Strategy in TECH...
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) announced on Monday that it will launch a general strike against Samsung that will continue until the company meets its demands for better pay and more time off, according to a report by Reuters. The union went on to warn “of [a] more damaging action” against the company than a one-day walkout last month.
In a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Masimo Corporation (Nasdaq: MASI) reveals that Bilal Muhsin, its Chief Operating Officer (COO) has sent a conditional letter of resignation to the Board of Directors. The move is yet another escalation in the proxy war for control of the company between Masimo management and activist investment group Politan Capital Management – one of the company’s largest shareholders that already holds two seats on its Board.
The annual Masimo (Nasdaq: MASI) shareholder meeting is now just four weeks away, and on Wednesday we saw a blizzard of proxy filings by both Masimo management and activist investor Politan Capital Management. The gloves are off and the pugilists are swinging. But how is this fight shaping up? Who has the upper hand?
In yet another sign of mega changes in the electronics industry, news comes to us out of Japan via the Nikkei that Sharp Corp. – a division of Apple supplier Foxconn – is in negotiation to sell off a majority of the property and factory associated with its largest LCD panel manufacturing facility in Japan. That news alone surprised many in Japan, as Sharp has been a world leader in developing LCD TVs, but also surprising is that it would choose to sell this facility, a flagship for them in Sakai, a coastal city in Osaka.
Also surprising, a bidding war has broken out as multiple big players seek to turn the factory into a data center for use in generative AI, a technology in which Japan feels it lags.
Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), a manufacturer and distributor of security and related products for business and home – and soon to be the new owner of Snap One and Control4 – announced its fiscal 2024, first quarter financial results. Considering the looming event that will make Resideo an important partner to many in the custom integration business – the closing of its acquisition of Snap One/Control4 on Friday, June 14, 2024 – I am launching a more detailed coverage of the company.
So…given that Resideo is about to spend $1.4 billion, or 20% of their gross revenues – to acquire Snap One, you’d think that things must be going really, really well for Resideo. But are they???
SEE STORY UPDATE NEAR END – It is total pandemonium in Masimo land as the company and Politan are engaged in a massive and really, really ugly proxy war ahead of the company’s annual meeting scheduled for July 25, 2024, at the Masimo headquarters in Irvine, CA. Details in dueling proxy filings so far have revealed many things we didn’t know up to now. And almost none of what has been revealed…is good.
Company CEO Kiani is in a fight for his professional life…Sound United is dangling in the wind of an uncertain future – and, frankly, even the entire company’s path forward is a question mark.
For many generations, Panasonic Holdings has been a leading global technology innovator and while its business model has shifted in the last few years, it still holds much respect around the world. Now we’ve learned that the company has decided to sell off its high-end projector unit in order to refocus its resources on digital supply chain systems.
At the recent 2024 Oasys Summit, I had the opportunity to meet with top Nationwide Marketing Group executives who were all directly involved in the birth of the Oasys Residential Technology Group, as well as the greater strategy of the Nationwide Drive to 1,000 initiative. I spoke with Dean Sottile, Andy Orozco, and Hank Alexander, each of whom offered interesting insights and perspectives on the progress of this grand adventure they have collectively embarked upon.
Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) announced today the long-awaited launch of its secretive new product targeted for a “multi-billion dollar category,” as Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is wont to remind us of frequently. One of the worst-kept, leakiest of launch secrets (probably intentionally so) in the industry, the company announced a new over-the-ear wireless headphone model featuring Dolby Atmos immersive sound and active noise cancellation called Sonos Ace.
But did the company Ace the test for turning around its deteriorating financial performance?
Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) announced its financial performance for the second quarter of Fiscal 2024, the period that ended on March 30, 2024. The numbers, as we’re seeing more consistently across a wide variety of consumer brands, were rough…really rough. Revenues in the quarter declined a nasty 16.9% and the company’s Net Loss more than doubled, increasing by a scary 127%.
Yet CEO Patrick Spence claimed in a statement that “…we delivered results that slightly exceeded our expectations…” Either they were expecting a really devastating result, or I’ll have whatever he’s having!
