ROCKLEIGH, New Jersey — Crestron Electronics, Inc. today announced record breaking one-month sales for December 2008. Ironically, the day the U.S. government reports the worst jobless rate since 1945, and the day after President-elect Barack Obama urged Congress to take “dramatic action as soon as possible� to mitigate the length and severity of the recession, Crestron announces its best month in the company’s 40-year history.

Crestron, the global leader of advanced commercial and residential control and automation systems, has posted double-digit sales growth for 20 consecutive years. The New Jersey-based company’s fiscal year ended in June with annual revenue of more than $400 million. In December retail electronic sales suffered a double-digit decline and the U.S. manufacturing sector led job losses. At the same time, Crestron increased monthly sales by 26 percent over last December – on pace for another record breaking year.

“Our industry and our company are not recession-proof or immune to economic conditions,� explains Crestron Executive Vice President Randy Klein. “But Crestron is uniquely positioned to help our dealers and partners thrive even in these uncertain times. We have a responsibility to develop new technologies, get them to market and create more business opportunities.�

Crestron, which does all manufacturing in the U.S., introduced 70 new products in 2008 (plus 200 accessories), averaging a new product release every five days. The company has a remarkable 22 new products scheduled to launch this month alone, which is more than most manufacturers announce in an entire year. Further evidence of the positive effect Crestron has on the professional electronics industry is the 2008 Top 50 Systems Integrators listing, which was published by New Bay Media earlier this week. The report shows that the top installers did not experience a drop off in sales, and nine out of 10 were Crestron dealers.

The latest sales figures from Crestron are a testament to the four decades of innovation, vision and ingenuity of this American manufacturer.