Strategy in TECH...
This week, high-end specialty brand Bryston announced that long time company Vice President James Tanner had partnered with Colquhoun Audio Laboratories, Ltd. to acquire the company. The news was a bit of a surprise and appears to be connected to Bryston CEO Chris Russell’s decision to retire from the company.
Moody’s Investors Service is one of the world’s largest credit rating services that offers ratings used by many investors who target debt investing, such as buying corporate bonds or equity investors. Moody’s rating can literally impact – positively or negatively – the interest or coupon rate companies offer their debt at – and therefore can be critical. Recently, Moody’s published a credit rating decision on Wirepath LLC – the company behind SnapAV.
How did Moody’s rate SnapAV? Read on…
A global supply chain shortage of key semiconductors has hit automakers around the world hard, like the automatic braking solution on self-driving cars. The shortage is so severe that auto makers are literally being forced to close factories for weeks as they wait for their supply of chips. As the industry is trying to rebound from a tough 2020, this situation has become so painful, some manufacturers are turning to politicians – asking them to pressure chip manufacturers to prioritize shipments to the auto industry.
Vanco International, a brand historically known largely for cables and accessories, continues their recent-history expansion of mission-critical integration solutions and overall A/V products. The company is displaying an uncommon level of savvy in design and in solution targeting, as management clearly has designs on expanding their impact in the industry.
On Monday, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong – also known as JY Lee, J. Y. Lee or Jay Y. Lee – was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for his role in a bribery and embezzlement scheme to influence the President of South Korea in order to increase his share and power in the company. This development is big news in Korea. Samsung Electronics, part of the Samsung family of companies that is the largest conglomerate in South Korea, by itself represents almost 20% of the entire value of all exports from Korea.
“Please join us in looking forward as we continue to evolve as a ‘creative entertainment company,'” said Kenichiro Yoshida, Sony Chairman, CEO and President to kick off Sony’s presentation to the media on CES 2021’s press day this past Monday. It was a carefully crafted opening, with words of particular significance that contrasts strongly with previous company characterizations. Sony is changing.
Has the train jumped the tracks? Or has Sony hit the hyper-drive taking us to a new and exciting unexplored planet?
AudioControl announced this week that it has named Ashley Kay as its new Director of Customer and Technical Services. This is a newly created role at the company and represents a meaningful upgrade in customer and technical support capabilities at the specialty mobile and residential electronics manufacturer.
Most manufacturers in Tech have been reluctant to discuss the impact on the supply chain – and on the availability of their key models – as a result of the recent Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) factory fire in Japan. However, Sony – especially Sony Europe – has admitted to customers that it’s camera and video division, is “facing a severe shortage of key parts” for its compact cameras and video cameras. Although Sony did not specifically correlate their problem to the AKM situation, a large number of camera and photography media are saying that this is most likely the cause of the shortage to which Sony is referring.
Just last week I was an invited guest to an event that I wasn’t entirely sure would be all that exciting – yet another Zoom meeting in a year full of Zoom meetings. Or so I thought. My invitation came from industry powerhouse Savant, who wanted to host me on a virtual tour of their new Experience Center in Manhattan. Boy!…am I glad I agreed to participate….
Just about seven weeks ago, Strata-gee told you about Crestron’s cool new TS-70R touch screen which was solidly built, exceptionally attractive for either a residential or small office setting, and provided a great control solution for the Crestron Home operating system. Now, Crestron continues their Crestron Home-specific product launches with another new product – the MM30-R Crestron Home Audio Conferencing and Control Solution.
