Strategy in TECH...
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.
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…
In a Teams interview with new Parasound owner and CEO David Sheriff, with VP of Sales and Marketing Larry Bennett joining in occasionally, I learned more about the company’s seemingly dramatic new direction. This new direction is defined not so much by a changed product strategy, but rather by revisions the company plans to make in policies, programs, and dealer structure that looks to redefine its approach to the market.
Masimo Corp. [NASDAQ: MASI] shareholders voted to elect two new independent board candidates nominated by activist investor Politan Capital Management, including Politan’s Chief Investment Officer Quentin Koffey, as reported by Reuters. The election took place on Monday, June 26th at the annual stockholder’s meeting, and it was announced late in the day that the Politan candidates prevailed.
The news is a shocking repudiation of the existing Masimo Board and CEO Joe Kiani – and it puts Sound United’s future with the company in serious doubt.
Alphabet, Inc. (Google) seems to find itself caught up in an unusual paradox. On the one hand, it is outwardly and aggressively marketing Bard, its own generative AI chatbot – while on the other hand, it is inwardly…but quietly…warning its own employees about the dangers of AI chatbots. This is according to a report by Reuters based on independent information from four different sources, each in a position to know.
The day after the Strata-gee story titled, Audio Research Corp is Sold; Or Is It? ran last month, I received an unexpected call from Valerio Cora, CEO of Acora Acoustics, the winning bidder and the likely new owner of Audio Research Corp (Audio Research or ARC). Cora was concerned that Strata-gee’s coverage of Audio Research’s issues had raised some questions – even going so far as to suggest that he felt my coverage was scaring people. He wanted to set the record straight on what is going on with Audio Research.
These are turbulent times at Masimo Corp. [NASDAQ: MASI] as the company continues its pitched battles against Apple Inc. for patent infringement and against activist investment group Politan Capital Management which seeks two Board seats for new oversight at the company. Mailings to MASI investors began in early May and continue to increase in frequency – and intensity – in the days leading up to the company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders on June 26, 2023.
What’s it all about? Largely, it is about Masimo’s $1 billion acquisition of Sound United (now Masimo Consumer) which caused the company’s market value to drop over $5 billion the day after the acquisition was announced. It appeared to be a clear repudiation of the management strategy by Masimo investors.
Last week, in a national online Teams conference with dealers, Parasound CEO David Sheriff presented his plans for the company’s future. Tightly scripted, the CEO spoke with a firm resolve in a no-nonsense manner. It was clear that the initiatives he announced that day were not topics for more discussion or debate, but rather what is going to happen. And he made it clear that some dealers viewing the online presentation that day will likely not agree with these plans, and that’s fine.
“Let’s talk about parting ways,” Sheriff said, looking directly into the camera without blinking.
Last week, I was invited to attend the inaugural OASYS Spring Conference at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Nashville, TN, aka Music City. Formerly known as HTSN (Home Technology Specialists of Nationwide), the group has been rebranded and infused with new energy as Oasys Residential Technology Group. This spring gathering was its inaugural event launching a new brand, a new operating process, and – I have to say – a new attitude.
It was an eye-opening experience that helped me realize just how serious Nationwide is at cementing Oasys as the bedrock foundation of its buying group dominance.
An announcement recently appeared on an audio enthusiast website that appears to announce the sale of Audio Research Corp. to a Canadian high-end speaker manufacturer. However, when reached for confirmation of this news, the officially appointed receiver issued a terse “no comment.”
