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Japanese Startup to Disrupt U.S. Residential Construction Market

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Photo of Takeshi HommaAs you head home from work today, take a look around you at the other commuters on the road. All around you are Toyotas, Hondas, Nissans, Suburus and the like. These are all signs of the incredible success Japan has has penetrating the U.S. automobile market – taking significant market share away from the once dominant Big Three American auto makers, GM, Ford, and Dodge/Chrysler many years ago.

Can Japan do it again? Are builders D.R. Horton, Lennar, PulteGroup, K.B. Homes at risk of the same loss of market share? If Takeshi Homma (pictured here) is successful, he hopes to help Japanese companies take a big bite of the American homebuilding market.

See this bold plan to bring Japanese companies into American homebuilding… [Read more…] about Japanese Startup to Disrupt U.S. Residential Construction Market

Fake News…Anchors? China Unveils AI News Anchors

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Virtual AI news anchor

The Chinese government has targeted artificial intelligence (AI) as a technology they want to dominate globally. They are pouring billions of dollars annually into AI development and directing universities to focus on the technology in all of their fundamental research.

Now, in the first public demonstration of their progress in AI technology, the state-run Xinhua News Agency has introduced and demonstrated a pair of virtual news anchors or avatars based on two known Chinese flesh-and-blood reporters.

See more on China’s new virtual news anchors using AI to read the news… [Read more…] about Fake News…Anchors? China Unveils AI News Anchors

Foxconn’s Double Dose of Bad News

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A Negative Financial Report & a New Wisconsin Governor Add to Headaches

No doubt about it, Apple Inc. supplier Foxconn has had a really bad week. First, last Tuesday Wisconsin voters kicked Republican Governor Scott Walker out of office, replacing him with Democrat Tony Evers. Then early this week, the company released financial results with disappointing earnings that missed analysts estimates. Both of these unrelated events have combined to cause market analysts to question the company’s strategy going forward.

See more on what these events mean bad news for Foxconn… [Read more…] about Foxconn’s Double Dose of Bad News

Tivoli Partners Learn of a Buyout – 1 Year Later

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Tivoli logoWhen we last left Tivoli, the company created many years ago by Tom DeVesto who is now the CEO of Como Audio, it was 2015 and they had just been sold by one private equity company, with the help of another private equity company, to a third private equity company. Now word comes that the third private equity company, Serruya Private Equity of Toronto, which Strata-gee wrote about in June 2015, has sold Tivoli in a buyout to the company’s management in conjunction with a financial backer.

See more on the continuing Tivoli saga… [Read more…] about Tivoli Partners Learn of a Buyout – 1 Year Later

Onkyo Targets OEM Business to Beef Up Results

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Onkyo logoOnkyo Corporation, parent of the Onkyo, Integra, and Pioneer AV brands, is expanding its OEM business unit to help build its business and offset losses it has experienced over the last five years, according to a report by the Nikkei in Japan. Investors are said to be skeptical of the move, but the company is targeting the automotive segment in India where they expect to see significant growth.

See more on this interesting move by Onkyo… [Read more…] about Onkyo Targets OEM Business to Beef Up Results

Parent of Mission & QUAD Signs Deal with DTS

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DTS Play-Fi logoDTS announced this week that is has signed on International Audio Group (IAG), parent company of Mission and QUAD, as a new hardware partner in the DTS Play-Fi whole-home audio ecosystem. IAG joins a growing sphere of major brands supporting the DTS multi-room, wireless music system.

See more on this new DTS/IAG partnership… [Read more…] about Parent of Mission & QUAD Signs Deal with DTS

Gibson Investment Gone, Onkyo Sells Off European Operations

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In Restructuring, Company Scales Back to ‘Core Competencies’

onkyologoAll the way back in 2012, Onkyo Corp. and Gibson Guitar Corp. came together to partner in what both hoped would become an entity where the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. Just months after their announcement, Onkyo forged ties to another Japanese audio brand, Teac/Tascam – just as Gibson stepped in to buy a majority share of them…and the combined entity began to grow.

Little did they know that just six short years later, Gibson, the investor in Onkyo, would implode into bankruptcy – forced to extricate itself from its Onkyo aspirations. Onkyo was hit as well, losing its Gibson investment – forcing them to reassess their direction. We now learn that Onkyo has sold off its entire European operations to an accessory distributor known as Aqipa GmbH.

See more on this surprising announcement by Onkyo… [Read more…] about Gibson Investment Gone, Onkyo Sells Off European Operations

Painting the Gibson Bankruptcy by the Numbers

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Gibson Memphis facility artworkWe have been closely following – first Gibson Guitar and then Gibson Brands – from their decision in 2012 to shoot for the stars by using OPM (other people’s money) to make highly leveraged…and highly questionable…acquisitions of various consumer electronics brands (a category in which the CEO and his team had no experience) to their recent 2018 bankruptcy. Gibson was trying to diversify their musical instrument business into something that now former CEO Henry Juszkiewicz called a music lifestyle brand. Instead, they wound up in bankruptcy.

Let’s look at what some of the numbers in the Gibson filings reveal… [Read more…] about Painting the Gibson Bankruptcy by the Numbers

Docs Show Gibson Bankruptcy Bigger Than You Think

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Photo of Gibson CES promoFounded in 1894, it is a mark of their long-term brand success that Gibson has become such a large and far-flung international organization. In a cursory review of documents submitted to the court as part of their bankruptcy filing shows, legendary performers such as Muddy Waters, BB King, Elvis Presley, Pete Townsend, Keith Richards, Duane Allman, Elvis Costello, Lenny Kravitz, Slash, Dave Grohl, Joe Bonamassa all used various Gibson products that, in some cases, became a signature of that performer. And yes, the bankruptcy filing promotes these iconic names.

But from these Gibson filings, we’ve learned so much more… [Read more…] about Docs Show Gibson Bankruptcy Bigger Than You Think

Newly Flush Sony’s Smart Employee Pay Strategy

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Kaz Hirai and Gary ShapiroBig Raises and Record Bonuses for Sony Employees in 2018

Sony Corp. is said to be planning to raise their employees pay rates by a very substantial 5 percent – and to pay record bonuses, according to a report by the Japan Times. This move is seen as a smart strategy by the company, newly flush with record profits after their successful turnaround by outgoing CEO Kaz Hirai, as it battles to secure top talent in a highly competitive hiring environment.

See more on how Sony is pressing their advantage to attract top talent… [Read more…] about Newly Flush Sony’s Smart Employee Pay Strategy