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Big Changes Afoot At Altec Lansing

San Diego – Audio supplier Altec
Lansing has moved its executive offices to San Diego from Milford, Pa., hired
new top executives, and plans its first network audio products incorporating
Apple AirPlay and DLNA certification.

The company said it will continue
to maintain warehousing and logistics capabilities in its current Milford
location for now but might relocate them to another East Coast location. The
Milford facilities are up for sale, and the company is considering leasing them
back after the sale, a spokesperson said.

The company moved its executive
offices and is bringing engineering and marketing to the facility in order to
tap into the area’s “broader, deeper talent pool,” a spokesperson said.
Relocation packages have been offered to employees whose positions are being
moved.

The changes follow the
appointment earlier this year of president/COO George Stelling, an executive
with

Prophet Equity

, the Southlake,
Texas, private-equity firm that bought Altec Lansing from Plantronics in
December 2009.

Prophet also bought
wireless-technology developer

Avega
Systems

of Australia in 2010 and integrated the two companies.

Other new executives include Paul
Stacey, who came on board a month ago as CFO and operations VP. A week ago, Brendon
Stead joined Altec Lansing as VP of product management and engineering. Both
also now serve on Altec Lansing’s board.

Stead was formerly a GM and VP
with Harman International and Labtec. Stacey was formerly with Enesco, Ricoh
Americas, and Price Waterhouse. Both will be based in San Diego.

“In San Diego, we know Altec
Lansing can continue to innovate aggressively in both products and software by
tapping deep talent pools in the wireless and networking industries,” said
Stelling. “As music migrates to the Cloud, and as consumers readily adopt
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other connected solutions for audio, we feel that our San
Diego footprint will play a critical role in future growth in both our audio
solutions and technology licensing businesses.”

In consumer audio, Altec
currently offers computer audio, docking speakers for smartphones and tablets,
Bluetooth speakers, and headphones. Later this calendar year, the company plans
its first products incorporating Apple AirPlay wireless network technology, and
the company said it “is poised to integrate” DLNA wireless-networking
technology into its product line.

 In a week or so, it will launch its first earphone
line designed specifically for women and their smaller ear canals, a
spokesperson said.

No plans for now top re-enter the
pro audio market or launch tower and bookshelf speakers for use in component
audio systems, a spokesperson said.

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