Quirky Shinola, the scrappy Detroit, MI-based manufacturer of an eclectic collection of disconnected product lines, including watches, bicycles, leather goods, jewelry and, now, audio, has introduced a line of headphones, including over-ear, on-ear, and in-ear models. The company, which is owned by Bedrock Manufacturing Company, LLC, is as much an experiment in bringing manufacturing back to bankrupt Detroit, as it is a power brand.
Strategy
Gibson Brands: Putting Its Assets On the Line
Sells Warehouse & Property for $6 Million
Gibson Brands, Inc. has reached an agreement to sell its property on a half-acre in the North Gulch area of Nashville, TN to a private equity group for $6.38 million, according to a report by the Tennessean. The property includes an unused Gibson warehouse. The purchase was by Somera Road Inc., who worked in partnership with Tricera Capital, a Miami, FL private equity company.
See more on this Gibson Brands deal, which may not be done yet…
[Read more…] about Gibson Brands: Putting Its Assets On the Line
Gibson Brands Continues to Show Signs of Strain
Downsizing Factory & Dilution of Onkyo Ownership
Recent developments have thrust Gibson Brands back into the spotlight once again – a spot that CEO Henry Juszkiewicz doesn’t particularly enjoy, unless he’s there on his own terms. But this time, two tidbits of news have conspired to bring Gibson, and their financial challenges to the fore. And as we try to digest all of this, it’s clear that Gibson is continuing to show signs of strain due to sluggish results from its aggressive diversification into consumer electronics jeopardizing its ability to deal with looming huge debt payments on the loans used to acquire CE brands.
See the news that shines a light on Gibson’s troubled financial position… [Read more…] about Gibson Brands Continues to Show Signs of Strain
Samsung Surprises LG with Viral Video OLED Slam
12-Hour ‘Image Retention’ Test to Make OLED Look Bad
Korean media is reporting that a nasty fight has erupted in South Korea, where Samsung has uploaded a video that compares its QLED screen versus an LG OLED screen. The slickly produced comparison video allegedly shows “image retention” (commonly called burn-in over here) on the OLED screen after gamers play on both screens for twelve hours straight. LG, understandably, cries foul…
See this ugly fight that has erupted on the eve of the big TV sales season… [Read more…] about Samsung Surprises LG with Viral Video OLED Slam
Confirmed: B&W Closes Classé HQ; Staff Dismissed
We have now confirmed that at the end of the day last Friday, October 6th, the Classé headquarters facility was in fact closed by Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) for the last time and all remaining employees were dismissed. This move is a sad and sobering end to a once proud brand celebrated by many audiophiles as one of the finest performing lines of high-end electronics available.
See more of what we know about the closing of Classé… [Read more…] about Confirmed: B&W Closes Classé HQ; Staff Dismissed
Shares in Japan Display Jump 24% on OLED News
Japan Display Inc., a unique public/private partnership that was once Japan’s largest supplier of LCD panels but has been struggling of late, saw the price of shares of its stock jump as much as 24% Wednesday on news that it had developed a new lower cost manufacturing process for OLED panels. The company, which had been struggling with slackening global demand for LCD panels, will seek outside investment to pursue the opportunity provided by this new OLED manufacturing process.
See more on this surprising announcement out of Japan… [Read more…] about Shares in Japan Display Jump 24% on OLED News
Sonos Finally Gets Smart with Sonos One
After many months of rumors and promises, Sonos announced today the new Sonos One, their first wireless speaker with voice-control capabilities built-in – in other words, its first smart speaker. And we have to say, Sonos was pretty smart about how they approached the smart speaker market.
See why Sonos, and the Sonos One, is so smart… [Read more…] about Sonos Finally Gets Smart with Sonos One
In Epic Legal Battle with Sonos, D&M Dinged Again
Will a Change of Judge Bring a Change of Outcome?
The battle for patent supremacy between Sonos and D&M Holdings is picking up significant steam. In one 30-day period of this year alone (June), we counted no less than 110 docket items. That’s more than four filings a day if you take out weekends. The vast majority of these items were heavy legal motions and other multi-dozen page document filings.
The lawsuit, originally brought by Sonos against D&M Holdings and their HEOS line, and ultimately reciprocated with a D&M counter-suit, has been raging on since October 2014. Yet as the matter is plunging headlong towards a trial by the end of this year, D&M is handed another loss, as Judge Richard G. Andrews denies two key D&M Motions for Summary Judgment in his last ruling before turning the matter over to a new judge.
See the latest developments in this battle between Sonos and D&M Holdings… [Read more…] about In Epic Legal Battle with Sonos, D&M Dinged Again
What We’ve Discovered About CEDIA’s Sale of the Show
Did Emerald ‘Overpay’ for the Iconic Tradeshow?
It was only just a matter of months ago, in January 2017, that we learned that CEDIA had sold off their trademark show to Emerald Expositions, the biggest B-to-B tradeshow promoter in North America. This news came completely out of the blue, with no forewarning to members of the Association.
When the sale was announced by the Association, the very last line of their notice was: “The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.” This lack of disclosure makes it virtually impossible for any loyal supportive CEDIA member to evaluate this major decision – selling off the single largest revenue generator for the Association – by the group management.
Now, we have a major piece of the puzzle, the purchase price… [Read more…] about What We’ve Discovered About CEDIA’s Sale of the Show
Strata-gee Interviews Emerald Expositions Executive
What the Future Holds for the CEDIA Show
“Do I need to ‘prepare’ for anything?” Emerald Expositions Marketing Manager Brianna Morris asked us in a firm tone as we met to set up a date for an interview. “Prepare?,” we asked. “Yes…we’re read your stuff,” she said in a deeper tone.
I could tell right then, it was going to be an interesting interview.
