Strategy in TECH...
Wall Street can be a fickle partner sometimes. Occasionally, a company will turn in a good performance, but its stock value will decline anyway because the performance wasn’t as good as financial analysts had expected. And sometimes, as is the case this time with Sonos’ fiscal 2023 first quarter results, you can turn in poor performance, and your stock value can take off flying – because this time, your performance was not good, but not as bad as the financial analysts had expected.
Robert R. (Bob) Gullo, founder, President, and Chief Creative Officer of influential East Coast integrator Electronic Design Group, Inc. (EDG) died on Wednesday, February 1, 2023. According to several sources, the cause of death was cancer. A creative, energetic promoter of the then-nascent custom installation, now custom integration, industry, Gullo played an influential…even outsized…role in the development of the industry and was an oft-cited inspiration for many others to follow his path and embrace the industry.
Draper, Inc. (Draper), a leading manufacturer of window shades, projection screens, AV mounts, and architectural gym equipment, announced this week that it is further expanding its residential sales team, adding another member covering the southeastern U.S. This makes the team targeted to offering sales and support of the custom integration channel now five dedicated folks strong.
Sonance announced this week that it has appointed well-known manufacturer sales representative firm Strateres as its representative for the New England region. This agreement includes the representation of all of the company’s brands, including Sonance, James Loudspeaker, and IPORT.
Taking place right now in Barcelona, Spain, ISE is a unique show that offers products tailored for both the residential and commercial side of the integration business, as well as for the international market. Of course, many major industry brands that distribute their goods globally are showing there, including these top technology products from the curated selection shown below.
Masimo Corp. (NASDAQ: MASI), a medical products company that also owns audio maker Sound United, notches yet another victory in its continuing conflict with Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) – this time in the form of a favorable ruling from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), which dismissed Apple’s challenges to two Masimo patents on proprietary technology to test blood oxygenation levels. As a result, things are heating up and getting a little more serious for Apple, which Masimo accuses of infringing on its patents to add a health-related feature to their popular Apple Watch products, with no compensation or licensing arrangement with Masimo.
Crestron Electronics, a leading provider of smart workplace collaboration technology, announced today that in May 2023, it will hold another Modern Work Summit 2023 in Madrid. A follow-up to the first such event held in Orlando, FL last year, Modern Work Summit 2023 is a two-day in-person event centered on the topic of the dynamic and evolving workplace of today (and tomorrow), and the technology that helps power the transition.
WiSA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WISA) has been on a wild and rocky ride over the last few days as it scrambled to head off a delisting action by the Nasdaq stock exchange designed to force its stock listing off the exchange. At issue, the company’s business struggles that contributed to its declining stock bid prices have put it in violation of specific exchange rules governing maintained minimum pricing levels. This led the exchange to begin the delisting process, which WiSA appealed in order to buy itself some time.
The company then quickly embarked on a strategy – a mad dash really – to inflate its stock price artificially via a reverse stock split. But this tactic appears to have failed to impress investors, causing its stock bid price to collapse like an out-of-control toboggan ride down a cliff.
Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) announced this week the availability of upgraded Series 2 versions of two of their popular true wireless in-ear headphones – the Pi7 S2 and the Pi5 S2. In true B&W form, these new models are NOT an example of just the same old wine in a brand-new bottle. Rather, the company has made serious upgrades to the technology, performance, and capabilities compared to the original versions of these headphones making them a great choice for new buyers…and also an attractive upgrade option for owners of the original versions.
Multiple reports are pouring in that Snap One, a leading custom integration supplier, has just completed a restructuring that resulted in layoffs. It is not clear at this point just how many employees were cut, but it was significant enough to motivate several sources around the country to reach out to Strata-gee.
