TWICE held its annual Executive Retailer Roundtable during CES in Las Vegas this week with some of the top decision makers in the consumer electronics industry.
Moderated by senior content producer Alan Wolf — for the 20 consecutive year — the free-flowing conversation touched on the completed holiday selling season, voice control, smart-home roadblocks and the new tax code. While views varied on both the state and the future of the consumer technology industry, most agreed that retail selling was looking more optimistic than it had in years.
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In attendance were Tom Hickman, senior leadership team, Nationwide Marketing Group; Stephen Baker, VP, tech industry analyst, The NPD Group; Matt Furlong, director of smart home, Amazon; Peter Boutros, Sears Holdings’ chief marketing officer and head of international for Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard; David Workman, president/CEO, ProSource; and Trevor May, executive director, vendor management, D&H Distributing.Among the opinions:
On whether latecomer Apple can compete in voice-activated home devices: “I would never bet against [Apple]. … Apple is always good at pushing the boundary of what consumers are willing to spend.” — David Workman, ProSource
On how smart home can succeed: “We have to start solving real-life problems, weaving smart home capabilities together and, providing seamless, meaningful, useful daily life applications for consumers.” — Tom Hickman, Nationwide Marketing Group
On the power of 5G: “5G will do [to wireless networks] what mesh is doing to home Wi-Fi.” — Stephen Baker, The NPD Group
Look for the full conversation soon.
