Your browser is out-of-date!

Update your browser to view this website correctly. Update my browser now

×

TWICE Slates CTIA Panel On Wearables

Las Vegas – TWICE will moderate a panel on the wearables market during CTIA’s Super Mobility Week.

TWICE senior editor Joseph Palenchar will moderate the panel, which includes Eddie Hold, VP of The NPD Group’s Connected Intelligence practice; TJ Dailey, national product manager for the Cellular Connection wireless-specialty chain; and Steven Leeds, director of marketing for TigerDirect’s retail and online operations.

The panel is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 10, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the Connected Life Stage in the Sands convention center.

The panelists will focus on the outlook for wearable CE in the fourth quarter and beyond.

Wearable computers are an eclectic group of products that include smart watches, fitness bands, kid-tracking GPS/cellphone watches, sports-training sensors, smart watches, running watches and action cams. Participants will discuss such topics as which types of wearables will prove the most popular in the fourth quarter, how the products are being merchandised, what will accelerate future growth, challenges faced, and whether some types of wearables will merge with others in the way that MP3 players merged with cellphones.

The retail panelists will also outline their approach to merchandising the products.

Leeds joined TigerDirect parent Systemax in 2012 with a focus on consolidating the company’s CompUSA and Circuit City brands under the TigerDirect name. His team is responsible for all social media, sports and event marketing, branding, and public relations for TigerDirect.

TigerDirect was the 16th largest CE retailer in TWICE’s Top 100 for 2013 with $1.19 billion in sales though brick-and-mortar stores, websites and catalogs. Products include computers, peripherals, AV products and accessories. The company is also building up its home-automation presence, and it’s expanding is customer base beyond tech enthusiasts and small- to medium-size businesses by adding furniture, home fashions and other products to its mix.

The Cellular Connection’s Dailey is responsible for researching, reviewing and testing accessories, coordinating the distribution of accessories to stores, spearheading product training for sales staff, and overseeing development of in-store product merchandising.

The chain’s accessory division increased sales in two years by 70 percent.

The Cellular Connection is a Verizon Premier retailer that operates 300 stores and franchises another 300. The chain is adding home-automation and wearables to its product assortment.

The NPD Group’s Hold manages NPD’s Connected Intelligence team and maintains the group’s direction and creation of content. He also works closely with clients to help shape their strategies within the connected ecosystem.

Hold has been analyzing the connected mobile market – phones and connected devices – since the mid-1990s across Europe and the U.S. He is an expert in the consumer adoption of, demand for, wearable technology and services.

Before joining NPD in 2010, Eddie was an executive at Current Analysis, where he launched and managed the company’s global consumer analyst services, including service and device coverage.

Featured

Close