Strategy in TECH...
Savant Systems announced today that it has decided to pull out of the CEDIA Expo, scheduled for the beginning of September in Indianapolis, due to concerns surrounding health and safety. As the COVID “Delta” variant continues to fuel a new wave of infections around the country, many potential attendees are likely making the same calculation.
At the end of January, Savant held their popular annual Integrator Summit – its 15th summit ever…but its first such summit held online as a virtual one. In a Zoom meeting with industry media following the summit, President J.C. Murphy recapped the event which is held privately with only Savant integrators in the room.
Savant had a lot to talk about.
On Wednesday, we learned that Savant Systems Inc. (Savant), has acquired the lighting business from none other than the mighty GE. Terms of the transaction were not released, but the Wall Street Journal reports that “the transaction valued the unit at around $250 million, according to a person familiar with the matter.” GE has been a major lighting provider for over a hundred years.
At CEDIA 2017, Savant displayed and demonstrated a whole roster of innovative new products – the very fact of which was an in-your-face proclamation that this new company era under founder Bob Madonna intends to use innovation to drive growth. And while we had only a limited time available at Savant, we were fortunate enough to grab a few moments of Mr. Madonna’s time to get a real cook’s tour of a couple of his latest offerings.
Savant Systems announced this week that it has purchased Artison, a specialty audio manufacturer of speaker systems. The company said that “Artison has earned a reputation for delivering…solutions that merge elegant, unobtrusive aesthetics with exceptionally detailed sound quality…” Is this a bold new strategy for Savant? Or just a reaction to the Control4/Triad acquisition?
Savant Systems, LLC, a leading controls systems manufacturer for the custom integration industry, announced this week it is launching a all-new line of touch screens it calls “Wally.” This new Wally lineup offers consumers easy access to their climate, lighting, and entertainment systems with a simple touch of the finger.
Savant has launched a new 4K Ultra HD video over IP switching solution at ISE 2017 taking place now in Amsterdam, NL. This is its first major product launch since Robert Madonna returned as CEO replacing outgoing CEO William Lynch in September 2016. The company says this system will give their dealers an “advantage in delivering premium distributed A/V content to their residential and commercial clients.”
In the wake of recent major executive changes, Savant seemed to fall into silent mode, deflecting media inquiries and in general buying itself time to get organized. All that is changing now as the company wrapped up a summit of its integrators in Denver – its largest ever – where it made several major announcements. At the integration summit, Savant revealed new products, new services, and a new commitment to the custom integration community.
Within a span of just minutes today, we began hearing from multiple sources around the country that something was afoot at Savant Systems, LLC. Word quickly spread that the company was terminating salespeople around the country, a move that was occurring in the wake of founder Robert Madonna’s return to the company to replace former CEO William Lynch.
Late yesterday afternoon, a strange press release came our way. This release was strange for a couple of reasons – first, for what it was announcing – Savant’s founder Robert Madonna was returning to the CEO role, replacing “outgoing” CEO William Lynch. Second, it was strange because it gave no reason for this dramatic change of CEOs; and, third, it was strange because of where it came from – a PR firm that the company hasn’t been using for a couple of years.
