Strategy in TECH...
Krell dealers received an unexpected and, to many of them, shocking email from Krell Industries President Bill McKiegan, who announced that Wednesday was his last day at the high-end audio manufacturer. The email (reproduced below), was short on details and gave little more than a list of contacts at the company with whom dealers should consult on any future issues.
Troubled Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp Corp. announced today that it will sell its headquarters building in Osaka, as well as an additional associated building, and the land they both stand on, in a bid to raise cash. The company says it sold the properties for ¥18.8 billion ($156.8 million) which will allow them to book a special gain of ¥14.8 billion in profit from the deal in their fiscal fourth quarter, the period ending March 2016.
Well-respected custom integrator Richard Millson, founder of Vancouver, BC-based Millson Technologies, has some 25-years of experience in high-end residential AV and automation systems installation. Many of these installations were in luxury high-rise condominium developments, trendy boutique hotels, and high-end homes. After literally tens of thousands of installations, Millson knew well the gaping holes in the market that manufacturers simply weren’t addressing.
So Richard created a new company, Millson Custom Solutions, to address these gaps. And the first product from MCS, four years in the making, is CinemaFrame – an amazing in-wall high-performance home theater solution.
CEDIA announced last week that it has hired Vincent Bruno to take over as CEDIA’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective next month. Bruno will leave his current position as Marketing Director for manufacturer Crestron Electronics, a position he’s held for seven years, to take the CEO role at the top trade association for integrators.
On Monday, Toshiba released their twice-delayed final financial data for the last fiscal year (ended March 2015) in what it undoubtedly hoped would be the first step to turning the page from a scandal-racked year. But forces out of their control conspire to keep them in the hot seat – with a regulatory agency threatening large fines and a major shareholder demanding the company sue its former executives.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get worse for the aging Japanese industrial giant, Toshiba Corp. again stunned the financial community in Japan – forced to postpone their already delayed financial reports which were expected at the end of August. The company said it was forced to delay the report in the face of ten whistleblowers who have come forward alleging more company misdeeds. The company has launched ten new investigations, including one at a U.S. subsidiary.
After the Wall Street Journal revealed late last month that United Technologies Corp. (UTC) was in talks to potentially acquire Nortek, Inc., we questioned why UTC would even want to acquire Nortek. Within days of our post, investment advisory firm The Motley Fool (TMF) also raised the issue in a post last week about this not-quite-so-obvious marriage. Well, maybe it’s more like a dalliance than a marriage…at least at this point.
We found the Motley Fool’s analysis interesting – both in their clear-eyed assessment of Nortek and why the acquisition may in fact make sense for United Technologies.
New studies show pay TV providers saw a large and significant decline in the number of subscribers in the second quarter of this year, losing more than 470,000 subscribers – almost a half million – during the quarter. It was their worst quarterly performance ever and indicates a growing, troubling trend.
The Wall Street Journal broke the news yesterday that United Technologies Corp. is in talks to possibly acquire Nortek, Inc. Nortek is best known in our industry as the parent company of Core Brands, a collection of several prominent lines – such as Niles, Elan, SpeakerCraft (and others) – that are focused largely on the custom integration business, but also produces commercial and residential HVAC and air handling equipment. United Technologies is a large conglomerate with diversified holdings such as Pratt & Whitney jet engines, Otis elevators, and Carrier air-conditioning equipment.
Toshiba Corp. has been subjected to almost daily press stories and analyses in the Japanese media on their continued struggles in the wake of a huge accounting scandal at the formerly blue-chip powerhouse company. The scandal was likely large in terms of financial losses, but even larger in terms of decimating the reputation of the company and its management. To turn the situation around, the company must start to build a new reputation for reliability. It isn’t going to be easy…
