Strategy in TECH...
Melrose Industries PLC, a U.K. based investment group that purchased Nortek, Inc. back in 2016, released their fiscal 2019 first half financial results last month (for the period ending June 30, 2019). And while the results showed strong sales growth (thanks to a large acquisition) the company still booked a net loss.
Perhaps more interesting, was that Nortek’s Security & Smart Technology unit figured quite prominently in the document – often for the wrong reasons.
As you most likely know by now, Onkyo Corp. and Sound United have called off their transaction which would have transferred ownership of the 73-year old Onkyo brand, as well as the Integra, Pioneer, and Pioneer Elite brands to Sound United. The shocking news capped off a nearly five month process where many in the industry tried to figure out just how this deal made sense.
This was the second loss of a potential buyer for Onkyo, which admits it is re-evaluating its future based on the failure to sell off its brands.
Always an entertaining stop at CEDIA, Origin Acoustics didn’t disappoint again this year with a significant number of new models, some other updated models, and new announcements. See what caught my eye at this CEDIA Expo…
Sony announced that is has promoted two of the members of its team to new roles in the wake of the recent retirement of Gary Frankel, Western Regional Sales Manager. Both new appointments are in their “award-winning” AV Specialty and Custom Integration sales group and were made effective as of September 1, 2019.
In a tersely worded release, Sound United announced today that its deal to acquire the Onkyo, Integra, Pioneer, and Pioneer Elite brands is off. Originally announced in May, the deal was said to be conditional on the completion of due diligence, the signing of “definitive agreements” and other specific elements. Apparently, that process was not successful.
Much like any trade show, CEDIA Expo 2019 was full of optimism and good cheer. But with just a few questions to top executives of major exhibitors it is fairly easy to pierce that veil of good cheer to reveal underlying concerns of approaching economic storm clouds. I chatted with Frank Sterns, Sony’s Vice President of AV Specialty/Custom Integration, about the turbulent waters our industry is sailing through and how Sony is faring in the face of these increasing headwinds.
At the the CEDIA Expo earlier this month, Lenbrook had a substantial launch of multiple new models from their collection of brands. Firmly positioned in the mid- to high-end technology market, the new products from Bluesound, Dali, NAD, and PSB continued to forge a path into the new digital audiophile market with high-quality streaming models and high-end in-wall and on-wall speaker and subwoofer solutions.
And in the case of one model, it was an award-winning presentation…
AudioControl flexed its muscles this year at the 2019 CEDIA Expo – launching the greatest number of new products ever in the company’s history. But not only that, the company surprised us with an entirely new industrial design across a wide swath of products that is sleek, savvy, and exciting.
Don’t let those smiling faces fool you…these guys are deadly serious about taking more than their fair share of the audio market. And the vehicle they’re using to drive that growth is Beale Street Audio, a brand that Vanco acquired about two years ago. From what they told me – and showed me – at this year’s 2019 CEDIA Expo in Denver, they are well on their way.
A funny thing happened this year at the 2019 CEDIA Expo…everyone I ran into kept asking me the same thing – what is the big story from the show? What’s funny is that I asked them the same question. Even when I ran into other members of the media…we often queried each other. Most kind of shrugged and would mention an item or two, but nothing that represented a major theme of the event.
However, there is an answer I came up with, but I’m not sure its the best answer…
