Archives for 2015
2015: Accomplishments & Top 10 Stories
It was a huge year for Strata-gee.com in 2015 – thanks to all of our readers like you! Not only did we sign up a slew of new subscribers to our SYNCH e-newsletter – a big THANK YOU if you were one of them – but our average weekly page views continued to grow as well. Our “heat map” that graphically displays when readers are on our website shows that there are readers on our website every hour of every day – and every day of every week. But we get a blazing “hot” heat signature on Thursdays, when the SYNCH is blasted out to you, with the hotness continuing on into Fridays.
See more on our results from 2015…including the Top 10 stories of the year… [Read more…] about 2015: Accomplishments & Top 10 Stories
Allnet Distributing Opens Outlet in Indianapolis
Allnet Distributing, the large Chicago-based custom integration-focused distribution company founded by former AVAD principal Wally Whinna, announced that it has opened an outlet in Carmel, IN, an area just outside of Indianapolis. The new location will take over responsibility for servicing the Indiana market which was previously handled out of the firm’s Chicago-area headquarters facility in Elk Grove Village, IL.
See more on this regional expansion by a major Midwest distributor… [Read more…] about Allnet Distributing Opens Outlet in Indianapolis
Toshiba Credit Rating Cut to ‘Junk’ Status by Moody’s
Last week, Moody’s Investors Service announced that it was cutting Toshiba Corp.’s long-term senior bond rating to Ba2, or “junk” status. Considering recent reports from Toshiba, a major industry player that is stumbling in the wake of a scandalous accounting misstep reported earlier this year, the move from the rating service makes sense. But the headline about a brand that was once one of the most admired companies in Japan, and a worldwide industrial and electronics powerhouse for many years, is stunning nonetheless.
There is even more from Moody’s, who changed other ratings as well… [Read more…] about Toshiba Credit Rating Cut to ‘Junk’ Status by Moody’s
Hon Hai Precision Makes Play to Acquire Sharp
BREAKING NEWS
Sharp’s Stock Price Skyrockets on News – Up Over 8% in Trading Yesterday
The media in Japan is reporting that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., a Taiwanese manufacturer mostly known for its Foxconn OEM division that is Apple Inc.’s largest supplier, has made a $2.5 billion offer acquire Sharp Corp., Japan’s troubled LCD display manufacturer. But Hon Hai’s offer has one very special condition of sale that won’t be popular in Sharp’s Osaka headquarters…
See what Hon Hai is demanding as a condition of the acquisition of Sharp… [Read more…] about Hon Hai Precision Makes Play to Acquire Sharp
HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Strata-gee.com!
Japanese Media Speculates Sharp May Not Survive the Winter
Toshiba, who is on the verge of announcing a record loss and plans another round of layoffs, is far from the only Japanese giant who is stumbling. A new analysis by the Nikkei suggests it’s possible that Sharp Corp. may not have enough cash to survive the winter – despite the fact that multiple potential suitors are swirling around them in a head-spinning series of negotiations that, so far, are unproductive. And the news of these new troubles have surfaced after they successfully concluded negotiations for a ¥200 billion bank bailout in April.
See more on how Sharp’s situation has deteriorated this year… [Read more…] about Japanese Media Speculates Sharp May Not Survive the Winter
Silent Thiel Suddenly Trumpets a New App-Controlled Subwoofer
STORY UPDATED 12/23/2015 – SEE BELOW
Thiel Audio unexpectedly announced late today that it would show and demonstrate a new product – a powered subwoofer – at next month’s CES show in Las Vegas, Nevada. This new subwoofer, called the SmartSub™ 1.12, is the first new product introduced by Thiel in a year and appears to contain several new technologies for the company including Wi-Fi integration, app control, advanced signal processing and more.
See what we know so far about this new subwoofer from Thiel… [Read more…] about Silent Thiel Suddenly Trumpets a New App-Controlled Subwoofer
New HTSA Board of Directors Selected
A new board of directors has been selected by the Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA), one of the leading retail buying groups in the U.S. This new board, along with the recently announced new managing director (Jon Robbins), represents an all-new and fresh approach to group management and oversight – albeit from a selection of executives with tremendous history within the organization.
See who’s on the HTSA board and why they were selected… [Read more…] about New HTSA Board of Directors Selected
Good Economic Sign: November Housing Starts Shoot Up
In a result that exceeded economists’ estimates, November overall housing starts jumped an impressive 10.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.173 million units. Well over the revised October rate of 1.062 million units, it also exceeded the 1.007 million units in November last year by 16.5%.
More importantly for our industry, single-family home construction rates jumped as well.
