – so if you’re playing in that space, you’re making money.

4.  We’re at the beginnings of a technological explosion:  It’s clear to me that what we’ve seen so far with our industry is JUST THE BEGINNING.  So far, we’ve built and sold great products that make incredibly amazing pictures, make sound like we’re literally sitting in a concert hall and can totally immerse you in an environment.  And, the quality’s gotten better and better.  And, everyone’s noticed.  However (and ironically) the youth of today, as well as the early twenty-somethings, are watching videos on YouTube at more than 50 times the amount of time they spend watching TV, listening to most of their music on a PC or on an iPod and they’re playing portable videogames in record numbers thanks to the iPhone, iPodTouch and the NintendoDS.  Do you see the disparity?  They don’t mind crappy quality video, horrible audio and teeny, tiny screens that barely have NTSC resolutions.  We’ve got to leverage this future by creating and integrating more of the social-networking based tools, products and technologies.  Awesome images may appeal to us, but our kids, well, they think YouTube is awesome!  Does this disparity remind anyone else of another time in our industry’s past?

This is JUST the beginning of a future that will be a lot of fun to play in, to integrate around and to send tons and tons of content to…