A truly unique industry personality – and unabashed technology enthusiast – Len Schneider passed away Monday, after a brief illness. Most recently known as the President of TechniCom Corp., an industry marketing company offering product development capabilities and technical writing services, Schneider had a long history working in largely product marketing roles for a variety of top brand names such as Sony, Marantz, and Onkyo. However, many more in the industry became aware of him through his well-researched and approachable writings, with many articles, white papers, books and posts – including one of the most popular posts ever on Strata-gee.com – having been published on a national basis.
Archives for 2015
A Bad Day at the Office for Apple: Stock Goes Cold, Investigation Gets Hot
Apple, Inc. released the financial results of their fiscal third quarter Tuesday and by most measures, it was good news. Revenues hit $49.6 billion with net profits coming in at a robust $10.7 billion. These results were well over the $37.4 billion and $7.7 billion respectively booked in the same quarter last year. Unit sales of iPhones grew a remarkable 35%, with iPhone revenues increasing 59% to a new quarterly record; sales in China more than doubled; service revenues hit a new record; and cash reserves are at an astounding $203 billion.
How did Wall Street react to all of this “good” news? The stock tanked. At one point Apple’s market value collapsed $60 billion as the stock dropped 7% in just a matter of minutes after the announcement. Yesterday, the stock closed down 5.2%.
See why this is happening…and why government investigators are in high gear… [Read more…] about A Bad Day at the Office for Apple: Stock Goes Cold, Investigation Gets Hot
Bluesound to Offer iHeartRadio Streaming Internet Radio
Bluesound, a line of high performance wireless multi-room music components offered by specialty supplier Lenbrook America, announced this week that it has added iHeartRadio to the list of streaming services its line offers. iHeartRadio, one of the more popular Internet radio solutions, joins a growing list of cloud-based music services offered by the industry’s first high performance wireless multi-room system.
See more about this announcement from Bluesound… [Read more…] about Bluesound to Offer iHeartRadio Streaming Internet Radio
Toshiba’s Top Executive Team Resigns in Wake of Scandal
BREAKING NEWS
See more on this new development… [Read more…] about Toshiba’s Top Executive Team Resigns in Wake of Scandal
Investigators: Toshiba Over-Inflated Profits; Top Execs Knew
BREAKING NEWS
Company Schedules Press Conference Tuesday; President Expected to Resign
The Japan Times is reporting today that investigators looking into potential accounting malfeasance at Toshiba Corp. for the five-year period ending March 31, 2015 have released summary findings that confirms that the company management was directly involved in misreporting profits. The news exploded in Japan, as one of its most venerated companies has lost all credibility.
The company has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday in which it is widely anticipated that Toshiba’s President Hisao Tanaka will resign.
But the damage to the company, doesn’t end with Tanaka…see more… [Read more…] about Investigators: Toshiba Over-Inflated Profits; Top Execs Knew
5 Complaints Employees Have About Their Leaders
New research from Interact/Harris offers a cautionary tale on the risks to companies from a breakdown in communications between bosses and their employees, according to an analysis by the Harvard Business Review. Success is often contingent on efficient execution from well-directed teams. But when communication breaks down, all bets are off.
See more on the importance of keeping your team on the same page… [Read more…] about 5 Complaints Employees Have About Their Leaders
After 1-Year Delay, Artison Ships Pint-Sized Powerhouse
Artison announced last week the availability of a new freestanding subwoofer called the RCC Nano 1. This seemingly mighty miniature looked appealing on several fronts and we were curious to learn more. We read the release with interest…something about the Nano looked and sounded familiar to us. Then we remembered…we’ve seen it before!
See where we – and our loyal readers – saw the remarkable Artison Nano before… [Read more…] about After 1-Year Delay, Artison Ships Pint-Sized Powerhouse
Stressing the Industry, LCD Panel Prices Collapse 10% in 2015
In a sign of continuing struggles in the TV business, reports out of Japan indicate that LCD panel prices continue to decline. So far in 2015, the average price of LCD panels have dropped 10%…and show no sign of slowing down.
See what’s driving the decline in sales of LCD panels… [Read more…] about Stressing the Industry, LCD Panel Prices Collapse 10% in 2015
Toshiba’s Troubles Hit Tipping Point
BREAKING NEWS
Reports Say CEO is Out; Board of Directors Faces Massive Overhaul
When Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced an initiative to tighten up corporate oversight he couldn’t possibly have known that his administration’s first catch might be his biggest – Toshiba Corp. Toshiba, one of the largest and most respected companies in Japan, is being investigated for what many sources are calling one of Japan’s worst accounting scandals.
See what is coming for this titan of Japanese industry… [Read more…] about Toshiba’s Troubles Hit Tipping Point
Reps – Hire Them? Or Fire Them?
GUEST POST
Manufacturers in the CE industry have bantered this question about since the industry began. Should we establish factory direct sales teams or use independent sale representatives? Or maybe a hybrid of both? Varied levels of success and failure with any of these models riddle the history of our business. What works for one vendor may not work for another. Get 10 vendors and 10 dealers in a room and you’ll get 30 answers as to the most effective sales strategy, many of which would be valid. Which is one reason why the debate continues as to which selling strategy is best.
