Strategy in TECH...
The long-awaited closing of Masimo Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MASI) sale of Sound United (formerly Masimo Consumer) to Harman International, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, has been formally completed. Both parties of the transaction put out their own separate announcements, with Masimo’s version quite short and perfunctory, while Harman’s gave little more than an inkling of what is to become of Sound United.
The 8K Association (8KA) is pulling out all of the stops to brightly project awareness of the growing 8K resolution ecosystem to all corners of the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, during CEDIA Expo 2025 running from September 4-6, 2025. To do this, the association will employ a multi-faceted presentation and communication strategy that promotes the entire ecosystem from content creation and production to distribution, integration and viewing in the home.
After markets closed on Tuesday, Masimo Corporation [Nasdaq: MASI] released its results for the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2025, and to my eyes, they looked really solid. Revenues grew by a respectable 8%, operating profits grew by 54%(!), operating margins improved by 520 basis points (that’s 5.2% more than last year), and earnings per share shot up an eye-popping 78%(!) What’s not to like?
Yet on Wednesday, the first trading day after these results were announced, the value of MASI shares actually dropped 12%! What?!?!
Enigmatic, mercurial CEO Elon Musk confirmed to Reuters news that Tesla has signed a deal with Samsung Electronics to manufacture and supply Tesla’s next-generation AI chips, the AI6. The contract is said to be valued at $16.5 billion.
Sonos, Inc. [Nasdaq: SONO] announced today that its Board of Directors has decided to appoint Tom Conrad – current Interim CEO – as the new official Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Conrad, who was a member of the Board of Directors when it chose to dismiss previous CEO Patrick Spence, was named as the Interim CEO back in January.
On Thursday, Premium Audio Company (PAC), a division of Voxx, which itself is now part of Gentex Corp., today formally acknowledged what has long been rumored: that it has lost its licensing deal with Pioneer Corporation for the rights to the Pioneer and Elite brands. The announcement portrays the decision as a “mutual” one that concludes “a successful multi-year collaboration.”
She was a fresh-faced, 20-something college student in the late 1980s when, on a brief pause from her university studies, EveAnna Dauray took a job on the production floor at Vacuum Tube Logic, a high-end audio company in California run by David Manley and his son Luke. There is no way she could have known it at the time, but she was about to embark on a crazy, exciting, at times painful, though always rewarding, epic journey. It was a journey that spanned some four decades and would see her rise from an entry-level production floor worker to owner and President of Manley Laboratories, Inc. (a company split off and independent from VTL), which she recently successfully sold to industry entrepreneur Dirk Ulrich…achieving the American Dream by providing her with the resources and the freedom to pursue with passion the next exciting phase of her life’s journey.
Josh.ai (Josh) expands its market presence by partnering with Southern California-based manufacturer representative firm Unified Representatives. Josh calls Unified Representatives “a premier manufacturers’ rep firm” who will support what it says is its “rapidly growing dealer base” in Southern California.
AVPro Edge, part of the AVPro Global group of companies, announced this week that it has expanded its commercial channel distribution in the GCC region, part of the Middle East, by partnering with Keyston Distribution Fzco. This move, which the company calls a “strategic step,” will help further extend its presence in this major world region.
The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) announced on Tuesday that it is launching its first-ever consumer advertising campaign – something members have been asking it to do for years. The campaign is a professionally conceived, created, produced, and now distributed advertisement that includes, amongst other things, a 60-second video that educates consumers on the “magic” of a well-designed smart home and the need for a professional installer.
