Strategy in TECH...
Starting first thing this morning, our office was inundated with multiple sources contacting us by phone and email to tell us that something big was happening over at Sunnyvale, CA-based, media-server company Kaleidescape. While there were minor variations on the stories we received, they all came down to the same thing – an exit of several employees, including some top executives, from the company.
Reuters reported this week that Bain Capital, the private equity company that virtually became a household name when CEO Mitt Romney ran for president against Barack Obama, is seeking to refinance the buyout financing it used to acquire D&M Holdings, Inc., also known as the D+M Group. It’s not going to be easy.
A group of concerned citizens and several environmental groups have banded together to form an organization known as the Protect the Palisades group in an effort to stop LG Electronics USA from building a new headquarters tower in an area of New Jersey called the Palisades. The Palisades is a large wooded area that spans parts of Northern New Jersey and Southern New York, and it borders on the picturesque Hudson River. It is famed for its wild and natural beauty – and it is a U.S. National Natural Landmark.
In a new report from research firm Visible Measures and reported on by eMarketer, views of branded videos in the fourth quarter last year jumped an impressive 50% in the year-over-year (YoY) period and an even more impressive 60% as compared with third quarter results. In looking over the report, we couldn’t help but notice that the industry that earned the greatest share of this dramatic growth was electronics.
Toshiba Digital Products Division announced today that it has formed a strategic alliance with GrandCare Systems – a well-known company specializing in digital aging-in-place products, sensors, and solutions. According to Toshiba, GrandCare’s telehealth and communications capabilities will now be delivered via “secure, high-performance Toshiba devices.”
In a report out of Japan last week, the Nikkei says that Sharp Corp. has reached a deal with Best Buy that will allow the retailer to license the Sharp brand name to be used on TVs made by OEM manufacturers for smaller and less expensive TVs. Sharp will continue to retain the brand for larger-sized sets (i.e. >50-inches), while Best Buy will have their OEM suppliers make Sharp-branded sets in smaller sizes.
Then move could be risky, potentially causing a conflict between the lower quality smaller sets and the higher quality larger sets…each bearing the Sharp brand.
Core Brands continues to rejigger its team as we mentioned in our Breaking News SYNCH earlier this week. And one major step in this process took place in September 2013 when Core Brands surprised many by announcing the appointment of Joe Roberts as its new head of marketing, replacing Paul Starkey. Two weeks later, Roberts headed to his first CEDIA ready to jump in feet first and reassure dealers of the company’s direction…and learn all about any concerns that they felt the company needed to address.
Today we learned that Core Brands has taken steps to reorganize their product marketing teams with moves both to bring in new executives – and to move two prominent executives out. Mitch Witten, former Core Brands Director of Audio, and Mark Weisenberg, Business Development, are both out of the company effective immediately.
The DaVinci Group, Inc., a young but rapidly growing manufacturer of custom integration products, announced today at the 2014 ISE show that Jeff Francisco has been named President of the company. Francisco has been the company’s Vice President of Sales for most of the last year.
According to the company, this announcement is part of an overall expansion of its executive team, as the company seeks to build up its infrastructure to better address its rapid growth.
Aim High Audio Sales and Distribution announced that they will hold a major dealer event for custom integrators throughout the Southeast in Atlanta, GA called The 2nd Annual Big Show. This Big Show is scheduled to take place March 25 & 26 at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest in Atlanta and will present displays from the company’s significant line of brands, as well as special speakers and presentations.
The company also announced that it has expanded its coverage in Florida with two industry veterans joining the organization.
