CES 2019 is just a few weeks away and I’ve noticed something very interesting. So much of the innovation and new ideas at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show center around wireless. As 5G comes into play, even more will use wireless. Since I have followed and commented on the wireless industry for 30 years, companies are asking me to stop by. It seems everyone wants to get on my radar.
That’s the exciting part. So many companies in so many industries are all starting to focus on and use wireless to transform themselves and their industries. This is exciting, and in a perfect world, I would have the time to visit with and write about everyone.
However, this is not a perfect world and the truth is, there is simply not enough time to meet with everyone. That may sound like a great problem… and it is in reality… but it’s still a problem. Time.
Leaders, followers and those who miss the growth wave
Watching the wireless industry for decades, the way I see this developing, there will be three kinds of companies in this new growth wave; early adopters, followers and those who miss it.
The early adopters are the ones we are hearing from now. These are companies who blaze new trails. They are innovative and pave new paths through the jungle. They often take the arrows, but they are also the first using wireless to transform their business and in fact their entire industry.
Next, come the followers. They don’t blaze new trails like the early adopters. They wait until a new path is created, then they jump in. They take advantage of the new technologies, but they don’t decide on the direction the new industry movement will take.
These leaders and followers are the two leaders in the industry going forward.
The ones who miss the entire growth wave are the companies who don’t change. They try to keep things just the way they are. They let the growth wave pass them by. It moves on ahead without them. These are generally the companies that lose in the long-term.
Stay with wireless growth wave going forward
It’s so important for every person, every investor, every worker, every customer, in every company, in every industry to understand what is happening and to ride the growth wave. If they don’t, the growth wave will simply move on ahead leaving them behind in the dust.
CES is typically full of movers and shakers. Full of the kinds of companies who are leaders. Leading the charge and changing their industry and their company on the growth wave. CES also has plenty of followers. Companies who want to be winners as the marketplace continues to move along.
The companies who typically are not at CES are those who are happy with the way things are today. They don’t understand that if they don’t transform themselves and transform from a caterpillar to a butterfly in time, the growth wave will move on ahead without them, leaving them behind in the dust.
I look forward to meeting executives of all sorts of companies wanting to show off the direction they are now heading in. The trails they are blazing. In fact, I don’t do this just at CES, but all year long. On a regular basis I get calls from companies who want to get on my radar.
Every company wants to punch their way onto the map
They all want to punch their way onto the radar, be talked about, be written about and grow. That’s one of the biggest challenges for companies. They want to become well know so they can attract investment dollars, partners, customers, workers and so on. They want to become relevant.
The marketplace is fast moving, fast changing and fast growing. Large, well-known, brand-name companies need to be on the radar of analysts, the media, investors, customers, workers and in fact everyone in the industry. Smaller, lesser-known companies need the same thing times ten.
There are so many new industries with new brand names it would make your head spin. One problem is all this new technology and all these new brand names is getting quite confusing. Ask the average customer and they don’t have a clue about the differences between all these new technologies.
Example, how is Amazon Alexa different from Google Home? Drilling deeper, how is Amazon Alexa different from Amazon Echo? And how are these different from Microsoft Cortana, Apple Siri, Google Assistant and all the other countless AI names and applications in the market today?
This confusion works against brand recognition and customer involvement.
KISS the confusing new AI technologies and names
If you think about it, the marketplace is becoming a chaotic mess. The bottom line every company should focus on is KISS. Keep it Simple Stupid. Keeping it simple is how winners win in marketing. This is an important magic lesson that has been lost in this generation.
Today with all the new technologies and all the new names that compete with other companies and even with other services within the same company is a branding disaster brewing. So, as exciting as it is considering all these new technologies, the market place is too confusing. I am hoping the companies can simplify and clarify their position, products and services.
With all that said, I am looking forward to CES 2019. It gets better year after year. Better, busier and more chaotic. We are living through a very exciting time as technology takes us to the next level. A time our grandchildren will ask us about. A time full of risk and opportunity.
Of course, we need to be very careful and not let the technology get way out ahead of our headlights. We need to pay attention to privacy and safety concerns. Too often we move to quickly and only then find the problems we should have been aware of all along. With that said, I fully expect CES 2019 to be one helluva show once again.
