Strategy in TECH...
Last week, a major patent trial began in Southern California as Masimo Corp. vs. Apple Inc. kicked off. And already big stories are flowing out of the proceedings that, for several days now, were entirely or partly conducted in complete secrecy, as Masimo executives testified behind closed doors.
MQA Limited, the company that invented and markets the Master Quality Authenticated digital music system said to deliver lossless high-res streaming music, has entered “administration” in the U.K. Administration is a form of bankruptcy or protection from creditors similar to Chapter 11 bankruptcy here in the U.S. In the U.K., administration offers an insolvent company time to reorganize, develop a new plan, and – with stakeholder and government approval – an opportunity to exit bankruptcy.
As I write this post on Wednesday, it is the opening day of the patent infringement and trade secrets trial based on a lawsuit filed by Masimo Corporation [NASDAQ: MASI] and Cercacor Laboratories, Inc. (a Masimo-affiliated company) versus Apple, Inc. [NASDAQ: AAPL]. You could call it David vs. Goliath, as tiny Masimo tangles with Apple, the largest corporation in the world. This lawsuit was originally filed back in January 2020 by Masimo who claims that Apple has misappropriated trade secrets by hiring former Masimo employees and stealing Masimo patented technologies, valuable intellectual property (IP) they consider trade secrets, for use in Apple products.
For the first time since the category has been independently tracked, new data from market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that global shipments of smart home devices actually declined in 2022. Not only that but while the market researcher predicts that 2023 will see a bit of a rebound overall, its largest segment – Smart TVs – will likely decline again this year.
On Monday, Premium Audio Company (PAC) announced the launch of the Onkyo TX-RZ70, a flagship audio-video receiver that the company says provides “stellar audio performance” along with “studio-level processing.” As a “flagship,” by definition, this model is at the top of the Onkyo AVR line-up and is being launched just three-and-a-half weeks after the launch of Integra’s flagship model, the DRX-8.4.
Russound, a top specialty manufacturer of smart home and connected audio solutions for integrators, announced on Tuesday that the ever-popular Pandora streaming service is now included in the company’s top streaming products. Both the Russound MBX-PRE stereo preamplifier and the MBX-AMP stereo amplifier now have the Pandora streaming service included natively in the device.
JOLED, a Japanese manufacturer of OLED-based panels and products that was formed by the merger of the OLED divisions of both Panasonic and Sony, filed for bankruptcy protection in the Tokyo District Court on Monday. According to the filing, the company reported that it has debts totaling ¥33.7 billion ($257 million).
Firenze, Italy-based high-end audio manufacturer Gold Note announced this week that it has selected Fidelity Imports as its exclusive U.S. importer and distributor. According to Gold Note’s announcement, the appointment will take effect starting April 1, 2023.
WiSA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WISA) released its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter and full-year results and it was not a pretty picture – leading the company’s auditors to issue a “going concern” warning, questioning its ability to continue. A developer and licensor of spatial, wireless sound technology used in a variety of brands, WiSA largely blamed an overall slackening consumer demand causing a glut of existing CE product inventory as the main source of its problems.
Snap One Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SNPO) released their fiscal 2022 fourth quarter and full-year results after the close of the market on Tuesday and held a conference call for investment analysts shortly afterward with more details. The company produced a prodigious amount of data that they suggest shows success in the face of adversity, and forecast a decline in their performance in fiscal 2023.
They also said the industry slowed down in 2022 and will continue to be slow for the first three quarters of 2023.
