CTIA 2008 Wrap-Up
4/29/08

After a very successful showing at the 41st Annual Consumer Electronics Show, Superior Communications returned to Las Vegas for CTIA Wireless 2008. The wireless industry’s annual event draws over 40,000 attendees in search of the latest products and innovations from more than 1,200 exhibitors hailing from 125 countries around the world. CTIA is truly a global marketplace for the wireless industry and only the best of the best were on display.

The ZIP Lounge, which proved so successful at CES, was a hit at CTIA as it provided attendees with plush sofas, cocktails and a brief bit of R&R as they chatted with sales reps about the latest in mobile phone trends and accessories. As an added bonus, ZIP lounge sponsors RIM, SanDisk and iGo provided customers who attended meetings with a gift bag or product samples.

Whether our customers were looking for the next big thing in mobile accessories or just a place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the show floor, Superior’s CTIA booth brought it all. This year is certain to be an exciting period for Superior and our customers as we continue to build upon our past innovations and services.

CTIA Product Highlights
As always, we featured some of the most innovative mobile products on the market today, which included the following:

• Two diamond-encrusted phone cases made exclusively by Case-Mate for the BlackBerry® Curve™. Valued at approximately $3,000 apiece, these ultra-exclusive cases with stylized initial letters and zodiac sign were a hit at CTIA and will be made available in more affordable cubic zirconium on their website (www.case-mate.com).


• A selection of Nokia’s newest Bluetooth® enabled stereo products for the music lover in all of us. The MD-7W and MD-6 portable Bluetooth speakers emit high-quality stereo sound in a compact size, along with two of the industries best quality stereo headsets: Nokia’s BH-503 and BH-604, which offer comfortable designs coupled with exceptional sound.;


• The BlackBerry Audio Gateway which wirelessly connects to any stereo Bluetooth enabled phone, PC or MP3 player and streams music to your home entertainment system, car stereo or external speakers via a 3.5mm jack.


• SanDisk’s newest member of the SD card family: The microSD High Capacity (microSDHC) 8GB flash card. Included as a bonus was SanDisk’s new MobileMate™ Micro Reader (SDHC compatible), which provides users with a complete and versatile solution for transferring music, video, photos and other files between their mobile devices and computers.


• Superior’s exclusive music player, Phoneo™, which offers consumers the freedom to talk, charge, sync and grove with any Bluetooth capable handset. The Phoneo was recently shown on NBCs TODAY show as part of a segment emphasizing hot Bluetooth products.

With handsfree driving laws going into effect, portable car products were one of the more popular accessories at this year’s CTIA. We featured several handsfree driving accessory options, including:

MOTOROKR T505 Car Kit, which lets you take and make calls handsfree while listening to your music with features like echo/noise reduction and Audio CallerID.

Booth and ZIP Lounge
Our unique lounge themed booth, designed by Trillium Creations Inc., was a hit with show attendees as well as ex-presidential candidates and former US Senators John Edwards and Fred Thompson. As keynote speakers at this year’s CTIA, both Edwards and Thompson toured the show floor and paid a brief visit to our booth for an up close look at some of the wireless products that have revolutionized the way we communicate, do business and obtain information.

Research gathered by our marketing team regarding consumer purchase habits (broken down according to zip code) was a key highlight at our booth. As the only accessory distributor and manufacturer with primary data on consumer wireless accessory purchases and consumption behavior, we’re able to determine which retail stores or channels should be a key focus when it comes to accessory sales, product launches, appropriate product mix by store, training, etc. The data has led to the development of segments, which represent homogenous consumer groups in terms of accessory needs, expectations and purchase behavior. With this research, we can also identify which locations have the greatest demand potential for wireless accessories — for each major wireless product category.

CTIA 2008 proved to be a great success with the wireless industry poised to play a significant role in the daily lives of consumers. As always, Superior is here to help you align your accessory strategy with your existing overall customer and retail direction.