Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo will give the opening...

Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo will give the opening keynote at CEDIA Expo Sept. 10-13 in Denver. Sony has continued to have a strong presence at CEDIA Expo with AV gear even as other major TV makers have avoided the custom electronics industry’s trade show in recent years amid a climate of shrinking margins and strained marketing budgets. Last year, LG held an event off-site to promote its latest 4K TVs and has had a presence both on the floor and off-site over the years, said John Taylor, LG vice president-public affairs. Taylor wouldn’t comment on LG’s CEDIA Expo plans for 2014 for competitive reasons but told us the upscale CEDIA consumer base is important to LG, “particularly with Ultra HD and OLED.” Samsung told us, “Due to the timing of our product announcements for 2014, Samsung will not attend this year’s CEDIA Expo.” A spokesman for Vizio told us the TV maker has held private meetings at CEDIA Expo in years past but wouldn’t discuss upcoming marketing plans for this year’s event, citing company policy. Panasonic, Samsung and Sharp have cut back from CEDIA Expo to varying degrees over recent years, with none of the three exhibiting in 2013. Panasonic and Sharp didn’t respond to queries about their CEDIA plans for 2014, but neither company is listed among the exhibitors at the CEDIA website. According to CEDIA, Sony was one of the “key manufacturers” that exhibited at the first expo in 1990 and “has played a pivotal role in the custom install industry since then.” In a prepared statement, Fasulo said the keynote at CEDIA Expo gives Sony the chance to “exclusively deliver information to home technology professionals” that will help them provide “the best home entertainment experience possible.”