Strategy in TECH...
We’ve been reporting lately on the growing popularity of voice control. Driven largely by the introduction of Amazon’s Echo in 2014, which featured a dramatic improvement in performance over previous hands free systems like Siri, voice control has been picking up momentum with consumers and attracting new competitors like Google with its Home model, and soon Microsoft with Cortana.
But news services are reporting that Amazon has sold out of the Echo right in the heart of the holidays. Not good…
Just days after we told you about Sharp’s decision to stop supplying LCD panels to global TV leader Samsung – a decision that shocked many in Japan – apparently, they’ve done it again. The Nikkei in Japan is reporting that panel pricing negotiations have apparently broken down between Sharp and China’s Hisense Group with the parties unable to agree on a fair price. As a result, Sharp has notified Hisense it will also stop supplying them with panels in 2017.
Moody’s Japan announced this week that it has raised its rating on Sony’s credit to Baa3, one step up from “junk.” This is the first time that Sony’s credit has been determined to be “investment grade” in years and reflects the company’s improved financial performance.
The media in Japan positively exploded this week with the shocking news that Sharp has notified Samsung it will no longer supply the world’s top seller of LCD TVs with the panels they need for their sets. Samsung was Sharp’s largest customer, but in a shocking power move, after negotiations broke down – Sharp said no deal.
In a reorganization at Nortek, Core Brands, previously a freestanding, underperforming segment of the company, has been moved under the control of Nortek’s Security and Control Solutions Group, it was announced internally this week. With this change, Core Brands President Joe Roberts will now report to SCS Group’s President Michael O’Neal.
SnapAV announced Wednesday that it has acquired Autonomic, a leading music server solutions provider. This is SnapAV’s latest in a string of acquisitions, as the company continues to seek solutions that will fulfill the needs of their extensive national network of custom integrators.
One of the keynote presentations at CEDIA 2016, was from Amazon – the monster online retailer. Amazon executive Charlie Kindel introduced the custom integration attendees to the Amazon Echo, Tap, and Dot…essentially Internet appliances that all feature their Alexa voice control technology. Then, late in the presentation, Kindel announced the company has developed a way for Alexa to interface with home systems – and even forged integration partnerships with Lutron, Crestron, Control4 and others.
Products designed to address the simple smart home market continue to be introduced at a dizzying pace – most of which will end up in the dust bin of not-so-useful, not-so-innovative app-controllable nonsense in the future. But every once in a while we stumble across items that catch our eye, and Twist is one of those.
What is Twist? If you can screw in a lightbulb, you can have a smarter home lighting and wireless audio solution.
Sony told the Nikkei this week that – to paraphrase – after years of painful dieting, the company has reached its fighting weight and is ready to go to battle to grow its sales worldwide. The company has spent the last few years spinning off divisions, cutting back on employment levels, and reducing overhead – all for the express purpose of improving profits. That goal achieved, the company will now focus on sales.
Oh I know…you’ve been reading all of the press about how Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day ever this year. So how can we be suggesting it’s losing momentum? Well, according to new data analyzed by eMarketer, that appears to be exactly the case.
So which days are gaining ground on Cyber Monday?
