40 Years Of CES: Q&A With CEA Chief Gary Shapiro

CRN: It's interesting that one of this year's keynotes, Cisco Systems Chairman and CEO John Chambers, is said to be focusing his speech on using the Cisco name as the overall, overriding brand for all its subsidiaries that target the home market, such as Linksys and KiSS and Scientific Atlanta. What does that tell you about the state of today's consumer electronics (CE) market, when the company that provides the networking backbone for major enterprises now says it wants to be associated with home hubs and routers, networked DVD players, mobile devices and set-top boxes in the home?

SHAPIRO: The CE industry is hot; that's the bottom line. The average American family owns 26 CE products, and they're spending $1,500 a year on those products. It's kind of the centerpiece. Twenty years ago, it was business that drove technology; now it's consumer purchasing that is driving technology. I look forward to John Chambers' keynote for that reason. You're right—they're a business technology company, and they've decided that the home is the hub.