In a letter to dealers sent Thursday evening, Kaleidescape CEO Cheena Srinivasan says the company is back in business, but in a leaner, lower overhead way. The news, which the industry rumor mill was buzzing about all day Thursday, is a bit of a surprise considering the company was completely shut down just a couple of weeks ago.
Management
Sharp in Negotiations to Buy Back Building Sold Only Months Ago
New Owner’s Moves Continue to Confound the Japanese Media
News comes out of Japan that the new owners of Sharp are in the process of buying back a building the old management sold off when seeking to improve profitability by reducing overhead. Now, new management – made up of former Foxconn executives – are doing an about-face and looking to repurchase the building, in a move that has Japanese media scratching their heads.
See more on this new course reversal from Sharp’s new managers… [Read more…] about Sharp in Negotiations to Buy Back Building Sold Only Months Ago
Changing Its Mind, Sharp to Negotiate to Buy Back the N. American TV Biz
Sharp Corp., a division of Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. – better known as Foxconn – is rethinking its previously determined plans for business success. As the company was struggling with financial hardships prior to the closing of their acquisition by Foxconn, Sharp made several cost cutting moves, including selling the North American and Europe rights to the Sharp TV brand to certain OEM manufacturers. Now, as they ponder how to drive revenue growth, there are reports they are changing their minds on these and other deals.
See more on this major planning flip-flop by Sharp… [Read more…] about Changing Its Mind, Sharp to Negotiate to Buy Back the N. American TV Biz
Multiple Reports: Kaleidescape is Closed
BREAKING NEWS
We have been inundated with multiple reports that media server kingpin Kaleidescape has ceased operations as of the end of the day yesterday (Friday). Furthermore, all employees both internal and external, have reportedly been let go.
See more on this sudden – and to many – surprising news… [Read more…] about Multiple Reports: Kaleidescape is Closed
LCD Kingpin Sharp, Under New Management, Pursues OLED
Sharp to Cut Another 7,000 Employees
Big changes are coming to Sharp, Corp. in the wake of their acquisition by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co – better known as Foxconn. News out of Japan notes that the deal between Sharp and Foxconn officially closes at the end of this month. According to both parties, the acquisition is proceeding smoothly and is fully expected to close on time.
But Foxconn has big plans for big changes at Sharp… [Read more…] about LCD Kingpin Sharp, Under New Management, Pursues OLED
Department of Justice Says It Will Not Charge Nortek in Bribery Scandal
SEC Forces Nortek to Forfeit Profits Resulting from the Bribe
The Department of Justice (D.O.J.) has notified Nortek, Inc. that it has closed its investigation into a corporate bribery scandal involving the company’s operations in China and will take no further actions, according to a report by Reuters. Nortek, parent company of Core Brands – a holding company of several custom integration brands – had revealed the existence an internal investigation into the matter by the company to investors several quarters ago. At the same time, Nortek reported the matter to the authorities, noting that they would fully cooperate with any government investigation.
Nortek “will not be charged because the U.S. [company] had turned themselves in,” Reuters noted. Nortek stock was up 5.19% in late afternoon trading on the news.
See more on why the D.O.J. decided to not charge Nortek… [Read more…] about Department of Justice Says It Will Not Charge Nortek in Bribery Scandal
SpringDeck Offers Free App & Access to Dealers
SpringDeck, an industry-focused marketing content aggregator, announced this week that they are expanding their model to offer custom integrators a free app to access their content database. In the past, integrators could only access SpringDeck’s extensive content stored in manufacturer-centric “libraries” by paying a fee. Now, through this special app called SpringDeck Lite, integrators gain this access for free.
See more on this new approach by SpringDeck… [Read more…] about SpringDeck Offers Free App & Access to Dealers
World Wide Stereo Re-Imagines Specialty Store Design
What a weird Spring we’re having in the Northeast. It can be 80+ degrees one day, only to be followed by two or three days of cold and rain. Such was the case last Thursday as we traveled to a pre-Grand Reopening event at Bob & Ron’s World Wide Stereo in Montgomeryville, PA. It was raining and in the low 50-degrees as we arrived for the early evening event, motivating us to turn up our collar as we exited our vehicle for a little extra protection from the cold and the rain.
But walking through the front door transported us to another world… [Read more…] about World Wide Stereo Re-Imagines Specialty Store Design
B&W Acquired by EVA Automation
BREAKING NEWS
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) announced this morning that they have been acquired by EVA Automation, a Silicon Valley-based technology company founded just two years ago by Gideon Yu. Yu is a well-known sports and technology executive that has launched EVA Automation with the expressed goal of “reimagining the audio/video experience by making products that will change how people interact and think about the home.”
He is also, apparently, a B&W enthusiast. See more… [Read more…] about B&W Acquired by EVA Automation
Chaos in Cupertino: Apple’s First Quarterly Sales & Profit Decline in 13 Years
iPhone Sales Fall for the First Time in Its History
Cupertino, CA-based Apple, Inc. announced its fiscal first quarter results yesterday and it wasn’t a pretty picture. And although Wall Street acted with shock, no one should have been surprised as Apple had warned this would be a tough quarter back in January. Apple remains a huge and cash-rich company, but the deeper you dig into this latest report, the more obvious it becomes that there is a legitimate cause for concern.
