Pivot Point

Strata-gee’s Top Ten Most Read Stories of 2020

December 30, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

With 2020 rapidly disappearing into our rearview mirror, it’s always good to take a moment during the holidays and reflect on the year that just transpired. A year is a long time and a lot happens.

Also, as a content creator it is good to look back at those stories that seemed to resonate with most readers as I seek to constantly refine my editorial targets to better match the interests of readers. One way I do that is to put together an end of year list of the Top Ten Most Read Stories. Let’s look at those together – were these your favorites as well?

[Read more…]

High-End Faces A Matter of Survival in Pandemic’s Wake; Here’s What We Should Do Now

June 2, 2020 by Ted 6 Comments

In This GUEST POST, Bill Leebens Takes You on a Journey from ‘Me’ to ‘We’ & Proposes a New Industry Association

A few months ago, I unexpectedly became unemployed. There had been occasions in my career when it was clear that I needed to get the hell out of Dodge —but this wasn’t one of them.

A new job would not appear overnight; that was obvious. I was up to my ears in fearful self-absorption.

Then things changed…and the world was in upheaval.

This changed everything…

[Read more…]

Integrators Rejoice! Peace Chimes are Ringing – Crestron & Lutron are Working Together

May 26, 2020 by Ted 1 Comment

Lutron and Crestron are now working together

OK…I don’t want to overstate this, but over the last few years, integration industry giants Crestron and Lutron have been…shall we say…a little competitive with each other. Maybe not directly so, but certainly there have been skirmishes over several lines of products. Over time, the two companies’ line extensions have been progressively encroaching more and more into each other’s territory.

Well, that’s over now, as Creston announced last week that it has forged “an alliance” with Lutron – integrating several of the lighting company’s products into the Crestron Home ecosystem. Dealers who sell both brands are undoubtedly rejoicing – Hallelujah! Peace has come!

Shocking 30+% Drop in Housing Construction Starts; But a Turnaround May Be Lurking

May 21, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

a machine gets ready to start constructing a housing project

Existing Home Sales Decline as Well

I’ve been saying for a while now that really, really tough economic data was coming. Even though it was obvious to many of us that the economy was crashing – thanks to COVID-19 – it takes time for backward-looking statistics to catch up. Well, now they’re starting to catch up and with overall residential housing construction starts dropping an eye-popping 30.2% in April…they are ugly.

But read on to see why one piece of data seems to suggest that a housing turnaround make be lurking in the near future – or is even already here…

Learn more about this new data on the housing market…

[Read more…]

With Original Event Canceled, IFA Now Says It Will Hold a New Live, In-Person Show in September

May 19, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

IFA 2020 is an all-new 3-day event in September 2020

Promoter Says It Is Putting ‘Health and Safety First’

Saying they are putting “Health and Safety first,” IFA announces they have received the appropriate government approvals to hold a live, in-person trade show event in Berlin this coming September. The announcement was a dramatic departure from their previous announcement in April cancelling this very event. But will anyone choose to attend?

See more on IFA effectively un-cancelling their show…

[Read more…]

As Overall Economy Hit by COVID-19, Layoffs Hit Tech as Well

April 2, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

AudioQuest Announces Downsizing

A relatively large number of readers and industry sources have reached out to Strata-gee with word of cutbacks and layoffs at various industry brands – as the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) takes its toll on the U.S. economy. As was reported in a post just a few days ago, jobless claims jumped dramatically – by 33% in just one month – only to be exceeded a few days later by a massive jump in claims of 3 million more unemployed workers.

Now we are beginning to see layoffs in Tech…

[Read more…]

New Study: Another Impact of COVID-19 – the Crash of Consumer Sentiment

March 26, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Nearly 90% of Consumers Expect a Recession Because of COVID-19

New research conducted this month shows another major impact of COVID-19 Coronavirus – the crash of consumer sentiment. A statistically significant survey of a representative sample of all Americans has reached concerning conclusions about consumer sentiment now and likely to prevail for months after the COVID-19 crisis passes.

See how COVID-19 has impacted consumer sentiment…

[Read more…]

Once Again, Melrose Considers Disposing of Nortek; This Time It’s Serious

January 22, 2020 by Ted Leave a Comment

Melrose Industries plc, the British turnaround specialist who acquires underperforming companies to improve their operations and management for resale, is now actively considering selling off the bulk of Nortek in a deal that could be worth $3 billion, according to reports from Bloomberg News and the Financial Times. If they actually execute this sale, it will be a relatively early exit from their ownership of Nortek which they purchased in 2016 for $2.8 billion.

See why Melrose is ready to exit Nortek…

[Read more…]

In Sonos’ Claim That It’s a Victim, Some Skeptics See a Rich Irony

January 16, 2020 by Ted 3 Comments

This Friday, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence will testify before a Congressional committee (the House antitrust subcommittee) that is investigating the issue of competition in digital markets. Or, I should say, they are investigating whether the tech giants – Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, etc. – are engaging in anti-competitive activities in violation of the law. The Sonos CEO is likely to complain that Google is in fact anti-competitive. Spence’s appearance takes place literally just days after it has filed a major patent infringement lawsuit against Google – alleging that the tech giant stole its proprietary technology…making them a victim.

But some see this claim of Google victimizing Sonos as a bit of rich irony…

[Read more…]

Audio Design Associates Warns of Imminent Company Shutdown

December 10, 2019 by Ted 9 Comments

In a letter to the media early Tuesday evening, Richard Stoerger announced the likely impending closure of Audio Design Associates (ADA), a company that was a founding member of CEDIA and a significant driving force in the early days of the “CEDIA channel.” The letter itself never explicitly explains the reasons for the possible closure, only offering vague allusions to: difficulty to “defeat the noise generated on a public level”… and … that they “just ran out of time and money”… and … a failure to “reckon with” how “difficult and expensive” it is to tell one’s story.

This news tolls the end of an era…

[Read more…]

Pivot Point

Strata-gee’s Top Ten Most Read Stories of 2020

High-End Faces A Matter of Survival in Pandemic’s Wake; Here’s What We Should Do Now