Strategy in TECH...
On Tuesday, New York University (NYU) and Sony Corporation announced a new partnership to establish the Sony Audio Institute, which is “…a multifaceted partnership at NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.” Sony has donated $7.5 million to create the institute, which is expected to launch this spring.
No doubt about it, for the last few weeks, storm clouds have been gathering as many are seeing a darkening outlook for the U.S. economy. In just the last few days, three key pieces of data – red flags, really – suggest we all need to be vigilant in tracking where the economy is headed. These three pieces of data include: 1) another consumer survey showing eroding confidence; 2) key retailers warning of slowing sales from tariff increases; and 3) a new Fed estimation that the GDP will contract -2.8% in the first quarter of 2025.
On Tuesday, after the close of financial markets, Masimo Corporation (Nasdaq: MASI) announced its financial performance for the fourth quarter and full year of Fiscal 2024. Consolidated revenues grew a mere 2%, and the company booked a net loss of $304.9 million. And yet, investors were thrilled, driving up the value of shares of MASI stock by a double-digit percentage on the first trading day after the announcement.
What?!?!
Sonos has announced that it is launching yet another reorganization (it had one in 2024, and another one before that in 2023) with a “reduction in force” this time impacting 12% of its entire workforce. It seems remarkable that at a time when it continues to struggle to extricate itself from the La Brea tar pits it fell into via 2024’s app disaster, one of its first solutions is to let people go. More than 1 out of every 10 employees has been terminated to “…improve the Company’s operating model and cost structure to set the Company up for long-term success.”
On Wednesday, ProSource CEO Jim Pearse notified members of one of the industry’s largest dealer buying groups that Premium Audio Company – a subsidiary of Voxx International Corporation that oversees its audio brands Onkyo, Integra, and Klipsch – is being dropped from its assortment. This is big news and comes at a difficult time for Voxx which is in deep due diligence for its acquisition by Gentex Corp.
Gentex Corporation (Nasdaq: GNTX) announced its financial results for the fourth quarter (4Q) and full year (FY) of Fiscal 2024. The results spooked investors as the company appeared to be cruising to a solid, probably single-digit growth year through the first three quarters. In fact, the company was predicting a year of record net sales through the first nine months of 2024. Then…the fourth quarter happened…
Analysts on an earnings call had a lot of questions about management’s guidance miss, the reasons for the performance decline at the end of the year, and what the company plans to do with Voxx when the deal finally closes.
Note to Reader: This post is the second part of a two-part series. In Part One, each of the directors of the three operating buying groups in Nationwide’s CI Division shared the details of their individual and group progress in 2024. You will want to read – or reread – that post first, as it helps Part Two make more sense.
Nationwide Marketing Group’s Custom Integration (CI) division made serious progress in 2024 as part of the organization’s ambitious Drive to 1,000 plan – seeking to build a collective CI membership of 1,000 dealers strong. In my previous post, the executives instrumental in achieving that progress – Andy Orozco (Nationwide’s Senior Vice President of Custom Integration), Patrick McCarthy (Executive Director, Azione Unlimited), Hank Alexander (Executive Director, Oasys Residential Technology Group), and Chris Whitley (Executive Director, Ellipsys Commercial Technology Group) – shared the highs and lows of building a business the likes of which we’ve never before seen. Now they share their plans for 2025…
In the wake of its acquisition by Bose last November, I have learned that there has been a significant shift in McIntosh’s go-to-market strategy. Multiple sources are reporting that McIntosh Group has terminated all independent manufacturer sales representatives. This move appears to contradict statements made by a Bose executive during the original announcement of its acquisition of McIntosh in November.
In a move I have been anticipating for weeks, the Sonos Board has finally made a move and dismissed Patrick Spence as CEO as of this morning, Monday, January 13, 2025. The company has named a member of the Board – Tom Conrad – as an interim CEO, while a search has been launched for its next CEO.
Much like the last few years, exhibitors at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas have largely focused on advances in artificial intelligence (AI). All major manufacturers spoke to it…none more deeply than LG, whose 45-minute press conference began with AI…ended with AI…and had a lot of AI in the middle.
