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Tech’s Newest Power Couple: Sony and Honda

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Sony and Honda CEOs announce joint venture

So Sony has just pulled a major donut – finally coming full circle. Sony Group’s CEO stood alongside Honda Motor’s CEO as the two companies announced that they were forming a joint venture with automotive manufacturing powerhouse Honda agreeing to partner with the sensor and mobile entertainment electronics king Sony to actually manufacture electric vehicles (EVs) – or what we’ve known up to this point as the Sony Vision-S vehicles. At last, our trip down the long and winding (and confusing) road has arrived at a final destination.

And with this announcement, we now have tech’s newest power couple…

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Sputtering Supply Chain Takes Another Hit as China Forces Factories to Close

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Shutdowns in Shenzhen China threaten the supply chain
Shuttered buildings in Shenzhen, China on Monday [Photo: Chinatopix, via Associated Press]

Here we go again! Yet another major blow has been dealt to the supply chain, this time from another round of COVID-19 hitting China, forcing lockdowns in many critical areas of the country – including Shenzhen. You may or may not know that much of the electronics goods manufactured in China come out of the Shenzhen region – so we all have a direct connection to the impact of this development. Add to this, new reports of container costs rising again and transportation disruptions from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. What’s next?

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Onkyo Announces Two Subsidiaries Will Cease Operations & File for Bankruptcy

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One of the products to be sold in Onkyo’s new direct-to-consumer business

Onkyo Home Entertainment Company Ltd. (formerly Onkyo Corp.) has announced that two of its consolidated subsidiaries will cease operations and file for bankruptcy. It is yet another dramatic development in the company’s effort to stop the bleeding and stabilize the company. But substantial concerns exist about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Learn more on these shuttered Onkyo subsidiaries

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AKM Responds to Strata-gee Request for Comment on Damaged Factory

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Last week, I updated the story of the Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) factory fire that destroyed one of the world’s largest fabs producing semiconductors, particularly LSIs (large-scale integrated circuits) for digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) widely used in audio for consumer, pro, and commercial applications. [See post: AKM Fire Update: Co. Makes Progress, Interim Solution Shows Promise] At the time I was working on that report, I reached out to AKM for comment on what I was learning from my sources, but did not receive a reply by the time the story was posted.

This morning, AKM responded to my request…

See what AKM said in a statement to Strata-gee…

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AKM Fire Update: Co. Makes Progress, Interim Solution Shows Promise

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burned out AKM factory
[Click to enlarge] [Photo: nikogorio (Twitter)]

Commits to Deliver New DACs & ADCs in 2022!

In one of the most-read stories ever posted on Strata-gee.com, I reported on a fire in October 2020 at an AKM factory in Japan. AKM is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of large-scale integrated circuits (LSI) used in a variety of products, including digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) for the audio industry. In that post, I warned you that this fire threatens to “disrupt the global supply of critical digital ICs.” It was the bright red flag of what was to become a massive supply chain headache that the world continues to struggle with to this day.

UPDATE: What’s happening now after the AKM fire

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Sony Forecasts a Record Profit; Says NOT Entering the Car Building Biz

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New Financial Info Shows Sony Continues to Transform Biz

On the eve of closing out their current fiscal year (fiscal 2021) on March 30, 2022, Sony Group announced their latest financial results for the first nine months of the fiscal year…and included a surprising new upgrade of their forecast, now saying they’ll have a record operating profit for the year. This was a high note for the company, a company that has benefitted from consumers spending more time at home playing video games on their PlayStation, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the company also answered the question that many – including me – had about Sony entering the automobile business via their new Sony Mobile division – and in so doing, reiterated their plan to move away from a hardware-centric business.

See more on where tech leader Sony is headed

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Sputtering Supply Chain Hit Again – Surge of COVID in Vietnam Closes Factories

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COVID surge in Vietnam is causing global supply chain issues

Brands Like Apple, Samsung, Nike & Adidas Have Been Forced to Close

In a new hit to the supply chain, top brands report that they have been forced to close down factories in Vietnam as the country struggles with a COVID resurgence of surprising resiliency. Notable brand names like Samsung, Nike, Adidas, Apple, Coca-Cola have all at one time or another over the last 90-days been forced to close some or all of their factories as employees came down with the illness.

See more on this new supply chain disruption…

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LG Hits All-New Record in Preliminary Fiscal 2021 2nd Quarter Results

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LG show display
LG OLED Wave from a past trade show exhibit

LG Electronics Inc (LG) released preliminary results for their fiscal 2021 second quarter, and they were an eye-opener. In fact, even in the wake of their surprising decision to exit the smartphone business, the company says they booked an all-new record in the quarter.

See the LG 2nd quarter results…

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Voxx Announces Final Deal to Acquire Onkyo, with a Twist

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onkyo portable record player

Voxx International has announced that they have finalized their agreement to partner with Sharp Corporation to acquire the Home Entertainment Division of Onkyo – news that Strata-gee readers knew about last week. The news comes as a result of Onkyo shareholders voting last Friday to approve the sale of the company to Voxx’s subsidiary known as the Premium Audio Company. Not much was new here on the Onkyo front, as we already told you about the deal only covering the Onkyo and Integra brands. However, we did learn some more interesting details on the company’s attempts relative to the Pioneer and Pioneer Elite brands.

See what’s happening with Voxx, Onkyo & Pioneer

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End of an Era: Onkyo Shareholders Vote to Sell Off Home Entertainment Division

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Photo of Onkyo Atmos models at CE Week
Onkyo Atmos-ready AV models at a past CE Week [Click to enlarge]

BREAKING NEWS

In a rather terse announcement to investors posted today, Onkyo Home Entertainment Company, Ltd. announced that, by a majority vote of company shareholders, the sale of the company’s Home Entertainment Division to Voxx International has been approved. This vote of approval was widely anticipated and represents the last formality in the transfer of the company over to Voxx. This is the first time since 1945 that Onkyo’s parent company is no longer involved in the home entertainment business.

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