Strategy in TECH...
As 2025 comes to a close, it’s interesting to look back on the Top 10 stories on Strata-gee in the year past. By top stories, I’m talking about those posts that drew the largest readership, as measured by pageviews. Clearly, you can discern some of the 2025 “mega-trends” from this list.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, or so goes a popular Christmas song…a sentiment with which I tend to agree. It’s a season – in ambition, anyway – of peace on earth and goodwill toward all. After a long, hard year, it’s good to take time away from the hustle and bustle of work and relax and refocus on valued friends and precious family.
Howard’s Appliances, Inc. has filed for bankruptcy, and we now know the path the company’s directors have chosen to take in this transition for the company. In addition to filing a comprehensive Voluntary Petition for Non-Individuals Filing for Bankruptcy, along with a series of attachments containing, among other things, huge inventory lists, the Howard’s team also added a series of Motions requesting the court grant immediate “Hearings on Emergency Basis.”
What was I able to glean from literally hundreds of pages of document filings? Read on…
Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE: EEX) – parent company of Emerald Expositions, CEDIA Expo, CEPro, Commercial Integrator, and many more – announced Tuesday that it’s Board of Directors has begun “a review of potential strategic options.” Why does it have to consider “strategic options?” Because Emerald says it has received “inquiries” about offers for a possible acquisition of the company.
I have sad news to report as highly respected industry veteran Chris Byrne has died on December 5th in Napa, California. Byrne had a long, illustrious career in audio, playing a prominent role with several key brands, including at the launch of the compact disc, when he was VP of Marketing for Pioneer Electronics. However, most in the industry know him best as co-founder of NHT (Now Hear This) loudspeakers, his business home for 30+ years.
Shocking news emerged at the end of last week as we learned that Southern California multi-location retailer Howard’s Appliance suddenly closed all stores. Local media is struggling to get details on the situation, but here is what we know so far: Howard’s Appliances, a large and formerly successful independent TV, Appliance, and Mattress retailer in Southern California, just days after Black Friday, suddenly announced to employees it would be closing in two days. No reason was provided, and all employees were laid off as of December 6.
There was no formal announcement circulated to customers, and some have taken to social media to complain that they had deposits on various appliances and were waiting for delivery…delivery that is apparently not coming.
Years ago, way before Samsung smartphones were a thing and when mobile phones were pretty much just phones that went with you and not full-scale data/entertainment centers, my wife loved her Motorola Star TAC flip-phone. It offered the power of mobile connectivity in a convenient, small form factor for maximum portability. However, mobile technology moved on, and smartphones emerged, offering so much more capability…but at the expense of portability.
New types of flip-phones (really more of a foldable design than a flip-phone) have recently emerged, thanks in large part to advances in display technology. And now Samsung has introduced a new tri-fold smartphone that looks to 1-up the competition. But will consumers pay thousands of dollars to buy it?
Last week, business group The Conference Board released the results for its November Consumer Confidence Index, a survey to gauge how consumers are feeling about the current and near-term future economy. The group reported a significant decline of 6.8 points in consumer confidence, a result that tends to support a similar finding by the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment, as I previously reported earlier in November.
Once again, the calendar year of 2025 is rapidly slipping away. This week, most Americans will pause, gather with friends and family, participate in a joyous and delicious feast, and contemplate all they have to be thankful for.
And, this year, I’ll share with you a bit of holiday mystery at Strata-gee…
Calling 2025 a “transitional” year, new Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) CEO Tom Conrad suggested the company turned a corner in the fourth quarter, as part of reporting its financial results for fiscal 2025, the year that ended on September 27, 2025. However, I couldn’t help but notice company executives were carefully choosing their words in describing the company’s performance – referring to just certain key Q4 numbers and “adjusted” results. This always makes me want to take a deeper look, and when I looked at fiscal 2025’s total performance, it was disappointing, with revenues continuing to decline and losses progressively increasing…again.
Even in the fourth quarter, which the executives did want to talk about, the company lost $37.9 million.
