MILBRAE, CALIF. –
CE industry veteran
Gary Yacoubian jumped into a new CE venture
as head of Specialty Technologies.
The CE industry veteran is president,
CEO and managing partner of Specialty
Technologies, a company created in late
May. He officially starts his new role today,
June 6.
Yacoubian said the company was specifically
formed to acquire SVSound, a high-end
niche maker of speakers and subwoofers
that sells uses a direct to customer business model.
The financial details of the agreement were not
released and Yacoubian would not divulge the
other partners involved in Specialty Technologies,
but he did say this information will be released at
a later date.
Under the deal SVSound will retain its senior design
and product management teams and its founder
will remain on board. Company founder Ron Stimpson
and COO Ed Mullen will also continue to have a role with the company. These were not defined.
Specialty Technologies will also be used
to explore what is possible in the specialty
CE space, Yacoubian said.
SVSound is the first piece of this puzzle.
The company’s plan for SVSound involves
expanding the brands product offering to
include related high-end equipment. Again,
no specifics were given.
“The niche is very narrow, but the products
are awesome so we are looking for
other ways to leverage the brand,” he said.
Other ideas being discussed is bringing products
out under the Specialty Technologies’ name and looking
at utilizing the retail market.
Prior to taking on this new role Yacoubian had been
VP, strategic development for Monster Cable for the
last two years. Previously he was president of Myer-
Emco and served as chairman of the executive board
of the Consumer Electronics Association. He will continue
to advise Monster as senior strategic advisor to
Noel Lee, head Monster.
