Futuresource Consulting’s annual Audio Collaborative summit hosted a packed room of AV and smart home professionals last week, drawing experts from engineering, manufacturing, integration and retail.
Held at London’s Soho Hotel, the 12th edition of the event sold out with 100 attendees and underscored the industry’s appetite for clear direction in an increasingly complex audio landscape.
Sponsored by HARMAN and Qualcomm, the programme blended data-led market analysis with six panel discussions featuring leading manufacturers including DALI and Monitor Audio.
Carl Hibbert, director of research at Futuresource, said: “Audio Collaborative is about so much more than uncovering audio trends. It’s the place where commercial strategy and cultural context collide.”
For the residential and custom install markets, several themes stood out: the shift in sales channels as consumers demand more integrated experiences; the continued rise of mass-premium audio products; and growing awareness of hearing health as a design consideration.
Emerging trends also pointed to a renewed focus on tactile design and an industry moving toward artful slowdown rather than fast consumption.
Futuresource Consulting provides global market intelligence across the technology and media sectors, with research spanning devices, platforms and ecosystem behaviours across all major regions.