On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

The W. European CE market registers a "significant deterioration" as it declines by -11.3% Y-o-Y in H1 2011, according to GfK Retail and Technology.

The analyst attributes the decline to a lack of stimulus from major sporting events, analog TV shutdown pushing purchases forward, and the economic crisis within the Eurozone unsettling customers.

TV sales in W. Europe decline by -14% Y-o-Y, as innovations such as HDTV, 3DTV and IPTV fail to stimulate customer spending-- even if customers appear to be "prepared to dig a little deeper in their pockets" for such products.

LED TVs prove to be popular-- taking over 56% of the LCD TV segment in H2 2011, while 32" remains the most popular category with 28% market share.

GfK forecasts W. European TV unit sales to total 39M for 2011-- with 6.4M 3DTV unit sales.

DVD and Blu-ray player sales remain in decline, falling by over -40% in some countries (including Spain).

However the Blu-ray player segment sees a 20% Y-o-Y increase, reaching 1.5M units, with 3D-capable Blu-ray players making around 34% of the segment.

The camcorder market declines by -12% Y-o-Y in H1 2011, with unit sales totaling 1.7M. Revenues are also down, falling by -21% Y-o-Y to around €400M.

The only European country registering an increase in camcorder sales is the UK (with 8% Y-o-Y growth), even if revenues are still down by -20% due to lower average prices.

Hifi and home theatre products only see growth in German, with sales increasing by 4.6% Y-o-Y-- with negative performances in the rest of Europe.

Meanwhile GfK describes fully equipped audio systems as a growth segment-- including those with integrated MP3 player docks, internet radio and surround sound products.

The loudspeaker segment declines by -8% in terms of sales value, while sound bar sales increase by 25% Y-o-Y.

Portable audio devices appear to be in competition with smartphones and mobile phones-- with spending falling by -17%.

The in-car electronics segment (covering both navigation devices and in-car radios) also deteriorates-- with sales declining by -14% in W. Europe. However, in-car radio sales might get a boost with DAB+ and internet radio-capable devices.

Navigation devices with 5" screens achieve "dynamic growth" according to GfK, while internet-capable devices also show promise.

GfK concludes by forecasting a "perceptible recovery" for the rest of the year, thanks to the mentioned potential growth segments-- HDTV, IPTV, 3DTV, Blu-ray players, audio home systems (with MP3 player docks) and internet-capable portable navigation devices.

Go Challenging Climate for CE (GfK)

SanDisk announces SATA DEVLSLP-- an new SATA-IO standard proposal lowering current SATA SSD power consumptions.

Joining SanDisk are a number of industry leaders, including Intel, Samsung and Microsoft.

Some current best-in-class SSDs already have low power consumptions of around 50mW-- with SATA DEVSLP, SSDs should remain in a simlar low power state "the majority of the time".

SanDisk has even lower targets for the standard-- as low as 5mW.

Such low power consumptions should be good news for future mobile devices, including tablets and the Ultrabooks.

Sandisk will be the first to implement SATA DEVSLIP in SSDs, of course.

Go SanDisk Announces SATA DEVSLP

Libratone showcases its wireless Apple Airplay-based speakers at IFA 2011-- the Libratone Live and Lounge.

The Live works with iOS devices and Mac/PC and has 150W output, x5 dedicated amplifiers and advanced digital signal processing.

Meanwhile the Lounge is "designed for the living room," and is ideal for use with TVs and wireless audio streaming from iOS devices and Mac/PC.

It carries x5 dedicated amps which Libratone says are based on technology seen in more expensive systems, with output of up to 150W.

Both speakers use Libratone's patented FullRoom technology-- creating a 360-degree sound effect by using the tweeters and midrange driverse to disperse sound in all directions and reflecting it off walls.

Libraton says the soundscape expands at a distance, while the listener remains in the "sweet spot" wherever they are in the room.

Also available is the Libratone app, allowing users to customise their FullRoom experience by inputting information on the placement of the sound system. By using the AUX connection, the app also acts as a volume control remote.

Go Libratone Showcases Live and Lounge at IFA 2011

Google buys 1023 patents from IBM in a bid to bolster "its strategy of defending against smartphone lawsuits", according to Bloomberg.

Confirming the patent sale are records from the US patent and Trademark Office website.

This is hardly the first time Google buys patents-- last July Google bought 1030 other patents from IBM, while recent acquisition Motorola provides more than 17000 patents.

Android is open source and depends on a number of features not created by Google itself-- resulting in a system vulnerable to lawsuits.

HTC, Samsung and Motorola are all going through lawsuits by Apple while Microsoft and Motorola exchange patent-infringement allegations, as vendors appear to prefer settling their differences in patents courts-- rather than the market.

Go Google Buys 1023 IBM Patents (Bloomberg)

Go US Patent and Trademark Office Records