Strategy in TECH...
Draper, Inc. announced this week that it has added a new 100,000 sq. ft. building to its campus in Spiceland, Indiana. This is its tenth building and this addition brings the company’s total footprint in Spiceland to no less than 500,000 sq. ft.
Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ: MASI) scored a big win Thursday in its ongoing battles with Apple, Inc. when the United States International Trade Commission (USITC or ITC) sided largely with Masimo and issued a Limited Exclusion Order and a Cease and Desist Order against certain Apple Watch models that infringe on select Masimo patents. This exclusion order bans the import of those models that incorporate Masimo’s patented light-based pulse oximetry technology in violation of U.S. trade laws.
After receiving an extension from the court giving them more time to respond, AVA, Inc. and Josh.ai, Inc. formally filed their responses to the Snap One, LLC lawsuit filed against them this past summer. With these filings, we have completed the end of the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a long dance marathon of patent and trade secret litigation.
RTI, a leading control and home automation manufacturer, announced on Thursday that it has expanded its sales team. The company announced the appointment of Brittany Delgado as regional sales manager.
Sonance surprised us at CEDIA Expo 2023 with the launch of an all-new Visual Experience line of architectural loudspeakers. Embodying several true innovations, and available in both Sonance and James versions, the Visual Experience line will supersede the highly successful and award-winning Visual Performance series – a series that was a best-seller for most Sonance integrators.
VOXX International Corporation (Voxx) (NASDAQ: VOXX), a manufacturer and distributor of a wide range of automotive and consumer electronics products, late on Tuesday released its second quarter of fiscal 2024 financial results for the period ending August 31, 2023. These results mostly echoed those of its first quarter and the company says it is still dealing with multiple negative macroeconomic factors such as a durable drop in consumer spending, inflated retail inventories, a UAW strike, and remaining supply chain challenges. However, the results in the second quarter were slightly more moderate than in the first quarter and there was a modest improvement on a sequential basis.
Last week, Sonos quietly let the Securities and Exchange Commission know that Panos Panay resigned from the Sonos board of directors, effective September 27, 2023. They made no public announcement that I am aware of, even though this news could have a major impact on the company’s direction. Why? Simply because Panos Panay is one of the most respected technology product gurus in the industry – so much so that Sonos trumpeted his arrival loudly when they convinced him to join their board in 2020.
Separately, and within just days of the exit of Panay, the company announced three “new” (I’ll explain the quotes around the word new below) additions to its executive team, including a new, promoted from within, Chief Product Officer…
VOXX International Corporation [NASDAQ: VOXX] (VOXX Int’l) announced this morning before the stock market opened several executive changes, including the extension of the employment agreement of VOXX Chief Executive Officer Pat Lavelle. How did Wall Street react to this news? The value of VOXX stock showed a significant decline on a day when the NASDAQ exchange, where VOXX is traded, saw an overall increase of nearly +2/3rds of a percent.
Barely out of CEDIA Expo 2023, Snap One announced this week that it has launched six new warehouse locations they call local partner stores, further filling out its national distribution footprint. The company also said it will finish 2023 having hosted no fewer than 400 events – a prodigious effort at connecting with its customers, the local integrators.
Well, another CEDIA Expo is in the books and we return to our daily duties and launch into a new Fall season full of promise…and concerns. What were the big stories of this year’s edition of Emerald’s (a public, for-profit company that owns the show) CEDIA Expo? Well, I’ve scanned several summations from others in the media and it almost seems like we attended different Expos. Here’s what I think they are…
