Strategy in TECH...
Origin Acoustics announced this week that it has added well-known integration industry executive Jeff Brewer to its management team as Executive Vice President of Sales. Brewer will report to Marc Fisher, Origin’s President of Sales.
Last week, business group The Conference Board released the results for its November Consumer Confidence Index, a survey to gauge how consumers are feeling about the current and near-term future economy. The group reported a significant decline of 6.8 points in consumer confidence, a result that tends to support a similar finding by the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment, as I previously reported earlier in November.
The internet’s leading streaming guide, JustWatch, has named the top ten most rewatched movies over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Based on the analysis of data compiled over the last three years, analysts have identified those movies that families return to again and again when they gather for the holiday.
Once again, the calendar year of 2025 is rapidly slipping away. This week, most Americans will pause, gather with friends and family, participate in a joyous and delicious feast, and contemplate all they have to be thankful for.
And, this year, I’ll share with you a bit of holiday mystery at Strata-gee…
Calling 2025 a “transitional” year, new Sonos, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO) CEO Tom Conrad suggested the company turned a corner in the fourth quarter, as part of reporting its financial results for fiscal 2025, the year that ended on September 27, 2025. However, I couldn’t help but notice company executives were carefully choosing their words in describing the company’s performance – referring to just certain key Q4 numbers and “adjusted” results. This always makes me want to take a deeper look, and when I looked at fiscal 2025’s total performance, it was disappointing, with revenues continuing to decline and losses progressively increasing…again.
Even in the fourth quarter, which the executives did want to talk about, the company lost $37.9 million.
At the end of last week, Masimo Corporation (Nasdaq: MASI) received some good news in its years-long court battle with Apple Inc. over its alleged infringement of Masimo patents misappropriated for use in Apple Watch models. It has been virtually a nuclear war between the two combatants, taking place in Federal, California, and Delaware courts; at the US International Trade Commission; in the Federal Appeals Court; at the Patent Trial & Appeal Board; and with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Now, a California jury has found in Masimo’s favor in one of those cases and ordered Apple to pay it $634 million in damages. But is this the end of the matter?
Ft Lauderdale, FL-based Just Video Walls, a specialist supplier of custom MicroLED video walls, had a massive showing at CEDIA Expo 2025, situated in two large booths on the main floor. The company, which has had a huge growth spurt over the last couple of years, has added many new employees, introduced new product models, brought on new accessory & control options, and had its largest presence ever at Expo 2025.
Late last week, the University of Michigan released its widely respected Index of Consumer Sentiment for an initial reading of how consumers were feeling about the state of the economy. It showed a marked drop from both the previous month’s (October) reading and last year’s November 2024 reading. Why the downward dive in sentiment? Most likely, this was due, at least in part, to the ongoing government shutdown (which may be resolved by the time you read this).
On Wednesday, Resideo Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: REZI), maker and distributor of tech products for homes and businesses and parent company of Products and Solutions, ADI Global Distribution, Snap One, Control4, and more, announced its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2025. The results looked pretty good. Then, on Thursday, its stock collapsed a stunning 23.75%. By comparison, the S&P 500 was down 1.1%.
Now, on Friday, in midday trading, Resideo is trending down again… yet another 1.5% decline. What’s going on?
Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE: EEX), parent company to Emerald Expositions and owner of the CEDIA Expo, Commercial Integrator Expo, CEPro, Commercial Integrator, and more, reported its financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2025, showing growth in both consolidated revenues and “adjusted” earnings. However, the data makes it pretty clear that growth relies heavily on acquiring more shows – a costly way to drive growth.
