Gibson Guitar Corp. announced last Friday morning at 4:00AM EDST that it would acquire a controlling interest in Japan’s Teac Corp, extending it’s entré into consumer electronics market via newly affordable, if struggling, Japanese companies. Last year, Gibson took a significant minority stake in Onkyo Corp., and additionally purchased a majority share of Onkyo’s American subsidiary, Onkyo USA. Teac, with both a consumer business under the Teac and Esoteric brands, and a professional business under the Tascam brand, broadens Gibson’s consumer and pro initiatives.
Marketing
EXCLUSIVE: Core Brands Set to Announce Sweeping New Initiatives April 1st
Core Brands, a division of Nortek, Inc., will announce sweeping new structural and marketing initiatives this coming Tuesday, April 1st, Strata-gee.com has learned from multiple sources. In a recent post on parent company Nortek, we alluded to sources telling us about impending changes in what was to be a major announcement – literally a fundamental change in the way the company does business.
Find out what Core Brands is set to announce next week… [Read more…] about EXCLUSIVE: Core Brands Set to Announce Sweeping New Initiatives April 1st
Nortek’s TECH Segment’s Troubled Transformation
In a recent fiscal year 2012 fourth quarter and full-year report, Nortek, Inc. showed a mixture of hit-and-miss results with fourth quarter sales dropping 5.6% to $505.4 million as compared to Q4 2011’s $535.2 million. Worse yet, the company’s Q4 net loss increased from last year’s $800,000 to a substantial $12.5 million. These results were in spite of the fact that this year’s calendar for the quarter had two more days in it than the quarter last year.
However, Nortek’s overall annual results showed a brighter picture with 2012 sales increasing to $2.2 billion, up 2.8% from the previous year’s $2.14 billion. Net profits in 2012 came in at $9.5 million – a substantial improvement over 2011’s net loss of $55.9 million.
But one other thing came through loud and clear…Nortek’s TECH segment remains troubled… [Read more…] about Nortek’s TECH Segment’s Troubled Transformation
CE Exchange Integrator Event Postponed
BREAKING NEWS
We learned today that the upcoming CE Exchange event scheduled to be held at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, CT May 6-8, 2013 will be formally postponed today by its promoters EH Events and CEPro. The event, a more intimate and interactive alternative to typical industry trade shows, took a completely new and fresh approach by making the show regional with education, training, market data, etc. becoming more meaningful as it’s tailored for the local area.
See more on this surprising decision… [Read more…] about CE Exchange Integrator Event Postponed
Ube Announces It Has Expanded the Capabilities of Its New Smart Dimmer
Ube – a start-up company that offers new ways to implement the processing power of smartphones interlinked with cloud-based software to bring new possibilities to consumers at affordable prices – announced today that it has expanded the capabilities of its first product, a smart dimmer. This announcement was made in conjunction with the company’s launch of their smart dimmer project on crowdfunding site Kickstarter.
See the expanded capabilities of Ube’s smart dimmer, and the progress of its project, below… [Read more…] about Ube Announces It Has Expanded the Capabilities of Its New Smart Dimmer
Monster Creates $30K ‘Crown Jewel’ Headphone for Harrods of London
Monster Products announced late today that it has created a one-of-a-kind “crown jewel” headphone based on its Diamond Tears model as redesigned by Korean artist and jewelry designer Sally Sohn for the exclusive Harrods of London department store. The new headphones feature 5.56 carats of black diamonds and plenty of 18k gold…oh, and it comes with a hefty price tag of £20,000. That’s $30,000 in good old U.S. greenbacks.
See this remarkable headphone below. Will this be Monster’s tour de force? Or a tour de farce?… [Read more…] about Monster Creates $30K ‘Crown Jewel’ Headphone for Harrods of London
Tributaries Launches Newly Revamped HDMI Cable Line-Up; Delivers Better Longer Performance
Tributaries announced today that it has revamped its HDMI cable line-up with an all-new approach that the company says will deliver better, and more reliable, long distance performance. As part of this line overhaul, the company is introducing a new IHEC long-run cable – and an active extender, the HX102.
See more on this dramatic new line-up from a leading cable supplier… [Read more…] about Tributaries Launches Newly Revamped HDMI Cable Line-Up; Delivers Better Longer Performance
Beats Gets $60 Million Investment in Daisy; And a Visit From Apple CEO
How big has Beats Electronics, LLC become? Big enough to warrant a visit by Apple, Inc. CEO Tim Cook to discuss a potential partnership in Beat’s new streaming music service tentatively code-named Daisy. And big enough to relatively easily obtain $60 million in financing from investors looking to help it get Daisy off the ground.
What’s that sound? An approaching Tyrannosaurus Rex? No, it’s Beats… [Read more…] about Beats Gets $60 Million Investment in Daisy; And a Visit From Apple CEO
Pioneer Launches Navigation System for Bicycles
Pioneer Corp. announced it has entered a new product category with a navigation device specifically designed for use on a bicycle. The cleverly designed device will be available late this month, the company said at a press announcement on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.
See why bicyclists are going to want to mount this device to their bikes… [Read more…] about Pioneer Launches Navigation System for Bicycles
Plasma: The Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated
The conventional wisdom in the world of television technology is that LCD won the panel platform wars and most talk of the future has moved from LCD to LED to OLED and beyond. But wait a minute, as new data from market researcher Quixel Research shows, don’t bury plasma in the grave just yet…