…the falling cost of components, crowd-funding, inexpensive manufacturing, and the ability to piggyback off mobile platforms such as smartphones to create a low-cost device. The combination of these and other forces is creating a hardware startup frenzy that is transforming the influential trade show, long dominated by tech titans.
It is also providing some badly needed adrenaline and hope to a troubled consumer electronics industry that has seen growth stall and finds itself facing a projected drop in sales this year.
“It’s definitely easier to build these types of things,” Vu said. “Crowd-funding has really changed things. And now, people are wide open to buying things that don’t come with a big brand name. It’s a great time to be in this space.”
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