Strategy in TECH...
A Federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York delivered a verdict against Lutron Electronics Co., finding that it had infringed on a window shade patent held by GeigTech East Bay, a South Carolina company. The jury awarded GeigTech $34.6 million in damages for Lutron’s infringement, a figure that Lutron called “grossly excessive.”
Draper at Home, a division of Draper, Inc., announced this week that it has appointed a National Director of CI (custom integration), a new role at the company. The company said it created the new position in response to the continuing growth in Draper’s custom integration business.
On Tuesday this week, a previously announced program being offered by Snap One – now Resideo – has begun. This program, called Control4 Connect, is a mandatory program that requires all integrators to connect all new client installations of Control4 products directly to Snap One’s central station for future software updates and data collection.
It is a new kind of transactional connection that establishes a direct relationship with the client for direct-to-user system updates and base-level client support supplied – not by the local integrator – but by Control4 support.
Residential construction, known as housing starts, dropped in March by a surprising double-digit percentage. Most industry analysts believe that the slowdown is due to stubborn inflation readings motivating the Fed to keep interest rates high which is affecting mortgage rates and home affordability.
After solid gains in February raised hopes in the segment, the March numbers were a chilling splash of reality as home inventory is low and mortgage rates are high.
The day after we learned about the acquisition of Snap One by security company Resideo, Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., one of the nation’s preeminent credit rating agencies, issued its initial judgment of the impact of this deal on Resideo’s creditworthiness. What they had to say kind of swung two ways so I thought I would share its perspective with you.
Frank Sterns, a well-known and highly regarded (some would say renowned) industry executive, has been retained to consult on custom integration matters with Nationwide Marketing Group. Clearly a sign of just how serious the large diversified Nationwide organization is about targeting custom integration, Sterns brings a wealth of Grade A experience as a leader in the custom integration space.
This morning we learned that Snap One Holdings, Corp. (Nasdaq: SNPO) has been acquired by large security provider Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI) and private equity company Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) in a $1.4 billion deal. If you aren’t familiar with the Resideo name, you may know them by ADI, their distribution wing.
The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2024.
Austin AudioWorks (AAW), a startup audio brand that was to have its launch at this week’s AXPONA show in Chicago, has announced that due to illness striking one [or more] “family member[s]” it is forced to cancel its participation in the event. Expressing regret for this unforeseen development, the company will announce a revised rollout plan as soon as is practicable.
Luxman announced this week that it is launching its very first network transport that provides for the playback of a wide range of digital file-based and streaming audio sources in a quality component system. This new streamer, the NT-07, embraces the high-end engineering and componentry that is typical of the Luxman brand, helping audiophiles to enjoy a higher grade of musical performance in their home.
Last Friday, Apple, Inc. filed a massive appeal with the U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit asking the judges to overturn the ruling of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) which sided with Masimo and ordered a ban on sales of certain models of the Apple Watch. The filing runs an impressive 916 pages long and cites multiple elements of the ITC ruling, telling the Federal Court that the commission “…both exceeded its authority and issued a series of flawed substantive rulings.”
