As soon as WISA plate amplifiers are available, you will see the market shift.
I think some OEMs are starting to use them. And TVs are starting to use WISA too. I think LG TV's can connect to the new Dynaudio Actives.
Forget about our niche community for a minute, and imagine the millions of people purchasing TVs. They dont want to buy stereo speakers due to the hassle, or the space taken up. If they can get over the space thing, then they can be sold a pair of speakers that can wirelessly connect to the TV directly, and have thier volume controlled by the TV at the same time from the TV remote. It needs to be convenient.
Imagine a smart TV, wall mounted, with a pair of stereo speakers out in the corners of the lounge, only plugged into wall power outlets behind them. You turn on the TV, the speakers turn on too and the volume is controlled from the TV remote, all with WISA. No thinking required. Stable. This is when the market will go full actives.
To be fair, that can be done right now with EARC. Sure, it´s an extra cable, but that is exactly what I do in my living room with a pair of LS50 Wireless II.
Wireless signal capability maybe? WiFi/Bluetooth or some other wireless technology. Then you just have a power cord. But in my opinion getting power to every speaker in a 15.2 system is going to be far more complicated than running a length of speaker wire under the rug of along the floor trim.
Atmos and DTS X codec are consolidated at this point. The biggest cable hassle is the height speakers, the baseline is still an issue but with a wider margin of integration. Adding sockets next to the ceeling? Sure, it can be done, but it´s not very common. I wouldn´t mind, though, and the benefits of an active, sealed speaker are interesting for room integration considerations (such as placing them very close to the wall or in bookshelves if they can protrude a little bit).
Related to that, and example of big speaker DIY . DIY is not even a niche market. It has declined since 1970.
It began with "consumerism." That began with "Industrial Revolution."
TV predominated over hi-fi. So then home theatre predominated.
...That is also why hi-fi is now so full of high-end crazy bullshit - the bullshit is the only way most of them can survive in the market. [AKA "snake-oil."]
You have a very good point in there. If manufacturers want to survive, they may need to rethink what they do. If your bussines is selling big, space heater boxes (amps), perhaps it would be a good idea that what you actually sell is amplification. For speakers, what you sell is not beautiful furniture (even if it may be), but sound producing devices. Good reproduction is good reproduction, no matter the source: TV, films, music, videogames, even zoom calls (teaching online with a good camera, microphone and speakers has been one of the best investments I have ever done!)
I have seen that manufacturers like Dynaudio and Buchard are moving to the little box solution. I think the general trend of the future may be that type of solution. WiSa so far only allows for 8 channels, but it they can push it to 9 baseline, 4 subwoofers and 6 height, in 24 bit 192K, that standard would just cover any user case with quality sound beyond human audible capacity.
In that scenario what would be my ideal configuration? I´d like a 7.2(4).4 system, made from LS60/50/X speakers connected to a little central box, kind of an AVP with the conventional source plugs (phono, RCA, Optical, HDMI...). If wireless, great, wireless; if not, connected to the central hub with rj45 jacks (solid method, easily avalible, plenty of options). On top of that, compatibility with Audyssey/Dirac or similarly common EQ system.
In a sense, that would be like a sort of car audio system turned home system.