The Wireless Speaker & Audio Association (WiSA) is experiencing good growth. The group's mission is to advance the adoption of wireless high-resolution, multichannel audio, and we first highlighted those efforts back in February in our story Will the Wireless Home Theater System Ever Become a Reality? WiSA now reports that the group has grown more than 50 percent since January and has over 30 member companies, with more additions to be announced in the next few weeks.
From WiSA
The Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA®) Association, an industry group dedicated to bringing high-resolution, wireless, multi-channel audio products to the home theater market, continues its fast growth with the addition of six new members. Joining the Association to advance its mission is: Claridy Audio, a full-service OEM and ODM for digital audio electronics, wireless, amplification, and complete acoustical system design, Elytone Electronic Co., Ltd., a leading OEM and ODM for audio products, Enclave Wireless Audio builds wireless audio products, Fostex, a manufacturer of consumer and professional audio products is a division of Foster, a large OEM speaker maker, Innovo Concepts, Inc., an innovative product design company, and Monitor Audio, a global specialist in speaker design. The Association has grown more than 50 percent since January of 2014 and now has 30 member companies. Additional member announcements are expected in the coming days.
According to Raiyska Iyer, Market Research Analyst for Futuresource Consulting, home audio represents an enormous opportunity for manufacturers and retailers with wireless speakers and soundbars growing at 181% and 81% annually. To date, wireless audio solutions have been limited to only a stereo experience, the key advantage of WiSA-compliant components is that it is the first solution to offer high-resolution audio from 2.0 to 7.4 channels. And, WiSA-compliant systems are fully interoperable, allowing the consumer the convenience and freedom-of-choice to mix and match components from different manufacturers.
"The surge in membership and the adoption of WiSA-compliant products is a reflection of the Association's category leading wireless audio solution," said Tom Lee, president of the WiSA Association. "WiSA members are able to deliver what consumers want, a full multi-channel, wireless home theater experience. The interference-free, wireless high-resolution audio products are easy to set up and interoperate with other compliant CE devices like HDTVs, set-top-boxes, gaming devices and more."
About the WiSA Association:
Established in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the Wireless Speaker & Audio (WiSA) Association is an industry group dedicated to bringing the industry's only fully interoperable, high-resolution, multi-channel wireless audio capability to consumer and professional products. The Association is responsible for developing technical specifications, performing interoperability compliance testing of WiSA-certified products, supporting members with marketing campaigns and promoting the broad adoption of WiSA product interoperability. For more information about the WiSA Association, visit www.wisaassociation.org.
Additional Resources
• Will the Wireless Home Theater System Ever Become a Reality? at HomeTheaterReview.com.
• New Wireless, Lossless Audio System From Sharp at HomeTheaterReview.com.