The latest data from market research firm Strategy Analytics shows that Amazon is still the king of the smart speaker market – selling more smart speakers than anyone else. But the data also showed something else rather surprising – Google has substantially closed the gap between it and Amazon, coming within about 5.5% of Amazon’s market share numbers in the all-important fourth quarter selling season.
Archives for 2019
Emerald Expositions Says Sales Were Up in 2018, Yet Results Show a Big Loss
Fiscal Q4 Saw $57M in Sales, But a $90M Loss
Emerald Expositions Events, Inc. (NYSE: EEX), owner of the CEDIA Expo and many other shows, reported their fiscal 2018 fourth quarter and full year results on Thursday and it was a dramatically mixed picture that suggests the company is still working through problems on many of its largest shows. Revenues in both periods increased nicely, largely thanks to acquisitions – but the company reported a large net loss as it was forced to take an impairment charge against earnings to write down the value of some of their shows as carried on their books.
See more details on Emerald’s mixed results…
[Read more…] about Emerald Expositions Says Sales Were Up in 2018, Yet Results Show a Big LossJosh.ai & Savant Partner on Advanced Voice Integration
Josh.ai announced this morning that it has partnered with Savant to bring their more intuitive voice command system to one of the leading control systems in custom integration. While there are many advantages to this partnership, a big one is bringing the seamless integration of voice commands to Savant’s renowned user-centric ‘scene’ feature.
See more on this Josh.ai & Savant partnership
[Read more…] about Josh.ai & Savant Partner on Advanced Voice IntegrationTed Green Featured as Guest Panelist on ResiWeek
Panel Talks About Control4/NEEO Acquisition, Death of Crestron Pyng & Elan Touchpanels
ResiWeek, the podcast from AVNation.tv that is focused on the residential integration industry segment, has once again invited Strata-gee editor Ted Green to participate as a guest panelist on its weekly podcast. This episode #158 featured several top stories pulled from the industry news of the day.
See what topics Ted discussed on ResiWeek…
[Read more…] about Ted Green Featured as Guest Panelist on ResiWeekParker Custom Solutions is James Loudspeaker 2018 Rep of the Year
James Loudspeaker announced this week that it has selected Parker Custom Solutions as its independent sales rep of the year for 2018. Based in Arizona, Parker has dramatically increased the sales of James’ products throughout the territory the company said.
See more on James and its Rep of the Year…
[Read more…] about Parker Custom Solutions is James Loudspeaker 2018 Rep of the YearAmazon Acquires WiFi Router Maker Eero
This week we learned that Amazon has acquired Eero, a start-up company that offers a mesh WiFi system. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the company does reveal what drew them to the still small, but rapidly growing Eero.
See why Amazon wanted Eero…
[Read more…] about Amazon Acquires WiFi Router Maker EeroRussound Shows New Products at ISE First Previewed at CEDIA 2018
I recently visited Russound up in Newmarket, New Hampshire, a bucolic community of less than 9,000 residents that is rich in history – it was established in 1727 – and situated near the University of New Hampshire in Durham. The town’s rich history is an allegory for Russound itself, a company that is also rich in history – established in 1967 – but finds itself streaming into the future.
As part of my visit, the company gave me a sneak peek at what it is showing at ISE in Amsterdam this week.
See more on Russound and their new models at ISE…
[Read more…] about Russound Shows New Products at ISE First Previewed at CEDIA 2018Sonos Reports Record Fiscal Results – Stock Immediately Tanks Double Digits
Sales Up, Profits Up…What’s Not to Like?
In what is becoming a bit of a familiar refrain in tech these days, including our report just yesterday on Control4’s results, Sonos reported record results for their fiscal first quarter on Wednesday. The company beat analysts’ expectations for revenues ($496 million vs. $491M expected) and for earnings ($0.55/share versus $0.41 expected). And yet, their stock tanked fully 17% after the announcement. Not only that, but as of 11:00AM today, Sonos stock is down another more than 13%.
What went wrong for Sonos in this positive announcement?…
[Read more…] about Sonos Reports Record Fiscal Results – Stock Immediately Tanks Double DigitsControl4 CEO Warns of Slowing Growth, Says Retrofit is Key
By most measures, Control4 had an excellent quarter and a record year in Fiscal 2018. Revenues and income were up for the quarter and the company noted that 2018 was another record year in financial performance with both revenues and profits increasing nicely.
But during an investor call, CEO Martin Plaehn warned that they are experiencing new headwinds that are slowing growth. And on the day after the fiscal results were announced, Control4’s stock got hit hard, dropping at one point more than 18% and closing down about 17%.
See what’s going on at Control4…
[Read more…] about Control4 CEO Warns of Slowing Growth, Says Retrofit is KeyNAD Shows New Distribution Amp for CI Channel at ISE
NAD Electronics, the specialty manufacturer of primarily custom integration products, announced today it will show a new multi-channel distribution amplifier targeted squarely at the custom integration channel at next week’s Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) show in Amsterdam. Called the CI 8-120 DSP, this amp is packed with attractive features in a compact, easy-to-install package.