THE DIGITAL CONNECTION iNSIDe THIS ISSUE LEARN ABOUT UNIVERSAL ELECTRONICS’ STRONG 2008 PERFORMANCE, NEW PRODUCT LAUNCHES, ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, INDUSTRY 08 HONORS, FURTHER EXPANSION INTO ASIA, AND ABOVE ALL, ITS BRIGHT FUTURE. ics W roN T N revie iversal elec uN 2008 year i ISSUE 1 VOLUME 1 04/09 IN THE WORLD OF WIRELESS CONTROL, UNIVERSAL ELECTRONICS INC. CONTINUES TO MAKE INDUSTRY NEWS. IN 2008, UEI EXPANDED ITS FOOTPRINT IN ASIA AND SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED XSIGHT™, ITS NEXT GENERATION UNIVERSAL REMOTE LINE. IN THE CONSUMER SEGMENT, UEI PARTNERED WITH AUDIOVOX ACCESSORIES CORPORATION TO HELP MARKET THE ONE FOR ALL® BRAND IN NORTH AMERICA. IN THE BUSINESS SEGMENT, UEI EXTENDED ITS REACH AND BUSINESS GROWTH WITH CUSTOMERS SUCH AS ONKYO CORPORATION, DENON, DIRECTV® AND OTHERS WHOSE RELIANCE ON UEI’S PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS GREW IN 2008. IN ADDITION, UEI INTRODUCED THE NEVOS70—A DUAL RF, CUTTING EDGE ADDITION TO THE AWARD-WINNING NEVO® FAMILY OF UNIVERSAL REMOTES. THESE AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT EVENTS CONTRIBUTED TO UEI’s 11TH INSIDE STRAIGHT YEAR OF PROFITABILITY. GOOD NEWS, INDEED. The DigiTal home NexT geNeraTioN global TreND WaTch oems aND subscriPTioN Tech KNoWleDge With The FuTure is iN Play 02 Today’s digital home 04 ProDucTs aND 06 UEI continues to 08 broaDcasT Continued 10 over 400 employees 12 UEI embraces the is filled with new electronic TechNology UEI is a world expand opportunities advances in technologies worldwide and decades new technologies and devices that need control. leader in innovative solu- world-wide in all and approaches deliver of experience, UEI is an approaches that will be tions for wireless control. business areas. simple, powerful products. expert at building the right tomorrow’s standards. solutions. 02 03 TO THE DIGITAL HOME 2006 2013 DVR/PVR 2007 2013 iPTv 2008 2012 hDTv 32000 2008 The number DVR/PVR shipments world- Subscribers were estimated Homes with HDTV totaled of householdsX equipped to wide in 2006 totaled 20 million to be 11 million strong in 2007. 36 million worldwide at the receive digital TV broadcasts units. The number is expected Strong growth is forecast to end of 2008. There will be globally has tripled in the period to grow to 94 million by 2013.* continue through 2013 and nearly 200 million direct to from 2000 to 2008, arriving at reach 57 million subscribers home pay-TV subscribers 380 million or 25% of total globally. Asia Pacific will worldwide by 2012.*** TV households. contribute 22.2 million of BROADBAND TV NEWS global total.** The future is already here, millioN millioN millioN some say. So is the digital uNiTs subscribers hdtv homes home. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, the aver- age American household contains as many as 25 digital devices: televisions, digital recorders, Blu-ray players, PCs and Macs, 200 radios, lighting systems, 9457 telephones, automated blinds, MP3 players, stereo and audio equipment, Home Theaters, and game systems to name a few. In many instances, these convenient devices come with a different hand-held remote control. Consumers have had to juggle multiple remotes just to watch a movie because no 20 11 36 single remote control could communicate with all of the digital devices in the home. Enter Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI) UEI is the global leader in wireless control technology for the connected home. UEI designs, develops, and delivers innovative solutions that enable consumers to control their entertainment devices, digital media, and home systems. In brief, UEI enables consumers around the world to control their digital surroundings with a single remote control. UEI offers simple ways to unify digital devices and remotes in a common network, lan- guage and interface, whether it’s infrared (IR) or radio fre- quency (RF). Simply stated, UEI puts the “connected” in the digital home. WELCOME To THE DIGITAL HOME. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKe To Do ToDAY WiTh oNe SIMPLE REMOTe? LISTeN To MUSIC, WaTCH hDTv, eNJOY a MOVIE oN BLU-RAY DISC. CONTROL YOUR LIGHTiNg, WiNDoW SHADES, aND HVAC. THE PoWER To Do ALL oF THIS aND MORE FiTs COMFORTABLLY iN THE PALM oF YOUR HAND WiTh oNe oF THE MANy uNIVERSAL REMOTe CONTROLS FROM UEI. * ABI Research, Consumer ** Informa Telecoms and Media; *** IN-Stat, Worldwide HDTV ELECTRONICS MARKET DATA, IPTV: A GLOBAL ANALYSIS Households:36 Million and 2008 2008 GROWING, DEC 2008 04 05 UEI ECO InTrODUCIng ThE fIrsT ECO-frIEnDly UnIvErsAl rEmote COnTrOl That hElps COnsErvE EnErgy UsAgE In ThE hOmE. UEI’S NEW “GREEN” REMOTE LETS YOU CONTROL UP TO FOUR DEVICES AND YOUR POWER PLUG AT THE SAME TIME. ONE CLICK TURNS OFF YOUR ENTIRE HOME THEATER MAKING YOUR HOME SYSTEM MORE ENERGY EFFICIENT. UEI AIMS NEW REMOTES AT THE COMPETITION aT UEI, We THRIVE oN iNNOVATIVE THINKiNg. iT DRIVES OUR BUSINESS aND HELPs US sTAY oN THE CUTTiNg eDGE oF THE iNDUSTRY. THROUGH OUR TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCTs aND DESIGNs, UEI HELD 148 PaTeNTs aT THE eND oF 2008. a LEADER iN uNIVERSAL REMOTe CONTROL iNTELLECTUAL PROPERTy, UEI CONTiNUES To SEEK NeW aND iNNOVATIVE SOLUTIONs iN CONTROL TECHNOLOGY aND SOFTWARE. QuickSet™ application and XMP- users online access, and even You can program it to interact with 2™ technology, facilitates two-way showing full motion video from web sites to display web-based infrared communication between connected IP cameras. browsing technologies such as the remote and a digital device, UEI’s expertise in bidirectional RF HTML and Flash. And you can view such as a flat-screen HDTV or technologies enables the NevoS70 it all on the NevoS70 hi-resolution Advanced Wireless set-top box. The setup informa- to take full advantage of Z-Wave® color touch screen. tion and function codes are easily Control Technology technology, improving range and By connecting NevoS70 to a home transferred between the device increasing reliability of signal trans- network via Wi-Fi®, users can and remote, resulting in one of the missions. This RF capability allows check the latest news and sports UEI designs, develops, and deliv- world’s simplest setup experiences the controller, in conjunction with on their NevoS70 screen while ers innovative and complete home developed to date. A few simple the base station, to transmit to hid- watching TV without interruption. solutions that enable consumers steps and then simply aim the den equipment behind walls, inside NevoS70 also enhances the Home to control all the digital devices in remote, and UEI’s technology does cabinets, or even outside. Theater experience, with access to their home environment. A sig- the rest. With the industry’s most renowned entertainment information, online nificant reason consumers are A new star is born database of IR function codes and TV guides, sports updates, movie attracted to UEI’s products is the Introduced in 2008, the NevoS70 a brilliant 3.5-inch color touch tickets, and much more. focus on simplified setup and ease has quickly become the flagship of screen, NevoS70 offers a wider Keeping the pipeline full of use. UEI continues to invest in the Nevo line of advanced control- array of features than any remote in Investing in R&D has been key research and design to implement lers for the custom electronics its class. And thanks to its Z-Wave to UEI’s sustained success in the new technology and software to industry. It provides consumers with bidirectional RF wireless communi- marketplace. By leveraging exper- improve and simplify the process a single control point to manage cation, there are virtually no line-of- tise in IR and RF transmission, UEI even further. virtually all of their home entertain- sight issues. What’s more, NevoS70 maintains a solid product pipeline Enhancing the user experience ment and automation equipment, can interact with web servers via for the short term while continuing UEI’s advanced technology, aptly providing access to digital content widely adopted technologies to to develop and patent products and demonstrated by the new tru2way™ on a home media server; giving provide a richer user experience. technologies for the future. AwarD WinniNg innovaTioN Xsight can be set up in minutes UEI knows its way around the competition. In ™ with no need for instruction manuals 2008, we launched two new remotes: Xsight , through the intuitive menu on its a winning combination of simplicity, advanced ™ 2” color display. It controls up to features, and modern design, and EZ-RC , 18 devices an online consumer friendly remote person- alization software. Both are simple to install Dolphin, UEI’s next generation sub- and use. The unique solutions that Xsight and scription remote, translates all hand EZ-RC bring are sure to help UEI build a strong movements into on-screen cursor UEI products and technology position in the consumer retail aftermarket. have been honored with movements, making navigation Xsight is a perfect fit for today’s modern Home NUMEROUS AWARDS WORLDWIDE. simply intuitive. Theater and the EZ-RC application is as easy to use as browsing the web. 06 07 WHAT’s PLAYINg ToNIGHT? NoT everyThiNg rises and Falls WiTh The ecoNomy. TaKe DigiTal enterTaiNment, For iNsTaNce. The caTegory contiNues iTs sTroNg upwarD growth. And research indicaTes ThaT coNsumers are saviNg moNey by sTayiNg home more To enjoy iT—curliNg uP WiTh PoPcorN and Their remoTe. UEI Office Market Opportunity Business Growth over 250 millioN PeoPle Touch our TechNology every WeeK UEI exPands iTs Footprint across 6 contiNents UEI PeNeTraTes DeePer into global marKeTs Watching television has become a global even further into Asia for both the subscription ever growing need for universal remote controls UEI maintains a leadership position in wire- 88 million in 2000. The number of television In-Stat, projects the number of global DTH pay activity. In fact, today, there are more than broadcast and OEM markets.