AfterShokz, in a 10-year-anniversary rebrand, is now Shokz, said the company Tuesday. With a “renewed focus” on bone conduction acoustics, the company said the name change and a “new visual identity” demonstrate a simpler and “easier-to-share” moniker within the audio business and cater to the core messaging of the ShokzSquad community. As part of the refresh, the company’s Aeropex bone conduction sport headphones were redubbed OpenRun; its Xtrainerz MP3 swimming headphones are now called OpenSwim, it said.
Digital contract manufacturer Fathom began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Monday under the ticker symbol FATH after completing its business combination Thursday with Altimar II, a special purpose acquisition company. Fathom plans to use its stock as “currency” to advance its mergers and acquisitions strategy, said CEO Ryan Martin, a former General Electric executive.
Snap One expanded its Partner Awards program for Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific, it said Thursday. The company will award 38 integrators that have shown excellence in sales, marketing and support, with winners to be announced at its partner party at ISE 2022 in Barcelona Feb. 3. Award winners will be chosen by regional distributors or Snap One representatives.
Redbox is using digital video signage atop more than 2,000 kiosks in the U.S., on the way to an expected 4,000, said the DVD rental provider Thursday. The displays are designed to be used by Hollywood studios to promote new releases, to push Redbox's own streaming media service and to display local advertising. Redbox partnered with Velocity, which will source, operate and support the signage network. Initiating coverage of Redbox Monday, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter called Redbox a “compelling, long-term growth story,” due to its 39 million loyalty members, “as many of them are late technology adopters and Redbox makes the transition simple and inexpensive.” Redbox should also benefit from the ongoing share shift from linear broadcast to ad-supported VOD services, Pachter said.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has resigned, he tweeted Monday. Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal replaced him Monday as CEO, and Salesforce President Bret Taylor will chair the board, Dorsey said in an attached email to staff. Dorsey will stay on the board through his term ending in May, he said. Agrawal tweeted, “The world is watching us right now, even more than they have before.” Taylor also tweeted thanks. Twitter's stock closed 2.7% lower Monday at $45.78.
Zoom exited Q3 with 512,100 customer accounts with 10-plus employees each, up 18% year over year, said Chief Financial Officer Kelly Steckelberg on an analysts’ call Monday. Customers with more than 10 employees generated 66% of Q3 revenue, up sequentially from 64% and 62% in Q3 last year, she said. These trends suggest that customers with more than 10 employees are expanding their use of the platform, adding more products and seats, she said. The company’s “net dollar expansion rate” for customers with more than 10 employees exceeded 130% for the 14th straight quarter, as existing customers “increased their spend with Zoom,” she said. “For Q4, we expect this metric to be modestly below the 130% mark.” Zoom’s online churn in Q3 “performed better than our expectations coming in at the beginning of the quarter,” said the CFO. “We were happy to see that it was more seasonality aligned rather than true potential departures, as people were making other choices or going back to meeting in person.” Q3 revenue of $1.05 billion was up 35% year over year. Quarter-on-quarter revenue growth is expected to be flat in Q4. "Our online business will be a headwind in the coming quarters as smaller customers and consumers adapt to the evolving environment," said Steckelberg. The stock closed down 15% Tuesday at $206.64.
Acer generated Q3 revenue of 81.14 billion new Taiwan dollars ($2.9 billion), and its net income of NT$3.02 billion ($108.5 million) was its highest in 11 years, said the PC vendor Wednesday. “Acer is working hard to overcome supply chain and logistics bottlenecks across the industry,” it said.
Amazon launched a program to help employees manage work and home life, it said Wednesday. FamilyFlex, which differs by business and employment type, offers shift-swapping capabilities and the chance for employees to choose their own schedules, said the company. The program is a result of employee feedback on ways to provide flexibility and support in managing work and personal lives, it said. An “Anytime Pay” program allows select U.S. employees to access earnings before payday via a payment card that can be used where Visa is accepted. FamilyFlex also offers access to pregnancy and parental leave, child and elder care, mental health resources and adoption assistance, Amazon said.
Snap One opened its 30th Partner Store, an Allnet-operated location in Hollywood, Florida, it emailed Tuesday. The 15,000-square-foot store is the ninth to open this year. In addition to products from Samsung, Sony, Sonos, Sound United, Klipsch, KEF and Legrand, Snap features in-house brands with an “outdoor solutions” station, an OvrC-enabled demonstration rack and multiple WattBox power control products. The company also announced the return of live in-store events and the launch of a 13-city tour of one-day dealer education sessions focusing on OvrC-enabled devices beginning Thursday in Atlanta. The Snap One Partner Store in Hollywood provides 24-hour order will-call with self pickup and training facilities.
Valens Semiconductor will release Q3 financial results before the markets open Nov. 11, said the company Thursday. The originator of HDBaseT connectivity technology for home theater and autonomous driving went public Sept. 30 (see 2110010008). The stock lost about 8% of its value in the month since shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange, though the stock closed 4% higher Thursday at $9.09.