The Epsilon Electronics booth at CES Sunday was robbed of 7 car audio units including a prototype of the first dual screen car radio.
Epsilon is offering a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the capture and conviction of those involved. It suspects that the theft was motivated by corporate espionage.
The stolen units were newer and appeared to have been targeted. For example, the dual screen VRN-DD7HB won a lot of attention at CES. When it was posted on Facebook early in the show, it received 1/2 million views, said Goldberg.
“We are taking this situation very seriously,” said Vice President, Sales and Marketing for Epsilon Electronics Inc., Paul Goldberg. “We are working closely with local authorities and Las Vegas Convention Center staff to make sure the perpetrators are brought to justice.”
“The targeted theft of prototypes suggests that the purpose is to copy our hard work and compromise our investment in product development,” Goldberg continued. “Whoever is to blame represents the very lowest level of integrity in our business and must be stopped.”
Another company, Razer, which makes gaming accessories also reported a CES booth robbery of popular prototypes. A laptop with three screens was stolen, reported Gizmodo.
Both robberies occurred on the evening that CES closed, and were the only two robberies, to Goldberg’s knowledge. Epsilon discovered the missing products on Monday morning at 8 am when it entered the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center to take down the booth.
Video footage of the show floor is now being viewed by local authorities.
Epsilon still plans to ship the Soundstream dual screen radio in March at a suggested retail price to be announced, most likely between $500 and $1,000.
Theft of goods in booths are very common at CES. Happened to me and many others too, according to numerous stories heard from fellow exhibitors. Unfortunately, seems to happens after-hours, most of the time.
Would be interesting for CES officials to conduct an anonymous survey on this matter.
the profit from getting exposure & being in the spotlight might be worth the whole theft & then some? hopefully insurance covers them.
Kicker had product stolen too. During booth setup.