Strategy in TECH...
Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX), the leading online streaming service, said this week that it intends to launch a workforce reduction program that will cut around 1,000 employees from the company’s payroll. This cut represents approximately 6% of its entire workforce, a meaningful number, and comes as the company’s stock has stumbled this year.
Last week, Sony Corporation surprised many in the industry by abruptly announcing its decision to completely exit the mobile electronics business by the end of this year. Interestingly, the company chose to reveal this news via only one channel: through an emailed statement that went directly to dealers.
Late last week, Emerald Expositions, now part of Forge, announced that the 2026 CEDIA Expo had a “verified attendance” of 9,653 people. The company put out a press release in which it called the tally “almost 10,000” attendees. However, this result is around 14.4% lower than the 11,270 attendees at CEDIA Expo 2025, which was also held in Denver, CO.
What does this mean for the future of the CEDIA Expo event?
In an overall challenging global economy, Sony Group recently released financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2026. The company reported a solid 8% or ¥216.2 billion of revenue growth for a total revenue in the quarter of ¥2.83 trillion. Even more impressive, the company reported that net income grew 32%. While operations did improve, the lion’s share of these overall gains was due to a favorable foreign exchange rates and the return of tariffs after the Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s “reciprocal tariffs” program as illegal.
Still, Sony Group had a lot of positives to talk about.
Universal Electronics Inc. (Nasdaq: UEIC) – one of the industry’s leading manufacturers of remote controls – made several consequential announcements at the end of last week, including its second quarter of Fiscal 2026 financial results, a significant management shakeup, the launch of an infringement lawsuit against Amazon, and the issuance of a special dividend for investors.
That’s a lot of change for one company…
On Wednesday, Sonos, Inc (Nasdaq: SONO) released the results for the third quarter of Fiscal 2026 and, on the face of it, things looked pretty good. The company reported revenues in the quarter increased by 9% and net income was $29.9 million versus a loss in the quarter last year of $3.4 million. Investors reacted strongly, driving up the value of the stock by, 8% at one point – and that was on a down day on Wall Street. Shares of SONO closed up 4.3% after flying higher earlier in the day.
Then on Thursday, the value of Sonos stock reversed course and sank by a startling 17.6%!
In a case filed back in January of 2020 in the United States District Court, Central District of California before the Honorable James V. Selna, Masimo accused Apple, Inc. of patent infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, and more. After almost six years of wrangling, a jury found in Masimo’s favor in November 2025. Since that time, Apple has used every means possible to try and convince the court to dismiss the jury’s findings, or otherwise order a new trial.
Now we have the court’s final judgment, finding for Masimo on four patent infringement claims. Yet even though an apparent win for Masimo, it has appealed the judge’s ruling. Read on to see why.
In a surprising exposé resulting from a deep investigation by the Nikkei, we have learned that Big Tech is engaged in questionable practices in order to conceal from investors the true amount of debt they are taking on to pursue building out their AI infrastructure with more and bigger…and more expensive…data centers. How big of a deal is this? Huge! In the last four years, debt not reflected on five of the big AI tech companies’ balance sheets – known as “hidden debt” – totals an estimated $1.65 trillion. Yes…trillion, with a “t”.
Marantz announced this week two new audio products that seek to advance its position in high-performance audio, along with modern usability designs to complement today’s user lifestyle. The new models include the Model 70 Integrated Amplifier (for international markets) and the CD 70 CD Player (for the U.S. market).
In a communication with dealers this week, Nice North America, the global holding company for many important custom integration brands, announced it has pulled out of the CEDIA Expo 2026. The company says this is a “strategic” move as it seeks to focus its marketing investments on “initiatives that deliver greater value…”
