Strategy in TECH...
They’ve been hinting about it for months, now Russound makes it official, they will launch an all-new line of 70-volt products targeted for the light commercial market at the upcoming CEDIA Expo in Dallas in September. Although the company had no specific model/feature information for the press at this time, the news is noteworthy nonetheless as the company is clearly expanding into more commercial-appropriate products this year.
Big changes are coming to Sharp, Corp. in the wake of their acquisition by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co – better known as Foxconn. News out of Japan notes that the deal between Sharp and Foxconn officially closes at the end of this month. According to both parties, the acquisition is proceeding smoothly and is fully expected to close on time.
The Custom Electronics Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) announced today that its Size and Scope Survey is now open for participation by residential systems installation pros. This survey, one of the largest the trade association conducts every year, collects data from participants to provide market level information that is then made available to members to assist them in planning their business.
Samsung announced late Wednesday that it has acquired Joyent, a relatively new start-up company that offers cloud computing services, according to a report by Recode. The specifics of the deal were not disclosed, but Joyent management has said it will be joining the Samsung management team.
Control4 Corporation announced Wednesday that they are rolling out an interesting new augmentation to their overall training efforts – short e-learning modules called Smart Skills. Smart Skills are short videos made available to certified Control4 dealers that offer focused training on one specific topic.
Control4 Corporation announced yesterday that it has appointed Bryce Judd as its new Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Judd assumes the role vacated by Jim Arnold who is said to be retiring after serving in the same position since 2007. The company says that Arnold will stay on through the end of the year on an “advisory basis.”
The Department of Justice (D.O.J.) has notified Nortek, Inc. that it has closed its investigation into a corporate bribery scandal involving the company’s operations in China and will take no further actions, according to a report by Reuters. Nortek, parent company of Core Brands – a holding company of several custom integration brands – had revealed the existence an internal investigation into the matter by the company to investors several quarters ago. At the same time, Nortek reported the matter to the authorities, noting that they would fully cooperate with any government investigation.
Nortek “will not be charged because the U.S. [company] had turned themselves in,” Reuters noted. Nortek stock was up 5.19% in late afternoon trading on the news.
LG Electronics announced this week that it has devised a plan to dramatically pick up the rate of sale of OLED TVs. In fact, the company says they’ll triple the unit sales of sets based on the technology to more than 900,000 units in 2016 – a goal they’ve already begun to deliver on.
Skullcandy, the lifestyle headphone company in which design is as important as performance (some would say more important), saw its stock skyrocket some 16% on Wednesday as word leaked out that the company’s founder was exploring the possibility of taking the company private in a buyout. This idea was revealed in a filing with securities regulators by Skullcandy founder Richard Alden.
By now you’ve likely heard that sales of vinyl records are growing to meaningful levels. We recently reported in March that while sales of all physical media are down, vinyl sales grew 32.2% to over $416 million dollars last year. While this is small compared to historical highs, it is part of a trend that has been developing – vinyl sales have grown each of the last ten years in a row.
Now specialty manufacturer Bryston announces their entry into the analog turntable field – the source necessary to play all that vinyl – with the all-new BLP-1. Bryston, more known for their electronics, looks to have done their homework on this impressive new model.
