Furniture plays key role in CE explosion

As we put together this issue of your new favorite supplement to Furniture/Today, it's encouraging to note that furniture is playing a strong role on both fronts of the Fusion phenomenon. The small office/home office side has been solid and reliable in recent days, and entertainment has been rockin'

For now, though, we will resist our inner voice and instead will talk about the opportunities that appear to be near. And with the Consumer Electronics Show just concluded in Las Vegas, we admit that we're more than a little bedazzled. Without getting too technical, we have to say that this stuff just keeps getting brighter, sharper, louder, smarter and more impressive.

2004 was a banner year for consumer electronics, with American consumers buying $108 billion worth of televisions, computers, cameras, MP3 players and assorted other toys and tools. For 2005, the home electronics industry is projecting a 7% sales gain, which represents a much larger unit increase because of anticipated price drops on key items such as plasma TVs.

Of course, this bodes well for both office and entertainment furniture, which will certainly play a role in the increasingly digital home. More than anything, digital information displayed, used and enjoyed throughout the home seems to be the dominant trend at CES. While the boundaries of our electronics are less and less limited thanks to WiFi and Bluetooth, we also have much more gear today than we ever did before.

The various boxes are piling up in my office and den, and unless I figure out how to keep them organized, they are less and less useful.

That's the indispensable role for furniture, the reason why this boom in consumer electronics is going to drive two of the healthiest furniture categories. As long as furniture can help people make the most of their beeping, blinking gizmos, entertainment and office furniture should whir right along.

From this plugged-in perspective, the future for Fusion furniture remains strong as long as electronics maintains its dominant share of the collective consumer imagination. We recommend that furniture folk do everything in their power to add value and enjoy the ride.