Strategy in TECH...
LG Electronics Inc. is on a roll, as evidenced by their fiscal third quarter results. The company says it has set an all-time record for third quarter revenues while at the same time booking their best quarterly profit in a decade.
Korean media is reporting that Sharp, the former Japanese powerhouse brand now owned by Taiwan’s Foxconn, is late on approximately tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars worth of payments to Korean factory gear makers. Not only are they late, but they are said to be demanding even more discounts on the outstanding debt owed to multiple South Korean suppliers of factory equipment destined for use in LCD production factories. All of this is being done in violation of covenants in their purchase contracts with these suppliers.
This dispute may raise to level of government intervention.
Luxman America has appointed well known industry executive John Pravel as its Vice President of Sales. Previous to this appointment, Pravel was one of Luxman’s sales representatives in upstate New York.
As the economy continues to show more signs of a slowdown, we can’t help but notice increasing volatility in the month-to-month readings of various statistics. The latest government data on housing construction starts is a great example of this. After a big jump in August, starts dropped in September by 9.4% – a larger than normal amount – from the revised rate in August.
After receiving a stipulation allowing them more time to respond, Lenbrook Industries Ltd, and Lenbrook America, last week filed their response to the Sonos patent litigation they were hit with in June. It was a robust and smart response that clearly communicated that Lenbrook planned to give no ground in this dispute.
While perhaps not quite as audacious as the D&M response when they were first dealt the blow of litigation…Lenbrook offered a smart and savvy response that not only pushed back but seemingly undercuts many of Sonos’ core allegations..and patents.
Melrose Industries PLC, a U.K. based investment group that purchased Nortek, Inc. back in 2016, released their fiscal 2019 first half financial results last month (for the period ending June 30, 2019). And while the results showed strong sales growth (thanks to a large acquisition) the company still booked a net loss.
Perhaps more interesting, was that Nortek’s Security & Smart Technology unit figured quite prominently in the document – often for the wrong reasons.
In a new report by the U.S. Commerce Department released Wednesday, U.S. retail sales in September have broadly dropped for the first time in seven months. The report is seen by many economists as another significant sign of a cooling economy.
New research data released by eMarketer on the search engine advertising market shows that Google, the perennial leader in search advertising revenues, remains in first place. However, the data reveals a strongly rising competitor coming in second. Who that competitor is just may surprise you.
As you most likely know by now, Onkyo Corp. and Sound United have called off their transaction which would have transferred ownership of the 73-year old Onkyo brand, as well as the Integra, Pioneer, and Pioneer Elite brands to Sound United. The shocking news capped off a nearly five month process where many in the industry tried to figure out just how this deal made sense.
This was the second loss of a potential buyer for Onkyo, which admits it is re-evaluating its future based on the failure to sell off its brands.
Always an entertaining stop at CEDIA, Origin Acoustics didn’t disappoint again this year with a significant number of new models, some other updated models, and new announcements. See what caught my eye at this CEDIA Expo…
