Topic: high-tech news

I’m now on the ground in Las Vegas, and in part, I’ll be checking in on more than 20 Utah-based companies that are going to be exhibiting their products and services to the more than 100,000 people from around the world that will attend this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show.

Among the Utah-based firms I’ve been able to identify as “official” exhibitors at this year’s CES are the following:

• Alpine Innovation,
• CardAccess,
• Clearplay,
• Control4,
• Empire Brands,
• EZGear,
• Goal0,
• Great Recovery,
• Heatshrink.com,
• iFrogz,
• Isis Dei,
• IsoMike,
• Jaybird Gear,
• Kimber Kable,
• NLU Products,
• RBH Sound,
• Reverse Logic Associates,
• Saygus,
• Skullcandy,
• Wattgate,
• WBT-USA,
• Wilson Electronics, and
• ZAGG.

Look for a follow-up report on CES 2010 later on this week.

The latest rankings of the fastest-growing firms in Utah is out, and once again technology firms dominate the annual listing.

Produced by the MountainWest Capital Network (MWCN), the Utah 100is designed to identify and recognize the fastest-growing companies in the state (based upon percentage revenue growth). Inaugurated 15 years ago by the MWCN (then known as the MountainWest Venture Group), the Utah 100 is arguably now the most prestigious business award program held in the state.

[Disclosure: I was a board member of the MWVG when the Utah 100 was first conceived and launched; additionally, Politis Communications is a past Utah 100 honoree.]

The 2009 Utah 100 honorees were selected from thousands of eligible companies throughout the state and were ranked/judged based upon their percentage growth between 2004 and 2008, with a minimum of $50,000 in revenue in 2004. [NOTE: The MWCN does NOT validate/confirm the figures submitted by companies.]

As in years past, companies in the high-tech and life sciences industries dominated the Utah 100 honoree listing, with 53 garnering a slot in this year’s list (assuming my math is correct). Enclosed below is a breakout of the companies I consider to be tech firms on the 2009 Utah 100 list.

These companies are listed as following: Ranking first, followed by company name, city where located, URL (if one exists), and if the company has been in the Utah 100 ranking more than one time, I include the number of years inside of parentheses following the company Web address. Hence, a multi-year winning company based in Hyrum, Utah would appear as follows: 25. CompanyName, Hyrum, www.companyname.com (3)

Here, then, is the list.

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2.   Skullcandy, Park City, www.skullcandy.com (3)

4.   VMI Nutrition, Salt Lake City (SLC), www.vminutrition.com

5.   Interbank FX, SLC, www.ibfx.com (4)

6.   Revinetix, SLC, www.revinetix.com

7.   SwarmBuilder, SLC, www.swarmbuilder.com

9.   Cymphonix, Sandy, www.cymphonix.com (2)

10. Wasatch Software, Taylorsville, www.wasatchsoftware.com

11. Property Solutions International, Provo, www.propertysolutions.com

12. Access Technology Solutions, Provo, www.accessts.com (2)

14. Matrix Communications, American Fork, www.utmatrix.com

15. CLEARLINK Technologies, SLC, www.clear-link.com (3)

16. ATMequipment.com, Kaysville, www.atmequipment.com

17. Omniture, Orem, www.omniture.com (8)

18. SkinCareRx, SLC, www.skincarerx.com (2)

19. Integratechs, American Fork, www.integratechs.com

22. Fishbowl, Orem, www.fishbowlinventory.com (3)

23. Spring2 Technologies, Sandy, www.spring2.com (4)

24. Mindshare Technologies, SLC, www.mshare.net (2)

25. Burstabit Media, Lehi, www.burstabit.com

26. SolutionStream, American Fork, www.solutionstream.com

28. AdvancedMD Software, Draper, www.advancedmd.com (5)

29. Doba, Orem, www.doba.com (5)

30. eGlobal, Kaysville, www.eglobal.com

32. ContentWatch, SLC, www.contentwatch.com (2)

34. Airgun Depot, Draper, www.airgundepot.com & www.tacticalair.com

37. KnowledgeBlue, SLC, www.knowledgeblue.com

39. CardioRisk Laboratories, Sandy, www.cardiorisk.us

40. Myriad Genetics, SLC, www.myriad.com (5)

45. Spring Mobile, SLC, www.gospring.com (8)

47. Diamond Wireless, SLC, www.diamond-wireless.com (2)

48. HealthCare Insight, South Jordan, www.hcinsight.com (3)

52. Power Innovations International, Lindon, www.power-innovations.com (4)

55. New Dawn Technologies, Logan, www.newdawntech.com (3)

57. Digital Gateway, Provo, www.digitalgateway.com (3)

58. MasterControl.com, SLC, www.mastercontrol.com (2)

59. Parvus, SLC, www.parvus.com (2)

62. inthinc Technology Solutions, West Valley City, www.inthinc.com (8)

63. BC Technical, West Jordan, www.bctechnical.com

64. ServerPlus, Orem, www.serverplus.com (4)

66. School Improvement Network, Midvale, www.schoolimprovement.com

68. Coates Electrical and Instrumentation, Ogden, www.coateselectrical.com

71. Executech, South Jordan, www.helpwithcomputers.com

72. Software Technology Group, SLC, www.stgutah.com

75. Intermountain Electronics, Price, www.intermountainelectronics.com

76. Career Step, Provo, www.careerstep.com (9)

77. ACULIS, Provo, www.aculis.com (2)

78. GoEngineer, Cottonwood Heights, www.goengineer.com (7)

80. ExactWave, Provo, www.exactwave.com (5)

84. ProPay, Lehi, www.propay.com (5)

85. EM-Assist, SLC, www.em-assist.com (3)

91. Digital Technology International, Springville, www.dtint.com

93. MedQuest Solutions, North Salt Lake, www.medquestsolutions.com

96. Companion Systems, North Salt Lake, www.companionsystems.com (3)

In addition to the 53 technology companies listed as the fastest growing companies in the state (percentage wise), 12 other companies were named the Emerging Elite firms within the state. These organizations are 2 or more years old, but fewer than 5 years of operating history.

Within the Emerging Elite category, nine of these firms fit my definition of high-tech firms, including (in alphabetical order)

• Allegiance
• Aribex
• Infuse Medical
• OrangeSoda
• SEO.com
• Simply Mac
• ZAGG
• ZenPrint

Eric Schmidt, chairman and chief executive officer of Google, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Hall of Fame dinner of the Utah Technology Council.

Slated for Friday, October 23, 2009, this will mark the 11th year the UTC has held a Hall of Fame dinner to honor native Utahns and those with significant ties to Utah who have made major contributions to the advancement of technology and technological ventures. [NOTE: For several year's earlier in his career, Schmidt was chairman and CEO of Novell, then headquartered in Provo, Utah.]

A black tie affair, the Hall of Fame dinner is now Utah’s largest annual gathering in the high-tech industry, and this year’s event will be held in the Grand Ballroom of the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City.

For sponsorship and ticket information, please visit www.utahtech.org or contact Mark Lehnhof at 801-568-3500 or mark@utahtechcouncil.org.

It’s now nearly three weeks after the closing of the 2009 edition of the Consumer Electronics Show, and my senses have almost completely recovered from being overloaded by the barrage of sights, sounds and smells that accompany any trip to Las Vegas, let alone one to attend the largest technology trade show on earth.

Now that I’m back in the friendly confines and familiar surroundings of home and office along the Wasatch Front, it’s time to analyze where this CES09 fits in the overall scheme of things.

Going into CES09, show organizers predicted a nine percent drop in attendance to 130,000 from the 2008 show where more than 141,000 individuals were in attendance. Such a prediction was not surprising given the overall malaise afflicting the economy here in the United States and abroad.

After Day One of CES (rosy predictions from the Consumer Electronics Association notwithstanding), it was clear to this veteran of the tech trade show circuit that CES09 attendance was going to come nowhere near the predicted 130,000.

As I walked through both the Las Vegas and Sands Convention Centers, I found open islands of space where booths would have been housed at past shows, and the crowds (though dense at times) were never overwhelming or super-dense. Cab lines outside the convention halls were often non-existent. The same could also be said of both the restrooms and the food stands at both halls.

In other words, by Sunday, January 11, it was clear that predicted attendance figures were going to clearly miss the mark.

And in fact, when the CEA did release its preliminary estimates for CES09 attendance a week-ago Sunday, they pegged this year’s numbers at closer to 110,000 attendees. If borne out following the annual audit, this would mean a more than 22 percent drop in attendance on a year-over-year basis.

Surprising? Not really, given what I saw on the show floor.

Interestingly, some news reports suggest that CES may look to limit the maximum number of people at future shows to somewhere near the 100,000-person mark – the thinking being that this figure may be closer to the optimal amount of attendees for a major trade show, particularly if those in attendance are the right people. (Not that this suggestion doesn’t open a whole ‘nother can of worms of selecting the “right people,” but that’s an issue to consider for a different day and another column.)Regardless, I’m not convinced that the CES attendance drop off foretells gloom and doom, as what may be true for the economy as a whole may not be true for portions of the economy, whether such segments be geographic or industry-specific in nature.

Which begs the questions: How did Utah companies do at CES09? And how does 2009 look for Utah-based companies focused on the consumer electronics marketplace?

As I reported on UtahTechWatch.com on 1/1/09, 31 Utah-based companies were listed by CEA as formal exhibitors this January 8-11 at CES09, roughly the same number of companies from the state that exhibited at CES08.

Of these firms, perhaps no other company in Utah has created the recent impact in the consumer electronics (CE) space as generated by Draper-based Control4.

As it has for the past several years, Control4’s two-story booth held forth in its prominent position near the front of the South Hall in the LVCC at CES09, and even on the last day of the show, Control4 was still quite full of interested attendees.

According to Glen Mella, company president and COO, this nearly 200-person company has become the preeminent firm in the world in the residential controls marketplace, with more than 80,000 of its entertainment, lighting and temperature controllers now in homes worldwide.

Make no mistake about it: Control4 is definitely an international organization, with resellers in 24 countries (including the U.S. and Canada) and more than 1,400 dealers in North America alone.

In addition, Control4 also doubled the size of its partner pavilion across the aisle in the LVCC South Hall to 3,000-square feet and 24 total partners, including companies such as Black & Decker, LG and Panasonic.

And Control4 plans to boost its presence at CES 2010.

So how did Control4 do in 2008 in the midst of this global economic turmoil? Quite well, thank you, with total revenue up 40 percent in 2008 to more than $55 million.

Another company attracting a crowd at this year’s CES – as it always has at industry events – was Park City-based Skull Candy.

This year Skull Candy opted for a fun race track ambiance to its 2,500-square foot, lime green and black highlighted booth, with a six-car slot-car track set up at the front of the booth for ad hoc races between CES09 attendees.

With urban and rock music pumping in the background, Skull Candy created a fun vibe for show visitors as jump-suited booth babes easily invited wave after wave of would-be drivers to try their luck on the slot-car track.

Skull Candy used CES09 and its stock car motif to launch its new 2XL brand of headphones and ear buds, a product line targeted squarely at middle America instead of its Core line which targets the edgy, hip urban crowd.

Priced at $9.99 to $39.99, the 2XL products will be available later this year in mass market retailers such as Best Buy and Target.

According to company spokeswoman Jessica Gross, Skull Candy’s booth was not only the largest it’s ever had at CES, but CES09 was also a great show for the company.

“We had very good meetings (at CES09) with both buyers and potential buyers,” Gross said. “And 2XL was very well received, both by the media and attendees.”

CES09 marked only the second time Orem-based Isis Dei had exhibited at the Consumer Electronics Show.

But the maker of urban-styled protective carrying cases and messenger bags for notebook and netbook computers was so successful at CES08 that it returned in an even bigger way in 2009.

This year, Isis Dei recruited dancer Robert (“Mr. Fantastic”) Muraine of So You Think You Can Dance TV show fame to attract attendees to the booth by performing his world-famous “popper” dance routines at the show. And every time the music started banging and Robert started popping, a starstruck gathering formed quickly, clogging the aisles and overflowing into nearby booths.

“We’re now in virtually all college bookstores,” said Taylor Shupe, Isis Dei CEO and founder, “And it’s all because of coming to CES last year. And this year the attention’s been even higher for us.”

This January, Logan-based iFrogz doubled its space to a 20- X 20-foot booth at CES09 versus the previous year and moved from the Sands over to the LVCC.

Although known primarily for its cases and silicone-based protective wraps for iPods, iPhones and other multimedia players, iFrogz showcased its new EarPollution line of headphones and ear buds at CES09 – a product line focused on mass market retailers.

According to iFrogz’ President Scott Huskinson, the company’s expanded presence and EarPollution product line were well received at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, and the company is excited about its products for 2009 and beyond.

Interestingly, of all the Utah-based companies I spoke with and/or visited at CES09, only one expressed any reservations about its success at CES this year. But even this firm said it would be back for CES10, only next year it plans to participate in CES as a partner within a distributor’s booth rather than have its own standalone booth.

Am I suggesting that each Utah-based consumer electronics company will have a banner year in 2009? Of course not.

But my personal experience at CES09 also suggests that 2009 may not be the economic wasteland some experts are predicting either.

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DISCLOSURES: iFrogz is a previous client of Politis Communications. This blog post was originally published by The Enterprise (in Salt Lake City) on January 19, 2009.