Strategy in TECH...
Although previewed to the media last month, dealers and the media finally had the opportunity to physically see and touch the all-new Russound 70-volt light commercial line in the flesh at last week’s CEDIA 2016. The line, which the company intends to continue to develop and expand, launched with three models in the line, including a music streamer/amplifier, a volume control wallpad, and an outdoor speaker.
LG Electronics launched a new 77-inch OLED display with a stunning image…and a price point to match. Unveiled for the first time at CEDIA, it was not only an impressive product, it was equally impressive that LG chose CEDIA 16 for its unveiling – a sign of real commitment to the channel for a premium product such as the LG Signature OLED TV OLED77G6P.
In a letter to dealers sent Thursday evening, Kaleidescape CEO Cheena Srinivasan says the company is back in business, but in a leaner, lower overhead way. The news, which the industry rumor mill was buzzing about all day Thursday, is a bit of a surprise considering the company was completely shut down just a couple of weeks ago.
Panasonic Corp., in a sharp departure from its previous TV strategy, launched an OLED TV in Europe last fall, using panels procured from LG. At the IFA 2016 show in Berlin that just wrapped up this week, Panasonic announced that they would start making their OLED TVs available in other markets, starting next year.
This is a big announcement.
The creator of one of the top three advanced immersive movie surround sound formats, Auro Technologies (Auro3D), is launching a new venture called StormAudio to market a high-end, high-performance line of processors and amplifiers that supports all of the advanced surround formats – including its competitors Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. The launch will officially kick off at this month’s CEDIA16 show in Dallas, TX from September 15-September 17 in booth #6628.
News comes out of Japan that the new owners of Sharp are in the process of buying back a building the old management sold off when seeking to improve profitability by reducing overhead. Now, new management – made up of former Foxconn executives – are doing an about-face and looking to repurchase the building, in a move that has Japanese media scratching their heads.
As we recently told you, Russound has announced that it would be launching a line of 70-volt products designed to facilitate integrators’ entry into the commercial market. Now the company has released more details on just what their 70-volt offerings will include – and it appears to be a solid first step into the more commercial business.
Factory Tour Shows James Loudspeaker To Be More Than You RealizedIn our work lives, we all try to project the most positive image of ourselves. Sometimes the only way to really get to known someone is to visit them in their home. Here, you can find a lot of clues to their true selves.
So it is with companies as well. Polished marketing and great looking products can give you an impression of a large, professional, smoothly-running operation. But, as we can attest from direct experience, that simply is not always the case.
And sometimes, as in the case of James Loudspeaker, you get surprised.
Le Holdings Co. Ltd. (LeEco), a Chinese company with unusual multi-business aspirations, announced this week that they had acquired Vizio, a U.S. manufacturer of affordable televisions, in a deal worth $2 billion. The deal will serve as LeEco’s entry into the U.S. market with its unusual mix of products.
Back in the Fall of 2013, we told you about the birth of a new brand called Bluesound – a new networkable, high-quality wired and wireless multiroom music system. Almost simultaneously, and in response to the obvious success of Sonos we suspect, new systems from Bose, D&M Holdings (HEOS), and Lenbrook were all introduced. But Lenbook officials maintained that their system had an advantage over most of the other systems – they had created their own operating system called BluOS.
