Strategy in TECH...
Multiple reports are pouring in that Snap One, a leading custom integration supplier, has just completed a restructuring that resulted in layoffs. It is not clear at this point just how many employees were cut, but it was significant enough to motivate several sources around the country to reach out to Strata-gee.
The trials and travails of WiSA Technologies (NASDAQ: WISA) appear to be continuing, if not accelerating, as the company said it has received a new notification from the Nasdaq stock exchange informing the company that its stock has violated yet another rule of the exchange, triggering a new instant delisting process. And this all took place in the wake of it just having won an additional 180-day extension period to try and cure a previous violation of a different rule from 2022. So what happens now?
Just one day after I posted the story Tech Takes a Turn…Downwards, we learned of more layoffs hitting tech, including Google parent Alphabet, Spotify, Vox Media, and more. These additional reports of even more tech layoffs only help to affirm the reality of a slowdown hitting big tech and other areas that are adjacent to tech, such as media focused on tech.
After several years of dizzying growth, the technology sector is now experiencing a notable downturn, as the post-COVID era has brought a combination of higher prices (inflation) and lower demand. In response, 2022 saw significant job cuts at major Big Tech brands that have continued on into 2023. That includes this Wednesday when Microsoft announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs – after a 1,000 job cut in October 2022 – another big blow to Tech.
But what about the more specific segments like consumer electronics and custom integration?
Trinnov Audio announced on Tuesday that it has created a new position at the company of Customer Support Manager and appointed Chrisanne Rhodes to the role. For a company offering highly sophisticated technologies and products, this new role is likely to be an extremely important addition to the company’s support of all levels of the market from dealers to end-users.
Sonance announced today that it has made tremendous progress in building out its new company-direct sales structure for the residential channel in Canada. Within days of launching the shift away from a national distributor based approach to an HQ-driven network, the company says it has already signed up multiple new manufacturer sales representative firms in key Canadian regions.
AudioControl, a manufacturer of specialty automotive and residential audio gear popular in the custom integration channel, announced this week the appointment of Fielder Marketing as its manufacturers sales representative firm for Northern California and Northern Nevada. Considered an important region for the company, AudioControl made the announcement which is effective immediately.
Masimo (NASDAQ: MASI), a medical products manufacturer who also owns audio products maker Sound United, said this week that a U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) Administrative Law Judge in Washington D.C. has ruled that Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has violated Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 by importing and selling models of their Apple Watch that incorporate light-based pulse oximetry technology that infringes on two of Masimo’s patents. Apple first introduced its pulse oximeter sensor in their Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020 and continues to incorporate it into models up to the current series.
Citing the “current state of the global economies” and “ongoing supply chain issues” Voxx International (NASDAQ: VOXX) reported the results of their fiscal 2023, third quarter this week and it was a story of more of the same, perhaps intensifying, business challenges that they identified when the company announced its second-quarter results. All of its major business segments reported sales declines – dropping double-digit percentages – with overall sales dropping 25.4% year-over-year. But the company said profits increased on aggressive cost cutting.
Bryston, one of the top high-end electronics and loudspeaker brands, announced the appointment of two new manufacturer sales representative organizations. The company says it has appointed Fielder Marketing for Northern California and Northern Nevada; and Nova Marketing for Minnesota, North & South Dakota, and western Wisconsin.
