Strategy in TECH...
On Tuesday, Bose Corporation – a privately held manufacturer and marketer of a variety of predominantly audio products like headphones, speakers, soundbars and car audio – announced it has acquired McIntosh Group, a high-end manufacturer of electronics under the McIntosh brand and speakers/phono cartridges under the Sonus faber brand. Terms of the deal were not revealed and a buzz has descended around the industry as to whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.
With 2020 rapidly disappearing into our rearview mirror, it’s always good to take a moment during the holidays and reflect on the year that just transpired. A year is a long time and a lot happens.
Also, as a content creator it is good to look back at those stories that seemed to resonate with most readers as I seek to constantly refine my editorial targets to better match the interests of readers. One way I do that is to put together an end of year list of the Top Ten Most Read Stories. Let’s look at those together – were these your favorites as well?
As we hurtle headlong into the a new decade – the 2020s – it’s a good time to pause and take stock of some of the major events of our industry’s recent history by ranking the Top 10 Strata-gee stories of 2019 based on total page views. This ranking shows just what stories drew the most attention of Strata-gee’s eminently intelligent and inquisitive readers.
Ever since EVA Automation acquired Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) back in 2016, I have nervously watched to see the impact of this clash of cultures – new wave with old school. Strata-gee had already exhaustively reported on the painful slow-motion train wreck of Thiel Audio – another high-end audio brand purchased by private equity. In that case, its ultimate demise was in part due to the launch of affordably-priced, but common Bluetooth technology speakers relying on the power of the Thiel brand to justify the non-common selling price.
Would audiophile darling B&W suffer the same fate?
Last week, I noted the top posts on Strata-gee based on page views – quite simply, those articles that attracted the most eyeballs. We could have called that post – the Readers Choice Awards…as these were the stories that…collectively…so many of you read.
Now, I’d like to share with you those stories that I think are significant or important stories – or themes, really – even if they were not the most read. So this version I’m calling the Editor’s Choice for Top 2018 Stories.
As we wrap-up another year at Strata-gee, I have to say that 2018 turned out to be pretty remarkable. Hundreds of stories were published over a wide range of topics. One theme that seemed to catch readers’ attention was the continued strain on specialty audio companies – particularly those who had been acquired by private equity groups. We saw our share of drama and innovation – with companies making bold moves, some of which worked out…and others that didn’t.
With this being the traditional end-of-year holiday period, there is an irresistible pull for editors to review their top stories reported on in the year that is now fading fast from view. I am certainly not immune from that pull. And while every year seems remarkable, I can say with certainty that 2017 appears to earn that lofty designation as well.
Stephen DeFuria, a top specialty audio industry sales executive uniquely conversant in both high-end AND more mainstream audio, died early Sunday morning after a long battle with cancer. DeFuria was 61-years old and passed away at home with his family at his side.
It was a huge year for Strata-gee.com in 2015 – thanks to all of our readers like you! Not only did we sign up a slew of new subscribers to our SYNCH e-newsletter – a big THANK YOU if you were one of them – but our average weekly page views continued to grow as well. Our “heat map” that graphically displays when readers are on our website shows that there are readers on our website every hour of every day – and every day of every week. But we get a blazing “hot” heat signature on Thursdays, when the SYNCH is blasted out to you, with the hotness continuing on into Fridays.
Big changes are afoot at Tivoli, the quirky audio products manufacturer that had a goal of providing nicely designed, easy-to-use, high quality audio products sold largely direct-to-consumers at reasonable prices. Founded by well-known industry personality Tom DeVesto, Tivoli had, for some time, remarkable success selling an almost retro-designed table radio…at a time when most companies had abandoned that category.
Now, big changes are at play – with DeVesto out and a new Interim CEO appointed by the Tivoli board.
