Strategy in TECH...
While there’s no question that the economy continues to expand, certain indicators are sending chills down economists’ spines – and the latest Consumer Confidence Index is one of those indicators. According to the latest data from The Conference Board (TCB), the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) declined in November in a sign that consumers’ attitudes about the economy are turning cold.
In a special presentation to Strata-gee, Snap One educators Rus Rassmussen and Shayne Larsen shared with me the company’s latest revamped educational initiative designed to better educate integrators by improving comprehension and retention. This program, created and designed by the company’s education team, is now beginning to roll out and is impressive in scope, style, and design – it just may be Snap One’s greatest invention yet.
Atlantic Integrated, a leading specialty manufacturer sales representative firm in the New York Metro market, announced last week that they have expanded their organization in order to help maintain their superior level of service as their business continues to grow. To help them address this expansion, they have appointed the newly-added Justin Zuber as Sales Manager.
Last year at this time, I pondered whether it was possible to be thankful at Thanksgiving in a year that contained so much pain and suffering. With 2020 as the year of COVID-19, there was so much negativity everywhere, how could we possibly be thankful? Part of my answer was to look forward to the “return to normalcy” as we exited the pandemic in 2021. Whoops!
Last week, Crestron Electronics, a leading provider of control and automation solutions, wrapped up their two-day regional show, the Crestron Next Road Trip, at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston. The well-attended two-day event saw hundreds of integrators descend on Boston to participate in an event that included whole sections of their displays from the CEDIA Expo and InfoComm trade show booths and offered full-day educational courses for both their residential and commercial dealers.
By now many of us are deep in our planning for 2022. What factors should you consider as you think about the business conditions you face next year? Will 2022 be more of the same as 2021? Or will trends be more negative…or more positive?
In spite of the fact that the economy is continuing to grow as it powers away from the days of COVID shutdowns, a preliminary November reading of consumer sentiment shows a dramatic drop to a 10-year low, as consumers fret about growing inflation. While economists have long warned that transitory inflation would be a temporary part of our overall economic recovery, consumers are clearly concerned that this inflation may be hanging around for a while and it is already crimping their lifestyle.
Crestron Electronics, one of the industry’s most powerful home automation brands, announced today that it has launched a new line of battery-powered custom shades. While Crestron has been in the shading business for quite some time now, this new line of battery-powered shades – to my mind at least – seems perfectly suited as a complement to their burgeoning Crestron Home residential automation ecosystem.
Snap One Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SNPO) announced the results for its fiscal 2021 third quarter last week and said that thanks in part to an August 2021 price increase and continued expansion of its dealer base, the company booked a substantial revenue increase to $260.7 million, or 15% higher than the same quarter the year before. However, the company additionally reported a net loss of -$21.5 million, way below the net income of $1.4 million in the quarter last year, due to a significant increase in SG&A expenses.
Residential Tech Today Editor Jeremy Glowacki interviewed Ted Green – yeah, that’s me – for their podcast which is available in both audio-only or audio/video formats. What a weird experience it was for me! I’m used to being the questioner…not the questioned. Especially when you consider the fact that Jeremy and I are friends and talk frequently about everything from the business to family and friends – it was strange when he invited me to be on the podcast and shifted into professional editor mode.
And, he asked real questions – such as why Strata-gee can sometimes be controversial and how I came to this role.
