Strategy in TECH...
Atlantic Integrated, a leading specialty manufacturer sales representative firm in the New York Metro market, announced last week that they have expanded their organization in order to help maintain their superior level of service as their business continues to grow. To help them address this expansion, they have appointed the newly-added Justin Zuber as Sales Manager.
Last week, Crestron Electronics, a leading provider of control and automation solutions, wrapped up their two-day regional show, the Crestron Next Road Trip, at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston. The well-attended two-day event saw hundreds of integrators descend on Boston to participate in an event that included whole sections of their displays from the CEDIA Expo and InfoComm trade show booths and offered full-day educational courses for both their residential and commercial dealers.
In spite of the fact that the economy is continuing to grow as it powers away from the days of COVID shutdowns, a preliminary November reading of consumer sentiment shows a dramatic drop to a 10-year low, as consumers fret about growing inflation. While economists have long warned that transitory inflation would be a temporary part of our overall economic recovery, consumers are clearly concerned that this inflation may be hanging around for a while and it is already crimping their lifestyle.
Crestron Electronics, one of the industry’s most powerful home automation brands, announced today that it has launched a new line of battery-powered custom shades. While Crestron has been in the shading business for quite some time now, this new line of battery-powered shades – to my mind at least – seems perfectly suited as a complement to their burgeoning Crestron Home residential automation ecosystem.
Snap One Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ: SNPO) announced the results for its fiscal 2021 third quarter last week and said that thanks in part to an August 2021 price increase and continued expansion of its dealer base, the company booked a substantial revenue increase to $260.7 million, or 15% higher than the same quarter the year before. However, the company additionally reported a net loss of -$21.5 million, way below the net income of $1.4 million in the quarter last year, due to a significant increase in SG&A expenses.
Snap One announced this week that it has opened another “Partner Store” – a locally based warehouse location – that carries its products as well as other brands and offers support and training for area integrators. This new location opened in Hollywood, Florida, and – interestingly – is being operated by their Allnet branch.
Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) announced today that it has appointed Amanda Beckner as its new Vice President of Education and Training. Beckner replaces the recently departed Samantha Ventura and is said to bring two decades of experience to the role. Most notably, Beckner was VP of Learning for AVIXA, the commercial integrator trade group.
Emerald Holding, Inc. [NYSE:EEX] (Emerald), formerly Emerald Expositions and owner of the CEDIA Expo and CE Pro, announced this week that, thanks to the restart of live events in the third quarter of fiscal 2021, they were able to see a substantial reduction in their net losses on a significant revenue gain as compared to the same quarter in 2020 – the year of COVID shutdowns. While the company is still battling its event cancellation insurance providers in a California court for reimbursement for past canceled and impacted events, they say that they see the road to recovery ahead.
Major industry player Sound United is on the cusp of launching its first-ever virtual event called, appropriately enough, “Inside Sound United” (ISU). Coming November 9-12, 2021 to a computer near you, this highly immersive 4-day virtual event will be chock full of useful content and allow integrators to experience a side of the company not usually seen.
In new research from a think tank based in Bentonville, AR called Heartland Forward, we learn that innovation in the U.S. is largely happening on the east and west coasts of the country – not in America’s heartland where entrepreneurship is lagging. And that they hope to change by influencing state policymakers to go on the offensive to launch new entrepreneurial initiatives.
