Car amplifier and subwoofer sales are off by double digits according to NPD, but specialists are seeing slimmer declines, say industry members.

NPD said year-to-date sales of amplifiers fell 12 percent through May and subwoofer sales dropped 22 percent in the same period over last year (in dollar sales to consumers). The declines are on top of a bad year in 2009: amps were off 26 percent this time last year and subs were down 19 percent. But the picture may be brighter at the car audio specialists. Some say more of the amplifier and subwoofer business is going to the specialists, and less so to big box stores, and many specialists are not tracked by NPD.

JL Audio said its sales are up by double digits over 2009. Memphis and another leading amplifier/speaker company each said their sales were down by single digits.

Mark Miller of Westminster Speed and Sound in Westminster, MD claims, “More and more of the amp and speaker business is going to the specialists…[many of whom] are not reporting to NPD. I think in that category sales are flat. I ran my numbers with JL …and I’m up with JL by 10 percent. My Kenwood business is growing…I think it’s down in the big boxes.”

Miller challenged us to run a poll on the 12vinsider bulletin board asking car stereo specialists how amps and subs are selling. We got a half dozen responses who claimed sales were mainly flat or slightly down, but some stores were up considerably. Not exactly scientific, but it appears specialists may be seeing slimmer declines in the segment.

Source: CEoutlook

Photo: JL Audio car amplifier

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hhgregg has all but pulled out of the car audio category, as the 157-store Indianapolis chain continues its rapid expansion to over 170 locations.

A spokesman noted that the company still sells some 12-volt SKUs and is still “very active in GPS.”

A visit to hhgregg.com shows only 2 car audio SKUs: a Kenwood powered tube subwoofer and a Kenwood CD receiver/speaker package. A call to several store locations also revealed only a couple of products stocked at each store.

The chain decided to decrease its presence in car audio when it began expanding storefronts, as the cost of 12-volt display boards in each new store could not be justified by sales in car electronics, said a source close to hhgregg. Additionally, the chain stopped installing car electronics about 2 years ago, and the category was difficult to support without installation, he added.

When asked which products replaced car electronics, the hhgregg spokesman noted that the chain has recently increased its notebook and laptop computer selection. It also entered the video game category 2 years ago and is now rolling out Verizon Wireless kiosks to the stores.

In its fiscal 2010, the chain opened 21 net new stores and plans to open 40 to 45 in fiscal 2011. The $1.5 billion retailer operates stores in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

Source: CEoutlook

Mobile DTV receivers are now free to go on sale, legally that is, as the FCC just gave them clearance.

On July 15, the FCC announced it is waiving an old law (the All Channel Receiver Act of 1962) which required that all TVs include an analog tuner. As Mobile DTV portable and car products are all digital, some were shipping or about to ship while in a gray area of the law.

Dell and LG electronics as well as Hauppauge Computer Works filed petitions with the FCC this spring on behalf of all suppliers to waive the old law.

The FCC found that a waiver would be in the public interest but said suppliers must clearly disclose to consumers that Mobile DTV devices do not have the ability to receive analog signals.

The FCC alerted industry members early this year that Mobile DTV products were actually in violation of the All Channel Receiver Act leading to the petitions for a waiver.

Now the biggest hurdle for Mobile DTV appears to be the number of broadcasters airing in the new technology. Only about 40 to 45 were live with the service in June, but the number is expected to exceed 100 before the end of the year, and many receivers (portable and car) are expected to hit the market for the holidays.

Mobile DTV allows free TV reception in a mobile device or in a fast moving vehicle.

Source: FCC

The 2011 Ford Edge heading to dealers in fall will be the first car to include iTunes Tagging in an HD Radio factory receiver. So Ford is teaming up with HD Radio developer iBiquity to offer an 11-week radio campaign to promote HD Radio.

The 30-second radio spots will run from July 13 through September 26 in the top 100 U.S. markets. The ads will promote both iTunes Tagging and the extra HD2/HD3 HD Radio channels plus HD Radio’s better sound quality over standard radio.

Source: Ford and iBiquity

The 2011 Ford Edge heading to dealers in fall will be the first car to include iTunes Tagging in an HD Radio factory receiver. So Ford is teaming up with HD Radio developer iBiquity to offer an 11-week radio campaign to promote HD Radio.

The 30-second radio spots will run from July 13 through September 26 in the top 100 U.S. markets. The ads will promote both iTunes Tagging and the extra HD2/HD3 HD Radio channels plus HD Radio’s better sound quality over standard radio.

Source: Ford and iBiquity

Ford just announced voice recognition will be the Sync radio’s primary user interface going forward. Let that “sink” in for a minute.

The car maker has improved the ability of its Sync (now MyFord and MyFord Touch) radios to recognize 10,000 voice commands compared to the earlier 100. It can now switch modes by voice (eg. from Sirius to AM/FM), find channels by voice, do point-of-interest searches and input addresses by voice. It also lets users state commands in a more natural way. They can ask to “Call John Smith,” “Find ice cream” and “Add a phone” to pair a phone. (See video below) They can also adjust the temperature controls by voice.

“Ford is committed to making voice recognition the primary user interface inside of the car because it allows drivers to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel,” said Jim Buczkowski, a Ford director.

Ford added more processing power to the Sync. Now, after the driver issues his first 3 commands, the system learns his voice traits and sets up a user profile to adapt to his dialect, tone, etc. This improves voice recognition by 50 percent, Ford says.

Also Sync now “speaks back” in a more “human” and less computerized voice.

Ford believes voice will overtake touch input in general. Smartphones are expected to be the main way we connect to the Internet by 2015 and so smartphones themselves will start using more voice recognition, said Ford, citing analysts.

Also, 60 percent of Sync owners use their voice controls while driving, said Ford. The market for speech recognition in vehicles will about triple from 2009 to 2014, from $64 to $208 million, say Ford citing Datamonitor research.

In terms of driver safety, a 100-car study by Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that the driver looking away from the road for more than a few seconds is a factor in nearly 80 percent of accidents.

The new MyFord Touch system with improved voice recognition launches this year with the 2011 Ford Edge.

Source: Ford

Photo: 2011 Ford Edge via Car and Driver

Pioneer’s Car Electronics has recently launched a new micro-site especially made to show off photos and video from their fourth annual Pioneer Sound Build-Off competition held in La Quinta, Calif.

Cartronics of Santa Rosa, CA took home the grand prize of $10,000 and the esteemed title of 2010 Pioneer Sound Build-Off Champion over 11 other top car audio and electronics installers from across the nation who utilized Pioneer’s reference quality Stage 4 car audio components devoted to the pure reproduction of sound. Check out all the info at soundbuildoff.pioneerelectronics.com/home.