Strata-gee.com

Strategy in TECH...

You are here: Home / Posts

Posts

AXPONA is Canceled; But Its Promoter & Exhibitors are Still Battling

by 6 Comments

Joel Davis of JD Events (JDE) announced a little more than a week ago that AXPONA, the high-end audio exposition scheduled to take place in Schaumburg, IL in August, is now canceled. Citing the health and safety of attendees, Davis’ letter said “we do not feel 100% confident that we can provide a safe environment for all of our customers and press…” But in a separate communication to exhibitors, Davis informed them the that JDE was in dire financial straits and unable to return their deposits – further angering the still unhappy AXPONA exhibitors.

See more on the AXPONA turmoil…

[Read more…] about AXPONA is Canceled; But Its Promoter & Exhibitors are Still Battling

Sonos Hits Sour Note – Fiscal Q2 Sales Drop 17%, Losses Hit $52.3 Million

by 1 Comment

Photo of new Sonos Sub

CEO Says Direct-to-Consumer Sales Were Big, Launching Three New Models

Sonos Inc. announced Wednesday the results of their fiscal second quarter, a quarter that CEO Patrick Spence called “challenging.” The company saw a double-digit sales decline of 17% to $175.1 million from $210.2 million in the same quarter in 2019. Worse, net losses more than doubled to $52.3 million – 129% worse than the net loss of $22.8 million in Q2 last year.

Still, Spence sounded upbeat in a letter to investors and says he is “confident that the actions we are taking today will set us up for long-term success and the continued tremendous opportunity ahead.”

Learn more about the sour Sonos results in Q2…

[Read more…] about Sonos Hits Sour Note – Fiscal Q2 Sales Drop 17%, Losses Hit $52.3 Million

Crestron in Triumphant Return to CEDIA Expo

by 6 Comments

Crestron Home logo

Crestron Electronics announced today that it is returning to the CEDIA Expo show for the first time since Strata-gee broke the news of their surprising exit from the event four years ago in 2016. This announcement marks a triumphant return for a company that has seen its residential business soar over the last few years, particularly with the launch of their Crestron Home software solution.

See more on Crestron’s return to CEDIA Expo

[Read more…] about Crestron in Triumphant Return to CEDIA Expo

A Savant 1-2 Punch: New Pro Remote X2 & Powerful Consumer Ad Campaign

by Leave a Comment

Savant remote X2 from email campaign

Today, Savant Systems launched its latest remote control, the Pro Remote X2, which it says offers users “an unprecedented smart home experience from a hand-held remote.” Along with this, the company is simultaneously launching an aggressive new advertising campaign targeted at consumers and designed to drive business to Savant integrators.

Learn about the new Savant X2 remote & ads

[Read more…] about A Savant 1-2 Punch: New Pro Remote X2 & Powerful Consumer Ad Campaign

Strata-gee’s COVID-19 Impact on Tech II Survey: What a Difference a Month Makes!

by Leave a Comment

Strata-gee COVID-19 Impact on Tech II Survey

Now completed, Strata-gee’s COVID-19 Impact on Tech II Survey is a follow-up study to Strata-gee’s original survey, COVID-19 Impact on Tech. If you haven’t read those original results yet, I would suggest you start there by clicking on this link as it will add context to the follow-up survey discussed here. And this time we learn that things have definitely changed in just five short weeks. In a nutshell, survey respondents report that the impact of COVID-19 this time around is much greater than in March.

See more of what the Strata-gee COVID-19 Impact on Tech Survey is telling us…

[Read more…] about Strata-gee’s COVID-19 Impact on Tech II Survey: What a Difference a Month Makes!

Critically Needed to Protect Crews, The DaVinci Group Sets Up to Supply Dealers PPE

by 1 Comment

The DaVinci Group now supplies PPE to dealers

The DaVinci Group (TDG), a specialty supplier of custom integration gear including architectural speakers, amplifiers and more, has taken extraordinary steps to offer their dealers responsibly sourced personal protection equipment (PPE), such that their work crews can safely continue to access job sites and clients’ homes fully protected. An example of creative thinking, TDG used their sourcing prowess to find a reliable resource for a range of PPE gear that is desperately needed by integrators…many of whom report a lack of local supply.

Learn more about this new The DaVinci Group PPE service…

[Read more…] about Critically Needed to Protect Crews, The DaVinci Group Sets Up to Supply Dealers PPE

Crestron Launches Handy System Configurator for Crestron Home Systems

by 4 Comments

Screen shot of Crestron Home Configurator

Crestron Electronics has launched a handy new Configurator for their Creston Home system that gives integrators the ability to pre-configure systems in-house prior to deployment. This new configurator helps integrators efficiently setup and test their Crestron Home systems configuration and cuts deployment time dramatically.

See more on the new Crestron Home Configurator…

[Read more…] about Crestron Launches Handy System Configurator for Crestron Home Systems

UPDATE: Now a Much Larger Group of AXPONA Exhibitors are Calling for Its Cancellation

by 5 Comments

AXPONA crowd

Strata-gee reported last week that a group of 20 exhibitors had written an open letter to petition Joel Davis of JD Events – the producer of the AXPONA high-end audio show – calling for the cancellation of that event. The exhibitors making that call included some of the more prominent names in the specialty audio community – and their argument for a cancellation was well-articulated in their petition.

Now, several dozen more exhibitors have joined that original group to also call for its cancellation.

See the expanding list of exhibitors calling for AXPONA to be canceled…

[Read more…] about UPDATE: Now a Much Larger Group of AXPONA Exhibitors are Calling for Its Cancellation

Tighten Your Harness, The Rocket Ship U.S. Economy is Coming Down Hard

by Leave a Comment

graph of economic downturn

You knew it was coming, but we just couldn’t see it until statistical data caught up with the rapidly changing U.S. economy. But now, we are getting a snapshot of these changes and they are breathtaking…and a little scary. Hold on tight…it’s going to get worse before it gets better.

See a selection of data showing the economy hitting the brakes…

[Read more…] about Tighten Your Harness, The Rocket Ship U.S. Economy is Coming Down Hard

Emerald Expositions Announces Death of Sally Shankland, Its Most Recent CEO

by Leave a Comment

Emerald Holding logo

Emerald Expositions announced this week that Sally Shankland, it most recent CEO who had been hired in June 2019 to replace resigning CEO David Loechner, has died following her month’s long battle with cancer. The company says Shankland passed away at home peacefully.

See more on this news about Shankland…

[Read more…] about Emerald Expositions Announces Death of Sally Shankland, Its Most Recent CEO