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Masimo Corporation Board of Directors Authorizes Management to Evaluate the Separation of Consumer Business

OCA

OCA

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Masimo is considering selling its consumer business which they bought for $1 billion back in 2022. 2024 1st quarter revenue is down 30% year on year and their target price is about $730 million according to experts:

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These are the brands they own:

1715401903818.png
 
The obvious business trend is that the consumer audio revenue is going down since Masimo bought Sound United.
Is is the global trend of consumer audio sales?
 
That's a lot of huge names in audio. Just walk into any Best Buy.
 
valerianf said:
The obvious business trend is that the consumer audio revenue is going down since Masimo bought Sound United.
Is is the global trend of consumer audio sales?
Click to expand...

There is a big drop from 2023 to 2024. I think some of it is that once people upgrade their soundbar or speakers, they aren’t upgrading again for a while. There was a burst of content from the likes of Disney+, HBO->Max, and Paramount+ from the start of the pandemic and on, and I can see consumers upgrading during this time.

Companies like Sonos have also run into slower sales, so it’s probably not Masimo’s fault.

All that said, Marantz went even more expensive after Masimo took over and Classe stalled in its product line, with Dave Nauber also leaving. Not of the Definitive, B&W, Polk, or Boston Acoustics have got a lot of a “buzz” even though the latest products probably measure and sound reasonably well.
 
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This link to a current op-ed piece was posted on the Polk Audio forums.
Might be of interest to some of "us", purely speculative though it be. :)
futureaudiophile.com

Who Should Masimo Sell the Sound United Brands To

Medical Services company, Masimo, has a fire sale going for their $1,000,000,000 in AV brands. Who will be the buyer? We've got thoughts...
futureaudiophile.com futureaudiophile.com
 
mhardy6647 said:
This link to a current op-ed piece was posted on the Polk Audio forums.
Might be of interest to some of "us", purely speculative though it be. :)
Click to expand...

When Dave Nauber left Classe, it killed the brand because it makes you think that he abandoned the company more than he was fired. They at one point were going to do a Classe AV product. It's worse because they hyped up his involvement with the company.

There are two things that killed Classe, which I think the speculative post overlooks. For the record, when I had my JBL 708p's I genuinely was in the market for the Classe Delta Pre, albeit looking for the deals on TMR Audio / open box deals at Safe and Sound. So I wasn't looking at it for full price.

I saw the measurements and knew it wasn't 120 dB SINAD, but the idea of made in Japan, all-in-one box, with PEQ for simple room corrected sounded good to me. I went to Best Buy (which does carry Classe) and the screen killed the idea of a purchase. The touchscreen is an old-school resistive LCD screen with poor viewing angles. That tells you enough. I think I read (not sure if it's a real claim or internet rumor) that the screen was selected for low EMI/RFI -- but it felt like a really cheap, low-end product with that screen in comparison to any simple capacitive touch screen.

Second, the HDMI upgrade also lacked information in terms of what it could do. CEC? HDMI ARC or eARC for high resolution PCM?

They did update the Pre to the Pre Mk II with HEOS, but if they kept the same screen, it's going to be hard to want to spend that much money. The reason to spend the money on Classe over a WiiM or even a far superior HTP-1 is looks/reliablity/build quality. You cannot cheap out on the screen...
 
I concur that the brands of Sound United will probably end up in a fire sale.
Full disclosure, as a very early customer of Polk Audio (dating almost back to their origins in the early 1970s at JHU), I'll be sorry to see the demise of that brand. :(
I suspect Denon & marantz will be OK. Points above are well taken*, but there's still value in those names, I think -- particularly marantz.


________________
* I think many of us have been conditioned only to buy certain brands' products when they're put on sale. Even going way, way back in the late 1970s, it was, e.g., the only way to buy any of Radio Shack (Tandy Corp's) products at anything like a reasonable price for their quality (compared to name brands) in audio products. :)
 
Company buys another company outside their areas of expertise, mistakes pandemic trends for long-term trends. Who could've seen that coming?
 
tmtomh said:
Company buys another company outside their areas of expertise, mistakes pandemic trends for long-term trends. Who could've seen that coming?
Click to expand...
Lots of companies had visions of the new normal, although work from home is a new normal.

Sonos is the most likely player. Although they are a fraction of their peak, they are still bigger post pandemic compared to pre pandemic.

Sonos is big in home integration with Sonos amp’s being deployed in the areas that the Marantz M1/M4 are going after. They have their Sonos Radio to monetize the audio streaming part and they reportedly have patents are about to release an AppleTV+ / NVIDIA Shield competitor.

You can imagine SU being broken up into D&M and the speaker companies, with SU picking up the cream of the crop for pennies on the dollar.

Don’t forget that Sonos has gotten into the car audio consulting market with Audi. Being able to have access to the SU brands, minus B&W (which Harman has the license to), could open up new income streams too.

www.whathifi.com

Sonos Premium Sound System (Audi Q4 e-tron) review

Sonos’ first in-car audio system is a huge success
www.whathifi.com www.whathifi.com
 
tmtomh said:
Apple doesn't have a history of buying other companies unless there's specific technology they feel they need - and even then they tend to fold the tech into their own products. Beats is the only exception and it's a partial one at that. Anything's possible but I doubt Apple buys SU.
Click to expand...
Beats was a far more popular brand than many of the audio brands generally, tho.....what about the lesser brands in the Sound United portfolio?
 
Rumour has it that Apple is showing interest...

www.audioholics.com

Rumor: Is Apple Plotting a Sound United Buyout From Masimo?

Apple may have a plan to buy Sound United audio brands including: Denon, Marantz, Bowers&Wilkins;, etc from Masimo. But how far does Apple's plans go to resolve the ongoing patent disputes with Masimo?
www.audioholics.com www.audioholics.com

www.channelnews.com.au

channelnews : Masimo Consumer Is For Sale, Is Premium Audio Company Next As Vox Admits To Asset Sales Following Sales Slump

They stormed into the Australian market now Voxx International Corporation the owners of the Premium Audio Company are looking to sell key brands as the business wallows from one bad quarter to another with PAC sales down in Australia. There is also speculation that both Vox International and...
www.channelnews.com.au www.channelnews.com.au
 
The winds of change are blowing at Masimo and their impact on the erstwhile Sound United suite of brands could be (??) significant. :confused:

Masimo Provides Leadership and Business Updates

Appoints Michelle Brennan as Interim CEO Following Joe Kiani’s Decision to Resign Continues to Be Committed to Review of Strategic Alternatives for Consumer Businesses, With Assistance From Leading Financial and Legal Advisors Reaffirms Financial Guidance for Third Quarter 2024 Today the Board...
investor.masimo.com investor.masimo.com
 
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