Strategy in TECH...
Recent developments and reporting within the last week seem to suggest that Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) is adrift and directionless as its new Interim CEO tries to right the ship. It has even canceled its next big product introduction. Is the company flailing? Or is it finally getting its act together?
Premium Audio Company (PAC), a subsidiary of Voxx International Corporation (Nasdaq: VOXX) and soon to be a subsidiary of Gentex Corp. (Nasdaq: GNTX), announced that it is entering into a “strategic partnership” with the National Alliance of Trade Merchants (NATM). PAC calls NATM “a leading national buying co-op of top independent retailers in the United States.” The move appears to be a pretty transparent effort to replace sales volume lost when major buying group ProSource dropped all PAC brands from its list of supported products.
Is this new partnership a good alternative? Read on…
On Tuesday, New York University (NYU) and Sony Corporation announced a new partnership to establish the Sony Audio Institute, which is “…a multifaceted partnership at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.” Sony has donated $7.5 million to create the institute, which is expected to launch this spring.
There is a major shakeup in the executive management team at Sony Group that will take effect at the beginning of the next fiscal year, which, as is true for most Japanese companies, starts on April 1, 2025. These are big changes to important roles, including Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and President.
But the change that most Sony employees are buzzing about is the person that was named as its new CFO.
On Monday, Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO), in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), revealed that Deirdre Findlay, Sonos Chief Commercial Officer, had resigned from her position with the company on February 19, 2025. This is yet another top executive, in this case, a top marketing position, to leave the company.
Sonos announced the financial results for its first quarter of Fiscal 2025, the 90-day period that ended on December 28, 2024. It was sobering news – Revenues declined over 10%, Operating Income collapsed almost 40%(!), and Net Income slid 38%. These poor results show that Sonos is starting out 2025, not as bad as 2024…it’s starting out worse.
Yet some outlets on Wall Street reported Sonos results were “better than expected.” With these numbers, how is that possible? Read on…
Sonos has announced that it is launching yet another reorganization (it had one in 2024, and another one before that in 2023) with a “reduction in force” this time impacting 12% of its entire workforce. It seems remarkable that at a time when it continues to struggle to extricate itself from the La Brea tar pits it fell into via 2024’s app disaster, one of its first solutions is to let people go. More than 1 out of every 10 employees has been terminated to “…improve the Company’s operating model and cost structure to set the Company up for long-term success.”
Sonance announced on Wednesday that it has named Tyler Kungl as Vice President of Luxury Residential Sales. Another in a series of recent hires, Sonance looks to be on the move, strategically increasing market presence and dealer support for various markets, both domestic and international.
Voxx International Corporation (Nasdaq: VOXX) revealed on Friday that it has received an official notification from the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (Nasdaq) informing the company that the fact it has failed to timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ending November 30, 2024 means that it is out of compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1). The company said it had received Nasdaq’s official compliance notice on January 28, 2025.
Note to Reader: This post is the second part of a two-part series. In Part One, each of the directors of the three operating buying groups in Nationwide’s CI Division shared the details of their individual and group progress in 2024. You will want to read – or reread – that post first, as it helps Part Two make more sense.
Nationwide Marketing Group’s Custom Integration (CI) division made serious progress in 2024 as part of the organization’s ambitious Drive to 1,000 plan – seeking to build a collective CI membership of 1,000 dealers strong. In my previous post, the executives instrumental in achieving that progress – Andy Orozco (Nationwide’s Senior Vice President of Custom Integration), Patrick McCarthy (Executive Director, Azione Unlimited), Hank Alexander (Executive Director, Oasys Residential Technology Group), and Chris Whitley (Executive Director, Ellipsys Commercial Technology Group) – shared the highs and lows of building a business the likes of which we’ve never before seen. Now they share their plans for 2025…
