Strategy in TECH...
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) continues to launch new products without missing a beat since they became part of Sound United a little over a year ago. And those products span the range from their revered high-end 800 Series Diamond models to now, a refresh of their Zeppelin speaker system that the company describes as “a complete stereo system in one component.”
As the first and one of the most prominent brands that decided to pull out of the recent CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis last month, Savant based their difficult decision on placing the safety of their employees and customers as their key concern in a time of surging Delta-variant COVID infections. But that decision did not mean that they didn’t want to communicate with their dealers about the many exciting developments at the company. So Savant developed a powerful two-pronged approach (the 1-2 punch I mentioned) to deliver their dealers a better – virtual – trade show.
Nice, a global manufacturer of Smart Home, Security, and Home & Building Automation products based in Italy, announced today that it has acquired Nortek Security & Control – purchased from Melrose plc for $285 million. The move expands Nice’s portfolio and strengthens its North American presence.
Last Friday, Strata-gee broke the news that both Cheena Srinivasan and Michael Malcolm, co-founders of Kaleidescape, had left the company recently to pursue new opportunities. (A third co-founder, Dan Collens, left the company back in 2006.) Kaleidescape, the leading media server manufacturer in the upscale residential space, is an important supplier to many custom integrators, so this is a big change. Late Friday, after Strata-gee broke the news of the change, the company put out a formal statement on the situation.
Earlier this week, sources told Strata-gee that Kaleidescape co-founders Michael Malcolm and Cheena Srinivasan have left the company. Malcolm is said to have left a couple of months ago and Srinivasan reportedly left the organization just last week.
IPORT, a Sonance company, announced this week it is launching an all-new, totally redesigned IPORT Connect Pro line of products. IPORT is an award-winning line of products that hold, charge, and protect tablets in a residential or commercial space. IPORT Connect Pro takes its already user-appreciated design and utility to the next level.
LG Electronics announced today that it is targeting the super-luxury residential market with a new wall-sized display based on Direct View LED (DVLED) technology. They call their new series DVLED Extreme Home Cinema and while they are not the only purveyor of the technology, LG says they are best positioned for success in the category due to their “years of [experience] building premium consumer electronics, keen understanding of affluent consumers and deep expertise as an innovator of DVLED technologies.”
Premium networking systems and services specialist WhyReboot announced this week that they have set up a national network of independent specialty manufacturers sales representatives. The company has appointed nine top rep firms across the country, expanding their local presence for both sales and support.
Melrose PLC, the private equity turnaround expert that purchased the entirety of Nortek back in 2016, unceremoniously let it slip in a bullet point of a report on financial results, that it has found a buyer for the last remaining piece of the Nortek puzzle they have struggled to turn around over the years. Although they did not name the buyer, Melrose says a contract has been signed for a $285 million deal – remarkably low considering all the brands included in this transaction.
Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) announced today that they have partnered with BMW as the audio system provider for their new luxury electric SAV (sports activity vehicle)…the eagerly anticipated iX. The company says that engineers from both of the partners worked closely together to develop an audio experience that “feels as though you are there with the artist in the studio” – or what B&W likes to call “true sound.”
