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If you have any doubt about which way the industry wind is blowing, then check out which technologies venture capital (VC) firms are investing in. True, VCs gave us the dotcom disaster. But they (and we) have learned their lesson and are being a lot more diligent about which startups they are investing in.
Case in point: Accent, a player in the Smart Grid market, just closed its second round of funding. (See: Accent Closes Funding to Expand Smart Grid Technology Offerings .) The investment, from Silicon Valley’s Tallwood Venture Capital, will be used to accelerate development and productization of key communication technologies for system-on-chip solutions required by Smart Meter as well as emerging Smart Home applications.
According to Pike Research, Smart Grid deployments are quickly accelerating at a 30 percent growth rate with an installed base reaching 18 percent of 1.4 billion electric meters worldwide by 2015. Market opportunities are also being targeted by OEMs, a variety of component makers, and the electronics supply chain. Check out the news, research, and discussions on our Website. And start planning on how your business can capitalize on this market. (See: Fairchild Semiconductor to Focus on Smart Grid Technology at electronica 2010 and Smart Grid Equipment Market to Hit $8 Billion by 2015.)
Dear Friends,
The website Internet evolution recently came out with some excellent lectures on this topic.
http://www.internetevolution.com/lecture-calendar.asp
Please check them out.
Its good to learn more on this fast developing field.
Regards
Ashish.
Do smart home applications have good customer base? I was in opinion that smart home applications look very fancy on paper and design but they dont find that many buyers.
I think one of the issues holding smart homes back has been a lack of standards (they were maybe still are custom) and that the technology was better built in from the ground up. Retrofitting is expensive. It's been awhile since I checked it out, though–a good idea for a future blog post
It's only in the U.S that “smart” meters, power grid, etc., is considered technology innovation. In the rest of the world where national governments are pushing for better and more efficient energy generation and consumption systems, “smart” is just that: smart. As in, a smarter way to utilize resources that everyone know are very finite . Smart meters are going up by the millions in China, India and in Europe. Smart energy products are being insisted upon by governments, introduced by companies and adopted by consumers because as former STMicroelectronics chairman and CEO Pasquale Pistorio once said: You can do good business by doing good by the environment. The “smart” innovation is important but it is being willing to embrace “smart” that is even smarter.
Well said Anna!
Hi Barbara,
I agree that the innovation should start right from power generation down to end-user meters. However, innovation has to make business sense to companies and I think the old method of designing power grids is stifling innovation especially in power distribution.
Regardless, engineers are working on alternative technologies for power applications such as wireless inductive loop chargers.
Definitely Yes…however if Sony and Philips will monopolize the production of Blu-ray it will not beat DVD. Blu-rays are a bit expensive and it would be best viewed using an HDTV and some products from Sony and Philips bundled with the system. As a practical consumer in this time of economic uncertainties I will not waste my money over something which I don't really need to have in order to survive 🙂
True. But I think since most people are penny-pinching these days, Blu-ray will be around but not in too high a demand. As spec'd out, Blu-ray is supposed to provide better audio quality. Alot of folks invest in HDTVs but I do not know too many that also spend the extra bucks on surround sound or home theater systems.
So, if you want to compare the bump up in quality from DVDs, is it really worth the extra $$ for now at least?
I think there's a big change for Blu-ray to beat- HD-DVD. If manufacturers (Sony and Philips) will bundled Blu-ray with their home entertainment package. There's an increase of demand for home entertainment in the past two years and I guess this strategy will help them market blu-ray technology. Aggressive marketing promotions should be done which I dont really see in the market.
Great idea. This reminds me of years ago when every purchase you made at any retail store included a rebate for some other product. I think that if they institute something like that for the Blu-Rays, the market acceptance would be alot better. The product would get directly into the hands of consumers and they would eventually become second nature to talk about Blu-ray the same way we did with VHS…DVD.
I feel the same way about not wasting my money on something inessential. But there are always those people who want to be among the first to have the latest gadgets and gizmos, including HDTV. If Blu-ray is promoted as the latest and greatest, it will find customers, but I would doubt that it will overtake DVD at this point.
A recent study released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) indicates that spending on consumer electronics is up 12% from last year and that the average household owns 25 consumer electronics products. This is two more than last year. According to the study, video products are at the top of the list of devices owned and that 65% of households own at least one HDTV, which is an increase of 13% from last year. The study also states that in the next 12 months approximately one out of four households plan on purchasing a new HDTV. Behind televisions, the next most popular items are DVD players. Overall, consumer electronics spending is on the rise despite a tough economy and the predictions for this holiday season is that overall spending will be down, while consumer electronics spending will increase to an all-time high with the average consumer spending $232 on electronics gifts.
Clearly with the increased spending and continued interest in HDTV, this is good news for Blu-Ray and other high-end consumer electronics products.
My take on it is that with the downturn in the economy, many households have opted not to take vacations or treat themselves to getaways, which are purchases that are for temporary satisfaction, and have decided to spend on items that will supply a household with months and years of enjoyment, such as HDTVs, DVDs, gaming and entertainment systems, etc. These purchases although they can add up provide more bang for the buck and on-going enjoyment than a family vacation.
Blu-ray DVD player is backward compatible with DVD. Manufacturors will stop making DVD players gradually. New blu-ray DVD player has better profit margin which does make DVD play back quality look better. Then they will be phasing out regular DVDs with once again more expensive blu-ray DVDs. Eventually, consumers are left with no choice. But blu-ray DVD does look better and sound better, thanks for the much higher capacity it can store video and sound without compression at all.
There are different aspects of smart grid implementations. There is smart meter infrastructure groundwork, demand response load control for utilities to control the consumers home, outage management, tracking of equipment and asset management, preventative monitoring of the grid and then there is smart analytics. So opportunities are definitely out there. Because market is not that mature, it is definitely still a good time to get in.