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Crestron Supply Chain Town Hall Updates Frustrated Dealers; Did It Help?

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Key executives address the Crestron Supply Chain Town Hall
Brad Hintze, Dan Feldstein, Dan Brady

This week, Crestron Electronics held a special Supply Chain Town Hall meeting with their dealers to conduct a deep dive into the root causes of their delivery delays, suggest what actions dealers can take, and offer a preview of what to expect in the future. The action was taken, the company says, in the name of transparency – a noble goal. But some dealers are asking what took so long – we are now 2½ years into supply chain issues and things don’t seem to be getting any better at Crestron. Or are they?

See more on the Crestron Supply Chain Town Hall meeting

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Audiophile Hero Mobile Fidelity Hit With Multi-Million Dollar Class Action Lawsuit

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the cover of a recent Pretenders record reissue from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

Has MoFi Been Pretending?

A lawsuit alleging a variety of deceptive practices by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, Inc. (Mobile Fidelity or MoFi), a major player in the premium analog vinyl record community, has been filed by premium vinyl record fan Adam Stiles. Stiles is bringing this case on behalf of himself “…and all others similarly situated against Defendent Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, Inc.”

Those whom he seeks to represent are all customers who purchased MoFi products since 2011 on the basis of the company’s assurance of its products’ pure analog, direct from the master tape, heritage. It turns out that this crucial selling point for the company is…allegedly…in many cases, a lie.

See more on the alleged deception by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

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Google Intensified Its Patent War With Sonos, Launched Battle on New Front

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After two years of tussling in courts, with both sides registering a mix of wins and losses on various matters, you’d think some kind of settlement would be in order. But last week, Google intensified its patent war with Sonos by opening up yet another front with two new lawsuits on voice control and other technologies, leading me to believe that any type of settlement is yet down the road.

Learn how Google has opened a new front with Sonos

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Masimo Quarterly Report Offers a First Look at Sound United Numbers & Future

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Joe Kiani, Masimo CEO

Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ: MASI), a global designer and producer of medical products and associated services that recently acquired Sound United, reported its second quarter fiscal 2022 results this week. With this filing, we get to see real data on the size and performance of Sound United, which the company acquired in April.

Learn more on the Masimo report, including the Sound United results

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Big Changes Hit Sound United as Terminated President Duffy Exits Today

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Kevin Duffy, head of Sound United terminated by Masimo
Kevin Duffy

Sound United VP James Krakowski Announces Departure As Well

On April 11, 2022, Masimo Corp. appointed Kevin Duffy – then CEO of Sound United – President of the Consumer Division of Masimo Corp. as part of its $1 billion acquisition of Viper Holdings Corp., Sound United’s parent company. Duffy was offered a fairly rich package, with salary and certain other benefits and perks that could be worth millions of dollars, in some cases after a vesting period.

Then, just ninety days later, the company filed paperwork with the SEC saying that it had terminated Duffy “without cause.”

See more on Duffy’s exit from Sound United and Masimo

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Gettin’ Tough Out There – Sony Cuts Net Profit Outlook for Current Fiscal Year

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Sony PlayStation 5 games

Late last week, Sony Group announced that they were cutting their net profit forecast for the current fiscal year, fiscal 2022 which ends March 2023. Why are they trimming their profit expectations? It appears that Sony is experiencing its version of a post-COVID Peloton/Netflix sales decline as video game sales are weakening and its costs related to a recent acquisition are rising.

See more on the declining profit forecast at Sony

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Turmoil Returns to Krell; COO Walter Schofield is Out Without Explanation

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Krell Solo 375 amplifier

Several Krell-related sources, such as dealers and others, reached out to me on Monday to share the surprising news they had just received in that morning’s email – top Krell executive Walter Schofield has left the company. Other than that basic fact, dealers didn’t know much more as the terse communication from Krell contained very little information. Speculation is running rampant…

See more on what I’ve learned about developments at Krell

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Emerald Expo Offers ‘Reinvigorated’ Education for CEDIA Expo 2022

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Emerald Exposition, one of the largest exposition companies in the U.S. and the owner of the CEDIA Expo (and CE Pro), announced this week that they will be offering “reinvigorated educational programming” at this year’s CEDIA Expo 2022. This initiative will include a range of more than 150 sessions, including seminars, panels, workshops, and manufacturer product training.

See more on education at CEDIA Expo 2022

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Senate Finally Takes Action on CHIPS Act, Setting the Stage for Its Passage

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Photo of semiconductors or chips, the Senate finally takes action
[Photo: REUTERS/Florence Lo/Illustration]

More than a year after its initial introduction, and in the wake of chip manufacturers threatening to scale back their U.S. projects, the United States Senate finally took action on Tuesday to move forward on the bill known as the CHIPS Act. After months of at times heavy discussion/arguing, the stage is set for both the House of Representatives and the Senate to vote on its passage, perhaps as early as next week.

See more on this development with the CHIPS Act

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Snap One Offers ‘Partners’ Advice to Protect Them from Fraud

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Snap One By integrators for integrators

Snap One, the entity originally founded as SnapAV, and a company whose motto is “Founded by integrators for integrators,” recently demonstrated how they strive to be a better partner by providing their dealers with some really solid and helpful advice. One of their appreciative dealers forwarded me an email he had received from the company containing useful information on how to protect his business from fraud.

See how Snap One sought to protect dealers from fraud

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