WiSA announced pricing of a public offering planned for “on or about December 1" that it expects to generate proceeds of $7.6 million. The public offering is an aggregate 50.4 million units and 3.6 million prefunded units at an effective offering price of 14 cents per unit, the company said Tuesday. WiSA was due to report Q3 earnings Nov. 14 but requested a delay in consideration of “previously announced and ongoing exploration of strategic alternatives" (see 2211150007). At the end of last month, the struggling audio company said it was considering “a wide range of options,” including raising capital, an acquisition, sale of assets, merger, business combination, joint venture and licensing.

Earbuds and headphones were among the most widely discounted items in Black Friday promotions with Beats by Dr. Dre over-ear advertised at discounts of $200 at Best Buy and elsewhere. Beats by Dr. Dre Studio Buds true wireless stereo (TWS) noise-canceling headphones were $60 off to $89, while Sony TWS WF-1000XM4s earbuds were marked down by over $100 to $178 at Best Buy. The highly competitive market is experiencing a growth lag due to a demand slowdown in developed markets and COVID-19 lockdowns in China, said a November Futuresource report. The TWS segment is holding its own, though, and holiday season promotions could be short-lived, according to Futuresource data showing the TWS category posted 14% year-on-year shipment (123 million) and revenue ($16.9 billion) growth in first-half 2022. “Even though the headphones market is only displaying marginal volume growth, we expect big things from true wireless,” said analyst Saran Mathivanan. The research firm estimates the category will finish 2022 with 13% growth in shipments, cannibalizing other form factors and raising the market’s average selling price. Earbuds are “firmly entrenched within consumer lifestyles across the globe, and we expect overall demand to remain positive throughout our forecast period,” said the analyst. The global headphone market, projected at $55 billion this year, will taper in 2023-2024 due to lower consumer spending on discretionary products, said Mathivanan, but a market recovery is likely at the end of 2024.

Traditional AM/FM radio is the top listening device in vehicles for Gen Zers (ages 13-24), Edison Research said Tuesday. The 48% who listen to radio compare with 43% who listen through a mobile device, it said. Noting a “surprise” result given Gen Zers’ preference for mobile phones as a listening device, Edison said the in-car environment is “different.” Listeners 25-54 spend 55% of their in-car listening time with AM/FM radio, 26% with a mobile device and 14% with satellite audio, said the report. Satellite’s deepest reach is with 55-plus listeners, who spend 23% of their in-car listening time with a satellite receiver, the report said. About 3-4% of listeners across all age groups listen to a CD in the car, it said.

Colombian musician Juanes is offering an exclusive listening preview for an upcoming album in a Mercedes-Benz vehicle equipped with Dolby Atmos Music, said a Monday announcement from Apple Music, Universal Music Group, Dolby and Mercedes. The companies said last month (see 2210170072) they collaborated on an in-car experience around Dolby Atmos Music that they pitched as “the benchmark for production and playback quality” in a car. Juanes’ album, 11th, mixed in Dolby Atmos and optimized for playback in a car, is due for release next year. The artist previewed the album during Latin Grammy events last week in Las Vegas.

WiSA Technologies postponed its Monday earnings call, saying about an hour before it was scheduled to begin that it requested to delay its 10-Q report for the term ended Sept. 30 in consideration of its “previously announced and ongoing exploration of strategic alternatives.” At the end of last month, the struggling audio company said it was considering “a wide range of options (see 2210310006),” including raising capital, an acquisition, sale of assets, merger, business combination, joint venture and licensing. The delay in releasing the Q3 report “is not a result of any disagreements with its auditor concerning the financial results,” the company said. It tentatively rescheduled the Q3 earnings call for Monday.

Shure, NAB and Paramount jointly proposed a “path forward” on the introduction of wireless multichannel audio system technologies for wireless mics. FCC commissioners approved an NPRM on WMAS last year, but the docket has been mostly quiet in recent months (see 2104220056). “Rules for WMAS systems should incorporate a sliding scale of power and bandwidth based on mode of application,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 21-115. “In addition to licensed WMAS operation with 6 MHz maximum bandwidth and 250 mW maximum power, unlicensed WMAS operation can also be permitted under this framework at narrower bandwidth and lower power in the UHF-TV band. By limiting unlicensed operations to narrow bandwidths, the impact on spectrum is expected to be similar to that of narrowband operations under practical operating conditions due to limitations caused by intermodulation distortion and channel spacing.” Under the proposed parameters, licensed-only use would be allowed at 250 mW with 6 MHz bandwidth. Licensed/unlicensed would be allowed at 100 mW power, 2 MHz bandwidth, in some cases, or at 50 mW on 1 MHz channels. “While this approach differs from both Shure’s initial proposal and NAB/Paramount’s responsive proposal, Shure and NAB/Paramount believe that this approach fairly balances the desire of wireless microphone users to employ WMAS and broadcasters’ need for assurance that they will be able to continue operating narrowband systems,” they said.

SVS Audio introduced the Prime Wireless Pro Powered Speaker Pair ($899), with a 4 x 50-watt amplifier; HDMI, line-level, optical, Ethernet and 3.5mm auxiliary inputs; and a subwoofer output. The Hi-Res speakers, with a 192kHz/24-bit digital analog converter, support streaming via the DTS Play-Fi app. Play-Fi, which supports Amazon Music, Qobuz, iHeart, Pandora, YouTube, Sirius XM, Tidal, Pandora, Audible and other services, also lets users access radio guides and a home media server. The Play-Fi app lets users stream music wirelessly from a smartphone or tablet to up to 32 Play-Fi products in 16 zones, SVS said.

Audio-Technica reprised the 1980s-era Sound Burger portable record player as part of its 60th anniversary commemoration, adding Bluetooth wireless audio and a USB-C charging port. The $199 limited-edition belt-drive record player also comes with an RCA audio cable for hookup to a home stereo system. Preorders began Tuesday with delivery expected on Nov. 26. The Sound Burger plays 33-1/3 and 45 RPM records.

WiSA Technologies is exploring “strategic alternatives” to consider “a wide range of options” for the struggling wireless multichannel audio company, it said Monday. Shares opened at 51 cents Monday and closed 5.7% higher at 55 cents. Its Q2 revenue was $900,000. Potential strategic transactions that may be evaluated as part of the process include raising capital, an acquisition, sale of assets, merger, business combination, partnership, joint venture, licensing or other alternatives, the company said. WiSA doesn’t plan to disclose developments in the process until the evaluation of strategic alternatives has been completed.

WiSA Technologies announced Tuesday a licensing program for its multichannel wireless WiSA E software, designed as a low-cost multichannel wireless audio offering for smart TVs and speakers. “Today’s multichannel audio components are expensive ASICs that are relegated to the higher end of the market,” said Eric Almgren, WiSA chief strategy officer. WiSA has taken its multichannel tech, currently used by speaker companies including Klipsch and Bang & Olufsen, and created an “embeddable software product designed to run on HDTV SoC platforms and low-cost IoT/Wi-Fi chips,” Almgren said. WiSA E is currently being ported to Amlogic’s low-cost HDTV platform, WiSA said, and the company is also working with several IoT chipmakers, including Realtek and Espressif, to run WiSA’s audio software on low-cost Wi-Fi chips, it said. WiSA E allows consumers to add wireless speakers to create a “full [Dolby] Atmos-capable immersive sound system without the need for any extra cables or wires,” said WiSA CEO Brett Moyer. The company has begun sampling WiSA E with beta customers; full production is slated for next year.