Onkyo Home Entertainment’s bankruptcy filing Friday with the Osaka District Court in Japan didn't include assets bought by Premium Audio Co. and Sharp in September (see 2109090028), said Voxx International subsidiary PAC Monday, responding to what it called misleading media reports. The PAC-Sharp joint venture acquired the Onkyo and Integra brands, including all intellectual property, and took responsibility for product development, engineering, sales, marketing and distribution of Onkyo's home entertainment business, PAC said. The joint venture also assumed all manufacturing of those products, including stereo receivers, amplifiers and hi-fi components under the Onkyo and Integra brands. PAC, through its 11 Trading Co. (11TC) subsidiary, began as a distributor of the Onkyo, Integra, Pioneer and Pioneer Elite brands in July 2020. In April 2021, 11TC became the exclusive U.S. distributor of the Teac and Esoteric audio brands, and in September, PAC, through its joint venture with Sharp, acquired the Onkyo and Integra brands, and established a licensing and distribution agreement with Pioneer, it said. Sales of the branded products are all through 11TC, which grew from $13.7 million in revenue in fiscal 2021 to $59.4 million in fiscal 2022, said PAC CEO Paul Jacobs. He said demand for Onkyo and Integra products has been “very high” and expected to “intensify in the coming years.” PAC has been working with Sharp to ramp up production and has grown the business since the acquisition, he said. “We have big plans for Onkyo and the other brands sold through 11TC and as we build production and expand distribution, believe sales will more than double in the near-term,” Jacobs said: "Rumors or any statements to the contrary about the Onkyo brand are simply unfounded and misleading." During the COVID-19 supply chain shortage, Integra receivers were particularly hard hit by supply shortages, dealers told us in April (see 2204060057).

After two years of COVID-19 impact, artist services and expanded-rights revenue increased 19.5% at Warner Music Group in fiscal Q2 2022, reflecting increases in merchandising and concert promotion revenue, said the company’s Tuesday earnings report. Performance revenue rose 9% “as bars, restaurants, concerts and live events continue to recover from COVID disruption,” said Chief Financial Officer Eric Levin on the company's earnings call. Streaming revenue from emerging platforms grew to $345 million for the quarter ended March 31; digital revenue, 70.1% of the company’s total recorded music revenue, was $931 million, up 8%; physical revenue grew 3.4% on “increasing demand for vinyl,” said CEO Steve Cooper. The music company continued international expansion, acquiring Qanawat Music, a distributor in the Middle East/North Africa market, expanding WMG’s presence in Dubai, Cairo and Casablanca, it said. It also partnered with Bollywood artists in India, where it grew share over the past 24 months, Cooper said. He positioned WMG at the “intersection of gaming, social and entertainment" with brands including Roblox, Fortnite and The Sandbox. An area of incremental revenue is digital fitness: WMG was the music launch partner for Peloton’s gaming-inspired fitness experience, Lanebreak, Cooper said. The company continues to build its presence in podcasting, launching in April Interval Presents, an in-house podcast network covering music, pop culture and social impact. WMG expects music to remain “resilient” amid macroeconomic challenges, Levin said. In video streaming, people generally subscribe to multiple services, he said, vs. audio where they generally subscribe to one service with their music aggregated in one place. Levin called digital music a very “fairly priced, if not even low-priced, high-value service that's central to people's lives.” Shares hit a 52-week low Tuesday at $25.35 before closing 5.46% down at $25.78.

CEDIA Expo owner Emerald Holding announced Tuesday a new division that will launch brands that “curate year-round communities through in-person and digital experiences." Dubbed Emerald Xcelerator, it will build on the company’s trade show business, including over 150 events, media, content, market research, lead generation and digital transaction solutions, it said. The goal of the Xcelerator is to “uncover new ways to create value and advancement for our customers,” said CEO Herve Sedky.

TCL Group’s 2021 net profit climbed 129% year over year, reaching $2.59 billion, based on 65% revenue improvement to $38.1 billion, reported the company Friday. TCL Technology, which includes TCL's consumer tech operations, had revenue of $24.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 113%, and a net profit of $2.26 billion, up 195.3% from 2020, it said. Panel maker China Star Optoelectronics Technology, part of TCL Technology, had a year-on-year shipment increase of 36% in area terms in the large-sized display business and 23% in the small and medium-sized display business, it said. Sales of TCL quantum-dot LCD TVs increased 53.8% year on year and miniLED TVs were up 50.5%, it said.

Amazon plans to add 2,500 corporate and technology jobs in the "coming years" at its Tech Hubs in the San Diego and Los Angeles areas, it said Tuesday. Job roles are in cloud infrastructure, the Alexa experience and video game design, it said. The company opened more than 15 sites across Southern California and created more than 17,000 jobs statewide last year, it said.

CEDIA Expo owner Emerald Holding postponed release of its Q1 results by six days to May 9, said the company Friday, without saying why. Emerald's earnings call is planned for that day at 8:30 a.m. EDT. Emerald representatives didn’t comment Monday.

Logitech is positioned to capture a “sizeable share of burgeoning growth” in PC peripherals and videoconferencing markets, still riding the COVID-19 hybrid work trend, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Thursday. Though the company still has to “trudge through the mud of tough comparisons and a difficult supply chain environment,” it will also benefit from favorable gaming trends, he said. Pachter referenced Logitech’s “strong M&A track record,” and a “high likelihood of acquisitions” in the next year. The peripherals maker has managed well through very difficult comparisons, managing to maintain or even grow its heightened pandemic-era revenue streams in some categories, he said. Lower consumer spending in Europe due to the Russia-Ukraine war plus inflationary pressure could delay Logitech’s upgrade cycle on several peripherals, said the analyst, but the hybrid shift is a buffer that should return the company to growth in coming quarters. Logitech will report Q4 fiscal '22 earnings Monday at 9 p.m. EDT. Wedbush expects Q4 revenue of $1.28 billion at the high end of guidance.

Vizio Chairman-CEO William Wang drew $32.15 million in total 2021 compensation, and his base salary more than doubled from 2020 to $956,250, said a definitive proxy statement Thursday for Vizio’s June 9 annual meeting, to be held virtually beginning at 10 a.m. PDT. Stock awards totaling nearly $28 million made up the bulk of Wang’s 2021 pay, after he received no such awards in 2020 or 2019, said the proxy. His 2021 bonus shrank to $775,000 from $1.68 million in 2020, it said. Vizio went public in March 2021 as a “controlled company” under New York Stock Exchange rules that apply when a single person or entity owns more than 50% of the voting power of all common shares (see 2103010043). Wang controlled 87% of Vizio’s total voting power as of March 31, said the proxy.

Comcast's board is recommending "no" votes for five shareholder proposals at the company's annual shareholder meeting June 1, per its annual proxy statement Friday. The shareholder proposals would have the company semiannually prepare a report on all its charitable donations, commission an independent racial equity audit, issue reports on potential risks of omitting "viewpoint" and "ideology" from its equal employment opportunity policy and on the effectiveness of its workplace sexual harassment policies, and prepare an assessment of how its current retirement plan options align with its climate action goals.

Amazon announced 37 new renewable energy projects in the U.S., Spain, France, Australia, Canada, India, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. The new projects increase the capacity of the company’s renewable energy portfolio by nearly 30%, from 12.2 gigawatts (GW) to 15.7 GW, Amazon said Wednesday. Its goal is to power 100% of its operations with renewable energy by 2025. The additions bring its renewable energy projects to 310 in 19 countries, it said. The 23 new projects in the U.S. include Amazon’s largest renewable energy project, a 500-milliwatt solar farm in Texas and the first projects in Missouri. The others are in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Virginia.