Jim Sanduski, President of Sharp Home Electronics on The Future of Consumer Electronics

As the founder of a consumer technology PR agency, you can bet that I’m highly interested in the future of consumer electronics. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to speak with my guest on this week’s edition of the Unconventional Genius podcast: Jim Sanduski, President of Sharp Home Electronics Company of America. Jim has been working in the Consumer Electronics Industry for more than 25 years.

Before taking on his current role, he was an executive with a handful of companies you may have heard of: Sony, Samsung, HP, and Panasonic. Jim has experienced some of the industry’s most transformative developments, such as the evolution of television from watching analog signals on heavy CRT screens, to HDTV, to marveling at today’s 4K (and soon, 8K!) displays. He’s seen the transition from VHS to DVD to BluRay, and from renting videos in stores, to downloading, then streaming them on devices of all sizes.

I can’t think of anyone better qualified to speak to the possibilities for the future of consumer electronics than Jim. I invite you to join me for this interesting conversation.

The future of consumer electronics isn’t only about gadgets, it’s about appliances

Jim and the team at Sharp aren’t only working on the microwaves and TVs of the future, they are focused on one of the industry’s newest areas of advancement: the kitchen.

The kitchen is evolving from a collection of stand-alone appliances to a connected experience where those appliances “talk” to one another. App and software-enabled appliances will soon be doing everything from filling out your grocery list automatically by scanning the contents of your fridge to starting dinner while you’re on your way home.

Jim says, “That type of functionality is still in the early stages, but it's definitely the future (of consumer electronics) and is quickly evolving. Today we take the connected TV for granted and one day we will think the same way about our connected kitchens.”

If that kind of non-DIY approach to cooking sounds as good to you as it does to me, you’ll want to hear Jim’s forecast of where the connected kitchen is headed, so be sure to listen to our conversation.

Startups are going to play a pivotal role in the future of consumer electronics

The tech startup community is going to play a key role in Sharp’s ability to lead the pack in the race to build the connected kitchen, that's according to Sharp’s President, Jim Sanduski. His comment reminded me of my recent conversation with another Jim - Jim Stengel, author of the excellent new business book “Unleashing the Innovators: How Mature Companies Find New Life with Startups.” Stengel called it a playbook for established enterprises on how to use startups to change their cultures for the positives and avoid what he calls the “Innovator’s Dilemma.”

That’s exactly what Sharp is doing under Jim Sandusky’s leadership. For example, Sharp recently announced it is working with SideChef, a startup that has developed an award-winning cooking app that will create the mobile application and custom recipe content for all of Sharp's future internet-enabled cooking appliances. The first product will be a connected version of Sharp's SuperSteam+™ Convection Oven, scheduled for release in Fall 2018.

“The days