Strategy in TECH...
Consolidation continues in the custom integration world – in this case, Denver-based manufacturer representative firm Momentum Group has acquired the residential division of Texas’ own renowned Dobbs Stanford rep firm based in Dallas. Consolidation has NOT been a big story on the sales representative side…up until now.
Sonance announced today that they have entered into an agreement to acquire Minden, NV-based James Loudspeaker. This is the first major acquisition by Sonance since the purchase of Sound Advance in 2005, and is truly a marriage of two companies with a strong resonance in their approach to the custom integration industry.
“You are WAY too excited about this news,” Jason Sloan, Sonance Chief Sales Officer joked when first telling me about their rebranding plans a few weeks ago. But I was excited – these plans put forth a major shift in the position of the Dana Innovations, Sonance, iPort, & Trufig brands. To Sloan and CEO Ari Supran, this was more of a refocus than a rebranding – a return to their largest and most beloved brand after a long and at times frustrating period of trying to establish another overarching entity.
But to me, it was much more than that.
San Clemente, CA-based Dana Innovations announced today that it is launching a major rebranding effort, the results of which will better reflect their business initiatives, clarify the meaning and positioning of their various brands, and assert new brand “pillars” to better convey who they are and what they represent. It will also reassert the prominence of the Sonance brand.
The company will no longer be known as Dana Innovations thanks to a “back to the future” decision to elevate Sonance – the brand under which they were founded. Company management has granted Strata-gee exclusive access to this story, including to behind-the-scenes information revealing the depth and detail of the thinking, discussions, and even arguments of the last year and a half or so that were behind this major – and some would say somewhat risky – decision.
The industry is still adjusting to the new normal of SnapAV combining with Control4…even as it continues to gobble up more local distributors and talk about their e-commerce prowess. It can get a little confusing. Is SnapAV a manufacturer? An e-commerce play? A local distributor? Or are they attempting to be all of the above?
I spoke with SnapAV’s John Heyman and Charlie Kindel to try and help our readers sort this all out. It’s certainly a new world out there…but just what planet are we on?
Only six months to go and word has emerged that the Consumer Technology Association – the trade group behind the annual Consumer Electronics show – has proactively taken steps to avoid repeating the mistakes that caused them to endure a plethora of embarrassing headlines last year. The controversy, a self-inflicted wound, surrounded the Association’s awarding – then rescinding – of a CES 2019 Innovation Award…and retroactive cancellation of booth space for that company. The news dominated the early headlines during the January 2019 event…mostly because the matter involved sex.
As Strata-gee recently reported, there are currently seven active lawsuits that have been filed against Control4 and their Board of Directors in the wake of their acquisition by SnapAV. In a new DEFA14A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last Friday, the company addresses the issue of these lawsuits – saying that they are going to fight them. But then they do something very curious – they file an amendment to their original Schedule 14A filing, their Proxy Statement, with added information that appears to add missing material in response to allegations in the lawsuits filed against them.
Strata-gee reported yesterday that late last week Sonos had filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Lenbrook Industries Limited and Lenbrook America. This suit, which is almost identical to the one Sonos had successfully pursued with D&M Holdings and Denon over its HEOS line, was resolved in Sonos’s favor a little over a year ago.
Now we have Lenbrook’s response to this development – the company says it will “defend vigorously the claims of patent infringement made by computer audio company Sonos…”
Strata-gee reported just yesterday that Sonos, Inc. has sued Lenbrook Industries Ltd. & Lenbrook America – the maker & marketer of Bluesound – for patent infringement. Undoubtedly emboldened by their near-complete victory over Denon’s HEOS brand a little over a year ago, Sonos appears to have targeted Lenbrook to be next in line.
However, Strata-gee has learned that Lenbrook is not the only company targeted for such potential actions by Sonos. There are more – perhaps many more – in our industry lined up for this “hit” parade.
Last week’s Strata-gee story on the final liquidation of what remains of Thiel not only drew a huge number of readers, it also sent a big chunk of them on to the auctioneer’s website (McLemore Auctions). Many of those readers who journeyed to the auction were in search of a great deal on a good line of Thiel speakers. But then, in an unexpected twist, a source reached out to Strata-gee to offer a warning to those in search of a great deal on Thiel.
