Well, here we are again at the end of another eventful year in tech. And it’s that time of the year when I reveal Strata-gee’s Top Ten Stories of the Year for 2024 – another consequential year for the technology industry. Can you guess what the top stories were this year? I can just about guarantee none of you can guess the Top Story of 2024, because it shocked even me!
Read on to see the Top Ten Strata-gee Stories of 2024
As usual, the ranking for the top stories of 2024 is based on those stories that attracted the most readers (pageviews) during 2024. In the past, I’ve limited this ranking to stories published in the year in review. However, this year, I am keeping the ranking “pure” if you will by solely basing the ranking on pageviews – regardless of when the story was published.
As a practical matter, that has only impacted this ranking by one story from 2023 that continued to pull huge numbers all year long this year. Read on, as I will identify that story in the commentary below.
A Major Theme This Year? You Might Guess This One
If I asked diligent and attentive Strata-gee readers to guess which story – or series of stories – dominated this listing from 2024, they would likely guess Masimo. And they would be correct! Fully 50% or five of the top ten stories are directly related to the trials and tribulations of Masimo Corporation/Sound United/Politan Investment/Joe Kiani/Quentin Koffey/et al.
If I expanded this ranking to the top twenty stories of 2024, Masimo would be even more dominant, with 60% (12 of the top 20 stories). But have no fear, there were plenty of other key topics to emerge this year affecting other major brands, such as Sonos, Voxx/PAC/Onkyo/Integra/Klipsch, Sony, and more.
Think You Can Guess the Top Story in 2024? I Sincerely Doubt It
As has become customary, I will reveal these articles in reverse order, starting with the number ten most popular story and working my way to the number one most popular story of 2024. I am quite confident that if I challenged you to guess what the top story was, you could never guess it without cheating and scrolling to find out. It’s a shocker!
With no further ado – below are the Top Ten Strata-gee Stories in 2024…
#10 – McIntosh Group Acquired by Bose; Does This Deal Make Any Sense?
This story, which was originally published in late November, was quite popular with Strata-gee readers, many of whom shared Strata-gee’s post on social media. It was so popular that it became a top ten story of the year, in just a matter of a couple of weeks. In the story, I analyzed the deal and questioned whether this was a good matchup between a large consumer brand (Bose) and a specialized high-end enthusiast brand (McIntosh).
The story on Strata-gee drew dozens of comments, with not all commenters agreeing with my take and offering their own thoughts on the merger as well. If you missed this story, check it out here… and don’t forget to scroll down and read the comments below the story.
#9 – Masimo Responds to ‘Speculative Articles’ on Sound United
This story from the end of November was the result of a direct outreach from Masimo PR to Strata-gee on articles from other media outlets that the company felt were engaging in speculation of Sound United’s future that were causing confusion among dealers. I stepped in to try and help keep the record clear…or as clear as possible until we all learn of the final disposition of Sound United.
In any event, if you missed it, check out Masimo Responds to ‘Speculative Articles’ here…
#8 – Masimo Announces Double-Digit Drop in Revenues & Profits; Reveals Spin-Off Plans
In May 2024, in the heat of the battle between Masimo management and activist investor Politan Capital Management, the company released its results for the first quarter of this fiscal year. The results were ugly and the company began communicating with financial analysts its thinking on splitting up the company.
My report on both their results and open discussion of breakup scenarios between Masimo’s healthcare business and the Sound United audio business, caught the fancy of Strata-gee readers.
See Masimo Reports Double-Digit Drop in Revenues and Profits here…
#7 – Krell Owner Rondi D’Agostino Dies; Iconic Audio Brand Loses Guiding Light
This story appeared in June 2024 and was one of the first to report on the passing of Rondi D’Agostino, owner of Krell Industries. D’Agostino, a passionate and sometimes enigmatic co-founder and owner of Krell unexpectedly passed away, putting the company’s future in doubt.
Read Krell Owner Rondi D’Agostino Dies; Iconic Audio Brand Loses Guiding Light…
#6 – More Messy Masimo Madness
This story was posted in July, just days before the scheduled Masimo Annual Stockholders Meeting scheduled for July 25th. But as my post revealed, the war between Joe Kiani and Masimo management versus Quentin Koffey and Politan was really heating up. This story revealed several major developments – that all employees threatened to quit the company if Politan succeeded in gaining control off the Board of Directors…that a joint venture partner interested in Sound United had emerged…and Politan revealed a shady plan of voting irregularities looked to be an effort to manipulate shareholders votes.
These developments caught the attention of investors (and eventually the SEC). But they also caught the attention of Strata-gee readers, as well.
See More Messy Masimo Madness…
#5 – Sonos Troubles Mount – poor Sales Suggests Ace May Be a Joker
Sonos had been struggling for several quarters, but by the Fall of 2024 it was clear the situation was getting very serious. This story from October noted that several reports on the Sonos Ace – its first entry into the headphone category – indicated that sales were poor and that was a huge problem. The company had been counting on that to help put revenues back on track. But worse than that, the company had rolled out an app update that caused massive problems for users, hurting its most important relationship – with customers.
See Sonos Troubles Mount – Poor Sales Suggests Ace May Be a Joker…
#4 – Sony Offers Unusual Incentive to Attract Chip Engineers for Expanding Division
This is the one story in the ranking that was originally written and published in early 2023. The story is about how fierce the battle for hiring chip engineers was becoming, and how Sony struggled to attract top candidates – or any candidates for that matter – because they did not want to move to Tokyo. Tokyo is expensive, crowded, and difficult to commute in. But then Sony came up with an idea to offer an incentive that would ultimately attract top talent from all around the country. This incentive is extremely unusual in Japan (although more common in other countries) but it worked like a charm.
It also charmed Strata-gee readers who came from around the world to learn more about Sony’s idea. The story remains strong to this day.
Check out Sony Offers Unusual Incentive to Attract Chip Engineers for Expanding Division…
#3 – MESSY-mo! Masimo is a Mess – Proxy War, Board Battles, Spin-Off Conflict, Whole Co. Up for Sale, JV Partner Emerges, DOJ & SEC Investigations
It was the summer of 2024 and the proxy battle between Masimo and Politan was in full swing. There were so many rapid-fire developments that I could only characterize it as a mess. Little did I know at the time that things were about to get worse!
Because the company was so consumed with its internal battles, communication to the outside world had slowed to a trickle. I suspect that’s why Strata-gee’s stories drew such big audiences. An employee in the Masimo Consumer division told me that when they wanted to find out what was going on at the parent company, they turned to Strata-gee – from whom they got more information and details than there were getting internally from their own company.
#2 – Masimo Board ‘Authorizes’ Management to Prepare Spin-Off of Consumer Unit
In Spring, we learned for the first time officially – from an unexpected and seemingly abruptly distributed press release on a late Friday afternoon – that the Masimo Board had authorized management to begin planning the spin-off of Sound United. This was big news indeed as up until now the company was seemingly paralyzed between spinning it off, or keeping it. Up until now, there had been no commitment, just a lot of debate.
Then suddenly, an announcement that a spin-off plan was being prepared. This was huge!
See Masimo Board ‘Authorizes’ Management to Prepare Spin-Off of Consumer Unit…
#1 – Analog Cassette Tape is Mounting a Comeback
Yes, my story about analog cassette tape making a statistically significant comeback is the number one story of the year – and by a wide margin! This story drew a lot of comments from readers – some said they were participating in the trend, while others were more skeptical…suggesting it was just a fad…or nostalgia. Privately, I received some anonymous emails that went so far as to almost be derisive about both the story and the fact that I found it interesting enough to report on it.
But the trend of the growth of interest in analog media and technology keeps popping up over and over again – in multiple categories. My story was picked up by Google News and was also offered in news feeds on predominantly Android smartphones – all of which drew an interesting, if non-traditional Strata-gee reader.
Read Analog Cassette Tape is Mounting a Comeback…
Always fun to have audio stuff that isn’t even high-fidelity regaining popularity.
Have a happy and safe new year everyone.