Strategy in TECH...
Russound, a designer/developer/manufacturer of innovative audio products for the integration channel, launched an array of new products for 2022 at ISE (Integrated Systems Europe) 2022 earlier this month at the Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain. These interesting new products include a new series of landscape and rock speakers; a new, next-generation Bluetooth source kit; and a new “ultimate” Android touchscreen.
For the last two and a half years, many industries have struggled with supply chain issues – especially Tech. During that period of time, I’ve heard over and over from integrators who were furious at one company or another for failing to deliver on their open orders. I’ve heard expletives hurled at pretty much every brand in the industry…including Crestron.
Now, in a letter to dealers from Crestron Chief Operating Officer Daniel Brady, dealers are being told that the company is “in a better position now than ever before.”
Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM), part of the Asahi Kasei Corporation, and one of the world’s most significant providers of integrated circuits, particularly digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), launched a new flagship stereo DAC at the IPS/High End 2022 Show last week in Munich, Germany. It is yet another notable milestone in the company’s long journey to recovery after the horrific impact of the signal event of the pandemic supply chain disaster in 2020 – a massive factory fire that destroyed a key production fab, first reported in our industry by Strata-gee.
But…can the company recover quickly enough to make a difference?
At the end of last week, Snap One Holdings Corp. released the results of their fiscal 2022 first quarter, a period which ended April 1, 2022, with comparisons to the same quarter last year, which ended on March 26, 2021. The company showed good revenue growth in the quarter but is still dealing with a net loss – albeit less of one than in 2021.
On Monday, I received a note from Premium Audio Company regarding my post on the bankruptcy of Onkyo Home Entertainment Co. Ltd. In this note, the company sought to get the message across that the Onkyo bankruptcy has nothing to do with them and that the Onkyo brand lives on under the guidance of its new owner, Premium Audio Company, a subsidiary of VOXX International.
Today in Osaka District Court in Osaka, Japan, Onkyo Home Entertainment Co. Ltd. (formerly Onkyo Corp.) filed for bankruptcy ending a long and storied history of innovative audio products. The action was taken less than a month after the company declared bankruptcy for two of its major subsidiaries in April. Now, the parent company has fallen as well…
Sonos reported on Wednesday that they had a strong second quarter fiscal 2022 result with good revenue growth. In the case of revenues, the company notes that they continue to track toward its annual revenue guidance of $1.95 billion – to – $2.0 billion. However, the company admitted that its profit margin took a hit as supply chain issues continue to bedevil it (and the rest of the industry) as well. They cut their forecast for profits in 2022.
Savant offered industry media a presentation revealing their vision of the deep integration of energy sources (and uses) into a fully-fledged, well-thought-out, total smart home system. To drive the industry towards this future, Savant’s vision is expansive, intelligent, and in my mind, pretty exciting. It starts with a foundation of power and how to make it smarter.
Below, you’ll find some of the key highlights of Savant’s plans for smart energy.
AudioControl, a specialty electronics manufacturer of innovative residential, commercial, and mobile audio products, revealed today that it has upgraded the semiconductor technology resident in its recently introduced 70-volt, dual-mode CM line of amplifiers. This upgrade, to Gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, offers many performance improvements over traditional silicon-based ICs and is said to take the performance of this category to a whole new level.
In the summer of 2019, just months before the onset of COVID-19, Crestron Electronics, Inc. (Crestron) invited me to tour several of their facilities, including the lab at the heart of almost everything they do…the Research Center. It was beyond impressive, and I’ve been in some really impressive labs in my career. At the time, I said it was “like Disneyland for geeks.” That includes geeks like me!
Now, in honor of the company’s founder, Crestron has renamed the facility the George Feldstein Technology Center. This is a fitting tribute to the man who spent his days there constantly tinkering with new products, product concepts, and technology.
