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Thiel Audio Communicates with Dealers about Move to Nashville…Finally

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Photo of Thiel 3.7
Thiel CS 3.7

Last week, we told you about the many changes we learned that were taking place at Thiel Audio – some of which we characterized as “troubling.” Thiel, a storied brand whose products were originally based on technology and research from co-founder Jim Thiel, was purchased by a group of investors in 2012. Last week, we learned that these investors were closing up the Thiel factory in Lexington, KY – the company’s base of operations for 38-years – and moving it to their home base of Nashville, TN.

When we first heard this news, we reached out to the company, but they declined to speak with us.

Now, in the wake of our story last week, the company reached out to their dealers… [Read more…] about Thiel Audio Communicates with Dealers about Move to Nashville…Finally

Thiel Audio Story Takes a New and Troubling Turn

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*Strata-gee EXCLUSIVE*

Company Leaving Lexington after 38 Years, Moving to Nashville

Photo of Thiel FactoryThiel Audio Products Company (Thiel), the iconic high-end speaker manufacturer founded in 1976 in Lexington, KY by engineer Jim Thiel and two friends – and purchased by investors in 2012 – is in the throes of major change as we mentioned in our post last month. Now new details are slowly emerging…some of which are troubling.

See what we’ve learned about what’s transpiring…and what the company told Strata-gee… [Read more…] about Thiel Audio Story Takes a New and Troubling Turn

Sony’s Struggling Electronics Division is Hoping for a Spider-Man Rescue

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Photo of Spider-Man 2Like a damsel in distress, Sony’s money-losing electronics businesses are hoping that Spider-Man can save them…and it just might take a superhero to do it. With Sony Pictures’ The Amazing Spider-Man 2 about to launch in Japan this month – and in the U.S. next month – the company’s hardware businesses have teamed up with their entertainment businesses to launch an aggressive cross-promotion.

Can Spider-Man save Sony electronics?… [Read more…] about Sony’s Struggling Electronics Division is Hoping for a Spider-Man Rescue

UPDATE: Sony Corporate Responds to Strata-gee’s EXCLUSIVE Story on Tech Support Termination

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STRATA-GEE EXCLUSIVE

Sony_2012CES_6We told you last week about a shocking email received by a Sony dealer which proclaimed in a bold headline that “Sony Technical Support is now terminated.” This seemed to us like a pretty big deal, and yet we could find no official announcement surrounding this email. We dug deep and found sources who told us a hazy and vaguely troubling story that sounded as though the company may be going through some kind of reorganization of its support services.

The day our story ran, we heard from Sony Corporate – seeking to correct some inaccuracies… [Read more…] about UPDATE: Sony Corporate Responds to Strata-gee’s EXCLUSIVE Story on Tech Support Termination

D+M Group Cuts Licensing Deal for Denon & Marantz Professional Businesses

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D&M Group logoD+M Group (formerly D&M Holdings), continues their program of divesting businesses it determines are “non-core” to the company’s central focus on the consumer-based Denon, Marantz and Boston Acoustics brands. This week, we learned that the company has cut a deal to license the professional products businesses done under both the Denon and the Marantz brand names to inMusic Brands, Inc.. This move closely follows the announcement last month that the company was selling off the Calrec Audio business to Electra Parters.

See more on this new but not particularly surprising development… [Read more…] about D+M Group Cuts Licensing Deal for Denon & Marantz Professional Businesses

Alpine to be First to Market with Apple’s CarPlay Console System

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Alpine logoAlpine Electronics will be the first of ultimately several companies to offer a in-car infotainment system based on Apple’s CarPlay system according to a report late last week by the Nikkei. Alpine’s system, which will likely be replicated by others, allows drivers to listen to music, view maps, as well as access other iPhone capabilities.

See more on this new Alpine/CarPlay system that is coming soon… [Read more…] about Alpine to be First to Market with Apple’s CarPlay Console System

NY Times Launches Blistering Critique of LG; Says New U.S. HQ is a ‘Public Shame’ & a Reminder to ‘Shop Samsung’

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Photo of LG HQ protesters
LG’s new HQ project protesters.

We told you a few days ago about a rising chorus of opposition to the construction of LG’s new 143-foot tall U.S. headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ – a borough which borders on a lush, green, wooded area of the state known as the Palisades – a National Natural Landmark. Now, in a scathing “Critic’s Notebook” article in Saturday’s New York Times, Michael Kimmelman compares how Samsung – also building a new headquarters building in San Jose, CA – took steps to be a good corporate citizen and fit in with the community…versus the approach by LG, “…a lousy neighbor.”

A critique of building design, the article didn’t pull any punches in thoughts about LG… [Read more…] about NY Times Launches Blistering Critique of LG; Says New U.S. HQ is a ‘Public Shame’ & a Reminder to ‘Shop Samsung’

Talk About Income Inequality! Just Four Companies Generated 90% of All Net Profits in South Korea

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Graphic pie chartIn a report that is sure to surprise many and even stun some, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, South Korea’s fair trade watchdog, announced that just four large companies – or conglomerates – generate 90% of all of the total net profit earned in the country in 2013. The commission, which closely tracks the performance of what they call the largest conglomerate companies, issues their report every April with this year’s report showing the share of the top four have continued to grow since 2011.

But wait until you see the percentage of profits from just the top TWO companies… [Read more…] about Talk About Income Inequality! Just Four Companies Generated 90% of All Net Profits in South Korea

Powerful NY Attorney General Enters LG – Palisades Dispute

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Photo of model of LG's new corporate headquarters

The New York Times reported this morning that New York’s powerful attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, has entered the dispute between LG Electronics and various environmentalist groups seeking to force LG to modify construction plans for its new headquarters facility. Schneiderman, siding with the environmentalist groups, has filed an amicus brief with the appellate court asking it to reverse a lower court decision that allowed the construction to proceed.

Bringing the matter to a boil is LG’s insistence on pushing forward with construction despite the increasingly vocal opposition… [Read more…] about Powerful NY Attorney General Enters LG – Palisades Dispute

Deconstructing D&M Holdings; Company Sells Calrec Audio and Explores Other Options

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Former CEO Pacor Comments on Brand Acquisition Strategy

D+M Group logoWe learned last week that D&M Holdings, also known as the D+M Group, sold off its Calrec Audio brand to Electra Partners, a London-based private equity company. D&M received £14 million ($23.1 million) for Calrec, a designer of premium audio products and live-to-air consoles for the broadcast market. The move is part of a plan to divest itself of all non-core businesses, CEO Jim Caudill has said in press reports.

See more on the company’s aggressive strategy to unload non-core businesses… [Read more…] about Deconstructing D&M Holdings; Company Sells Calrec Audio and Explores Other Options