Strategy in TECH...
Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) and the famed Abbey Road Studios announced this week that they have formed a new collaboration to further advance the state-of-the-art for in-car entertainment. The two companies have worked together for years with Abbey Road studios using B&W speakers for monitors in their studios. Now the partners will extend their relationship in the furtherance of this new venture.
After the close of market on Wednesday, Sonos, Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) reported their fiscal 2021, second quarter results which were very strong. On Wall Street they like to call that an “earnings surprise” and they really, really like it when it is a positive surprise. Sonos did not disappoint them.
In a move that has been widely anticipated for some time now, Wirepath Home Systems LLC, the corporate name for SnapAV, has filed paperwork with the SEC to preliminarily begin the process of registering their stock for sale to the public. We learn little in the rather terse announcement from the company, but many in the industry had expected this day would come for years now.
SnapAV announced today that it will acquire network service agency Access Networks in a deal expected to close later this month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The company says this acquisition “will broaden SnapAV’s networking portfolio with newer products and managed services including system design, configuration, monitoring, and support.”
Emerald Holding Inc. (NYSE:EEX), formerly Emerald Expositions Events Inc., the national B2B exposition company that owns the CEDIA Expo show as well as certain industry publications such as CE Pro, announced last week financial results for their fiscal first quarter. The news was bleak with a massive decline in revenues and a large net loss as the company is still suffering from the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Emerald made several other announcements as well. The company says it has acquired an online photography education business, and – perhaps more ominously – it has filed a lawsuit against their event cancellation insurance providers.
I can’t say this news from Onkyo Home Entertainment comes as much of a surprise. And based on conversations I’ve had with many of you over the last week or so, my reference a couple of weeks back to the growing romance between Onkyo and Voxx was clearly a wink-nod signal that I saw this coming. Onkyo has signed a preliminary agreement to sell their largest, but not their only, remaining division – the home audio/video division – to a partnership consisting of Sharp Corp. and Voxx Intl. The deal includes the Onkyo, Integra, Pioneer, and Pioneer Elite brands.
But after the abject failure of three previous attempts to sell the troubled company, will this deal actually close? See my thoughts…
Moody’s Investors Service, one of the top credit rating agencies in the world, said this month that DEI Sales, Inc., dba Sound United, has been assigned a credit rating of B2 and a probability of default rating of B2-PD. In addition to this, they are assigning another B2 rating to Sound United’s proposed $380 million senior secured first lien term loan due in 2028. The forward looking “outlook” for Sound United and this rating is “stable.”
I’ve been thinking about leadership a lot lately. A subject of endless interest for me, the pandemic in 2020 really brought the topic of leadership to the forefront, as we all faced unprecedented and upsetting times. Those dark days in early spring last year were truly scary times – people were getting sick and dying, local governments were forcing us all into lockdown, all businesses stopped functioning, the economy crashed like never before…and no one knew how this story was going to end.
Recently, I ran across content from a leader that I am familiar with, whom I have been following for a long time. This content was what looked to be a painful video for him to make. His discomfort was visible…palpable. And yet in so doing, the video he created was a raw and powerful demonstration of what I would suggest are the genuine traits of a true leader. I wanted to share this with you in case you missed it.
LWith great fanfare, Crestron kicked off their annual festival of all things Crestron – Crestron Masters 2021 – with a keynote address titled “Innovation Fuels Us.” And in a bit of irony, Mother Nature, or should I sway Mother Internet, reminded us all of who’s in charge by causing the program to suddenly stop at about five minutes in. About fifteen minutes or so later, the program started again and, save for a couple of stutters later, attendees were entertained with an impressively professional and compelling pre-recorded video presentation that celebrated Crestron’s history of innovation and set the tone for the week of education and conversation to come.
Bowers & Wilkins continues to forge new paths through the audio jungle, bringing along their trunks full of high-end ethic and high-performance sensibility to help civilize the undisciplined hoards of audio mediocrity. Now part of the Sound United family of brands, B&W hasn’t skipped a beat as they continue to address both new products and new product segments as first revealed to the press seven months ago.
Yesterday, the company launched a pair of true wireless earbuds that completely embody the company’s unique bespoke design style in both industrial design and technological innovation – meet the PI7 & PI5.
