In a report that is sure to surprise many and even stun some, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, South Korea’s fair trade watchdog, announced that just four large companies – or conglomerates – generate 90% of all of the total net profit earned in the country in 2013. The commission, which closely tracks the performance of what they call the largest conglomerate companies, issues their report every April with this year’s report showing the share of the top four have continued to grow since 2011.
Brands
Deconstructing D&M Holdings; Company Sells Calrec Audio and Explores Other Options
Former CEO Pacor Comments on Brand Acquisition Strategy
We learned last week that D&M Holdings, also known as the D+M Group, sold off its Calrec Audio brand to Electra Partners, a London-based private equity company. D&M received £14 million ($23.1 million) for Calrec, a designer of premium audio products and live-to-air consoles for the broadcast market. The move is part of a plan to divest itself of all non-core businesses, CEO Jim Caudill has said in press reports.
See more on the company’s aggressive strategy to unload non-core businesses… [Read more…] about Deconstructing D&M Holdings; Company Sells Calrec Audio and Explores Other Options
Niche Speaker Manufacturer Cabasse Appoints Integra as U.S. Distributor
In a brief announcement today, Cabasse – a French loudspeaker manufacturer with a small niche following here in the U.S. – announced that it has appointed electronics brand Integra as its “exclusive” distributor for the United States. This new relationship takes effect retroactively to March 1, 2014.
See more on this announcement which some industry observers found strange… [Read more…] about Niche Speaker Manufacturer Cabasse Appoints Integra as U.S. Distributor
Reps Band Together to Reprise Pacific NW CE Expo in April
A group of fourteen consumer electronics sales representative companies have banded together to offer Pacific Northwest dealers a huge Consumer Electronics EXPO next month on two dates: April 8 in Seattle, WA; and April 10 in Portland, OR. The reps decided to reprise this Expo after staging an initial version last year in June…which they pointed to as being quite successful.
See more on these two big Expos in the Pacific Northwest… [Read more…] about Reps Band Together to Reprise Pacific NW CE Expo in April
Nortek Reports Uneven Fiscal Results; With A/V Biz in Decline, Security is TECH Segment’s Rising Star
SEC Filings Reveal Serious Decline in 2013 Sales of A/V Lines
Nortek, Inc., a Rhode Island-based diversified manufacturer of a variety of environmental and technology products for home and business, announced its financial performance for the fiscal fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2013 on Tuesday and conducted a conference call with analysts Wednesday morning. Nortek is the parent company of Core Brands, a group of eleven A/V brands that have a significant impact on the custom integration business – and, for this reason, we follow them closely.
The company saw sales increases for both the quarter and the year; however, it booked a net loss for both periods, suggesting that its previously announced restructuring plan is still a work-in-progress.
See more on the company’s overall performance, as well as the unsettling news we heard about the TECH division, which includes Core Brands…
Kaleidescape Announces (Finally) Srinivasan as CEO
BREAKING NEWS
In a story we reported last week, there has been a shake-up in management at Kaleidescape, a popular media server manufacturer. In this shake-up, several employees left the company…including the CEO. The company would not comment on our story, but said a statement was forthcoming.
We now have the response from the company… [Read more…] about Kaleidescape Announces (Finally) Srinivasan as CEO
Kaleidescape to Comment on Our Report, But Only to Dealers on Private Intranet
BREAKING NEWS
We reported last week that a shake-up was taking place at media-server maker Kaleidescape that included the exit of several key employees, including the CEO. We attempted several times to reach the company for a comment, but even when we finally spoke to Kaleidescape’s VP of Marketing, they refused to comment on our report. However, after our story ran, we received word that the company did intend to respond.
Now we know Kaleidescape’s response…sort of… [Read more…] about Kaleidescape to Comment on Our Report, But Only to Dealers on Private Intranet
Thiel Audio: DeFuria & Brown are Out; Is the Other Shoe Dropping?
BREAKING NEWS
Our inquiry started innocently enough. Last week, we received an emailed press release that contained this headline: “VANA Ltd. Appoints Stephen DeFuria as Director of Sales, East.” Now we generally receive dozens of press releases every day – but this one caught our immediate attention…literally causing us to pick the phone to make a call for confirmation. Why? Because Stephen DeFuria was part of a team hired by Thiel Audio to help turn that business around – and now, only one year later, he is out…with no explanation. But that was just the beginning.
Now, there’s reason to question whether the “other shoe” may be dropping at Thiel… [Read more…] about Thiel Audio: DeFuria & Brown are Out; Is the Other Shoe Dropping?
Japanese Electronics Manufacturers Ready to Agree to Raise Worker Pay
Six major Japanese electronics manufacturers are prepared to agree to raise employee pay when they meet with union representatives at the upcoming spring labor-management wage talks, according to a report in the Japan Times. Yet to be worked out is the exact amount of the increase – the first such increase for workers since 2008.
See why manufacturers are open to an increase now & how much the increase is likely to be… [Read more…] about Japanese Electronics Manufacturers Ready to Agree to Raise Worker Pay
Audio Control Launches Two New A/V Receivers Targeted for the CI Channel
Audio Control – the U.S. manufacturer of a unique line of solutions for mobile, home, and industrial markets – announced at the end of February that it has launched two new audio/video receiver (AVR) models called the Concert AVR-6 and AVR-8. These two new models replace the existing AVR-4 with upgraded construction and new capabilities, including support for 4K Ultra HDTV and 3D.
