There are a thousand ways to analyze the CE market, but I thought I’d examine just a few as a way to sum up the trends going into 2009. First, what are companies showing sneak peaks of in the lead-up to CES? I’m seeing lots of green tech, lots of HDTV (displays, cables, camcorders), and lots of media networking equipment. Plenty of companies won’t announce any products until CES actually hits, so this could be a skewed perspective, but it’s what’s out there so far.
Second, what do people think will be hot at CES this year? According to the entirely unscientific poll I ran earlier in the month, the top categories will be mobile Internet devices (MIDs), and new video applications (interactive TV, time-shifting, place-shifting, etc.) As a gadget show, I’m curious to see how much of CES really will be about media applications this year. Last year Comcast had a big presence and tru2way was everywhere. Will we see that again?
Third and finally, what do the experts think we’ll see in 2009? Here’s a quick interview with Motorola’s Eduardo Conrado on trends in 2008 and expectations for 2009. Hit play to hear what he has to say.
Interview with Eduardo Conrado (Hit play below)
[audio http://www.switchpod.com//users/msilbey/EduardoConradoDec2008bloginterview.mp3|bgcolor=#0000ff|leftbg=#ff0000|slider=#00ff00]
