Strategy in TECH...
Lots of studies have shown that consumer adoption of various smart home technologies and devices is growing…and that is undoubtedly true. But a new study shows that adoption is not as strong as it could be but for the complexity of installing and using smart home devices.
The Conference Board, in conjunction with Nielsen, announced on Tuesday that consumer confidence, a widely watched economic indicator, fell in November for the fourth straight month in-a-row. Consumers, it seems, are concerned about the current business climate and employment outlook. Even so, the level remains historically high and should not provide too much of a damper on current holiday spending by consumers.
In new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the readings appear split with housing starts showing increases while new home sales declined. Housing, a prime component of the overall U.S. GDP has been in a bit of a swell over the last couple of months, driven largely by low interest rates stimulating demand for homes.
Sonos announced this week that it has acquired French AI voice control software maker Snips in a deal valued at $37.5 million. The company also released their Fiscal 2019 results in a letter to investors denoting a record year for the company – its first as a publicly traded one.
For a few weeks now, I’ve been chasing a rumor that both sides of the failed Sound United acquisition of Onkyo’s branded A/V business were in the throes of a major reorganization. The rumors, it seems, were true – starting with Onkyo’s announced reorganization last week…and now word that Sound United is also implementing changes to its management structure.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against B&H Photo Video alleging that the NY retailer has operated a scheme to avoid paying the State of New York millions of dollars in taxes on money earned from manufacturer reimbursements. The State says B&H violated New York Tax Law, New York Executive Law, and the New York False Claims Act, and for this reason is asking the court for treble damages that are potentially in the tens of millions of dollars.
AudioControl and Josh.ai announced last week that they were partnering with an integration that will allow integrators to offer their clients a better voice-enabled home entertainment control experience. A perfect blend of the high-quality electronics from AudioControl, coupled with the natural language and privacy protecting voice automation technology of Josh.ai, means clients can simply say their commands to their system and have their system respond in new powerful ways.
It appears that the other shoe is dropping in the wake of the failed acquisition of Onkyo Corporation’s branded A/V division by Sound United last month, as the company now says it will reduce its overhead by cutting jobs. This appears to be the first step in a major reorganization of the company, as it seeks to right-size the organization for the industry’s new, smaller, and more competitive environment in which electronics manufacturers find themselves.
UK based Amina Technologies, manufacturer of so called “invisible speakers,” had for years been in a partnership with Triad who distributed their line. Yet in the wake of Triad’s acquisition by Control4, Amina ultimately chose to split off and go it alone – launching their independent sales effort at CEDIA Expo 2019.
Tech Data, one of the largest technology distributors in the U.S. and globally, has been acquired by Apollo Global Management, a private equity powerhouse, in a deal valued at $5.4 billion. The deal announced today, is expected to close by mid-2020.
