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Emerald Expo Shows Big Increases in 2nd Qtr of Fiscal ’23; Revenues Up 21%, Losses Up 1,057%

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Emerald Holding Inc. cover page of a financial presentation

Mixed Results from Owner of CEDIA Expo and CEPro

Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE: EEX) (Emerald) owner of Emerald Expositions, a leading B2B exposition company, as well as the CEDIA Expo, CEPro, and Commercial Integrator media properties, announced its financial performance in the second quarter of fiscal 2023. While results were mixed with both increased revenues and increased losses, the company struck an optimistic tone, saying it is on track to generate $400 million in revenues and $100 million in “Adjusted” EBITDA (a measure of profits) in the current fiscal year.

See more on Emerald’s fiscal ’23 second quarter results

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Savant Realigns Ops, Salesforce, & Pricing for Next Phase of Growth

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Savant president JC Murphy
JC Murphy, President of Savant, on Zoom call with Strata-gee

There has been a flurry of activity in the Savant ecosphere lately, much of it causing a buzz in the industry. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had several integrators reaching out to let me know about some of these changes. Not all felt they were positive and many questioned the motivations behind the moves. Accordingly, I reached out to Savant to see if I could get some insight into just what is going on. The company responded by making President JC Murphy available to update me on a few of their recent moves.

See what Savant’s JC Murphy told me about recent changes

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Nice Announces ‘Pivotal Changes’ in N.A. Operations to Drive Growth

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Home page on the Nice website

Nice North America, part of the globally significant Nice S.p.A. of Italy, announced this week that it has implemented what it calls pivotal changes within its North American operations (U.S. and Canada) that it believes will “further boost growth and innovation.” It is the first major structural change here in the U.S. since Italy’s Nice acquired Nortek Security and Control from Melrose PLC back in October 2021.

See the changes Nice is making in North American Ops

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AudioControl Residential Division Acquired by AVPro Global Holdings

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Some AVPro Global products

BREAKING NEWS

This morning, AVPro Global Holdings, Inc., a maker of a wide variety of audio/video gear and services, announced it has acquired the residential division of AudioControl from AAMP Global. Like King Solomon, the move “splits the baby” in half along its logical business lines with AVPro Global taking over AudioControl’s residential division, while AAMP Global retains its mobile electronics business.

See more on the AudioControl acquisition by AVPro Global

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Denon Launches Two New 8K AVRs w/3D Audio for Small to Midsize Spaces

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Denon AVR-S770H audio/video receiver

Ignoring the Masimo noise swirling around them, portfolio brand Denon launches two new audio video receivers (AVRs) with impressive technology targeted for small-to-midsize spaces, such as dens, family rooms, home offices, and the like. With support for 8K video and 3D audio, these new models offer an unusual blend of performance and features at a moderate price making them perfect for alternative smaller format spaces needing a more modest cinema implementation.

Learn more about these new Denon AVR models

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‘There is No Solace I Can Offer;’ VOXX CEO Announces 14% Cut in Jobs

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VOXX letter to employees

In a letter to employees earlier this month, VOXX International Corp. (Nasdaq: VOXX) CEO Pat Lavelle painted a dark picture of the economic environment the company finds itself mired in, noting its significant sales declines and mounting losses. If you were a VOXX employee reading the opening phrases of this letter, I’m pretty certain a feeling of dread would sweep over you – sensing where this communication is heading.

And you would be right, as later in the correspondence, Lavelle reveals a plan to cut “more than 150 employees” along with a series of other steps to cut costs and lower overhead. And these cuts are on top of the job cuts the company has already implemented in 2022, as it tries again to right the ship.

See more on VOXX management’s missive to employees

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Monster & CEO Noel Lee Get Beat Again; Award to Beats is ‘Final and Binding’

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A Monster slide extolling the creation of Beats
At CE Week in 2014, Monster takes credit for Beats by Dr. Dre

After Many Years & Many Appeals, This Might Be It

It was eight years ago – all the way back to January 2015 – when I first reported on what looked to be a pretty ugly legal action beginning between Monster, LLC and Beats Electronics, LLC. While the lawsuit filed by Monster took place in January 2015, the actions that led them to that point actually began much earlier than that, all the way back to 2011. And the relationship between the two significant CE brands actually began even further back to 2009, when the two came together to create Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, the wildly popular consumer headphone brand.

But when the relationship ended…it ended badly…

Learn more about this latest loss by Monster, to the benefit of Beats (Apple)

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Josh.ai Pivots to Control

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Screen shot of the Josh App from Josh.ai

OK, let me say upfront, I’m pretty sure the good folks at Josh.ai would take exception to the headline of this post. They might even have some harsh words for me. Most likely, they would argue they’ve always been about control. But in my view, they’ve been all about a subset of control – voice control (as well as AI or artificial intelligence).

This week, however, that all changed.

See how Josh.ai is pivoting to full control

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New Audio Research Owner and CEO Seeks to Address Questions

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Press release from Cora

This evening I received a press release from Valerio Cora, the new owner and Chief Executive Officer of Audio Research that seeks to address some concerns the company is apparently hearing from customers of the high-end, high-performance electronics brand. Interestingly, Cora says that the company will use the dba (doing business as) designation of Audio Research Corporation, while its legal new corporate name registered in Delaware is AR Tube Audio Corporation.

See more on this note from the Audio Research CEO

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CEDIA Expo Brings Back the Launchpad to Highlight Emerging Tech Companies

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CEDIA Expo 2019 where Launchpad is located

Emerald Expositions, owner of the CEDIA Expo taking place this year in Denver from September 6-9, 2023, announced it is bringing back the Launchpad (formerly known as Innovation Alley) to the Expo floor. The Launchpad highlights several new and emerging companies that take advantage of the event to launch new technologies to the industry.

Learn who will be on the CEDIA Expo Launchpad this year

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