Strategy in TECH...
Racepoint Energy, sister company of Savant Systems LLC, announced this week that it has acquired innovative residential lighting control provider NOON Home. Based in Campbell, CA, NOON offers an impressive array of intuitive lighting and intelligent control solutions.
Melrose Industries plc, the British turnaround specialist who acquires underperforming companies to improve their operations and management for resale, is now actively considering selling off the bulk of Nortek in a deal that could be worth $3 billion, according to reports from Bloomberg News and the Financial Times. If they actually execute this sale, it will be a relatively early exit from their ownership of Nortek which they purchased in 2016 for $2.8 billion.
This Friday, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence will testify before a Congressional committee (the House antitrust subcommittee) that is investigating the issue of competition in digital markets. Or, I should say, they are investigating whether the tech giants – Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, etc. – are engaging in anti-competitive activities in violation of the law. The Sonos CEO is likely to complain that Google is in fact anti-competitive. Spence’s appearance takes place literally just days after it has filed a major patent infringement lawsuit against Google – alleging that the tech giant stole its proprietary technology…making them a victim.
New York Metro manufacturer sales representative firm Atlantic Integrated has announced the appointment of Anthony Polzella as its New York Sales Manager.
Bose Corp. announced earlier today that it will close a total of 119 Bose retail stores as a response to changing retail purchasing trends. The locations to be closed represents their entire retail footprint in North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia.
Who says the mainstream media has abandoned CES? No less than the venerable Forbes.com ran a feature story that noted an enthusiastic crowd gathered around a booth offering a dynamic presentation on an amazing new technology…a ‘smart’ potato. No, this is NOT a spoof by The Onion – it is real. Yes, the booth and young man promoting the smart potato was a stunt…but the article from Forbes about it is real.
CES 2020, the big show, is about over (ending the day this was posted) and as usual there are a slew of announcements. It can be a little overwhelming with so much happening in Las Vegas, but there are some stories that flat out are just more important or interesting than others.
For many, many years the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) – an exposition hosted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) – was a huge part of the technology industry. In many ways, it was virtually the embodiment of tech – you HAD to go there to discover the latest products that were being shown to buyers so they could get their orders placed in time for the prime selling season starting in the fall of that year.
Sonos announced on Tuesday that it has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against tech powerhouse Google – by far their biggest…and potentially riskiest…action yet. And perhaps keeping Emerson’s quote in mind, Sonos took a double punch at the king, filing a lawsuit against Google in the District Court for the Central District of California…AND at the same time, filing a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission. This is the first time, Sonos has started a war on two fronts, suggesting to me that they are deadly serious in this effort.
