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Sonos expects to release products faster now that it’s gone public
It's been a busy year or so for Sonos. Since last April, the company has launched three hardware products (the Playbase, Sonos One and Beam), added AirPlay 2 and Alexa support and became a publicly-traded company just yesterday. It's a milestone for any company, but Sonos says its fans shouldn't worry that the pressure of answering to investors will change its music-focused mission. The company's chief product officer Nick Millington told Engadget that Sonos is staying focused on delivering music throughout your home. In fact, the company points to the busy year it had as what we should expect going forward.
Tencent is bringing its music division to the US
Tencent's push onto American entertainment is going beyond gaming and movies. Now the Chinese conglomerate will bring its Tencent Music Entertainment division to domestic shores, as spotted by TechCrunch. Over the weekend, the company announced (PDF) that it will put its music division on a "recognized stock exchange in the United States." Last year, it was rumored that Tencent tried buying Spotify, but those talks fell through.
Sonos' public filing shows the challenge of relying on Alexa
With little fanfare, smart speaker company Sonos has just announced it plans to go public. Sonos plans to raise $100 million in its IPO, but noted that amount was "estimated as a placeholder." Along with the announcement, the company released the requisite S-1 form through the SEC, and that contains a host of other info about the state of the company. In it, the company starts by making it clear why it thinks it can be a long-term success: "The proliferation of streaming services and the rapid adoption of voice assistants are significantly changing audio consumption habits and how consumers interact with the internet. As the leading home sound system for consumers, content partners and developers, Sonos is poised to capitalize on the large market opportunity created by these dynamics."
Dell is going public again
Dell went private back in 2013 to reorganize without quite so much external pressure to perform. Now, however, it's ready to go public once again. The company has unveiled a plan to buy its own tracking stock in a $21.7 billion deal that, in exchange, will offer a "new class" of public stock on the NYSE. The move won't change Dell's control over VMware (which it took when it bought EMC), but it could help Dell pay off its debt at a faster rate than it has so far.
Xiaomi's Hong Kong IPO expected to raise at least $10 billion
Xiaomi's interest in listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange hasn't exactly been a well-kept secret, and following months of speculation, the time has finally arrived. Today, the Chinese smartphone maker filed its initial public offering documents, and according to Bloomberg's sources, this IPO is expected to raise "at least $10 billion." This would make it the world's largest IPO since Alibaba listed for $25 billion in New York back in 2014. Furthermore, Bloomberg said Xiaomi may see a valuation of "as high as $100 billion," which is about one-ninth of Apple's.
Spotify’s challenge is to prove it’s a real business, not a fantasy
Three months after quietly filing to become a public company, Spotify finally made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. It was a big day for the Swedish music-streaming giant, to say the least, and it ended up exceeding expectations from Wall Street analysts on its first day of trading. But for many investors, Spotify may not be the safest bet. In its IPO filing, it disclosed that it has incurred significant operating losses over the past few years, warning investors that it may be a while before it's able to generate profits on a sustained basis.
Sony will make almost $1 billion on Spotify's IPO
Spotify finally realized its IPO, after going the road less travelled and listing directly. Shares have already increased in value from $132 initially to settle around $140 for now. For those that already owned some Spotify stock, it was a good day. Like Sony: It held 5.7 percent of the streaming service through its Sony Music Entertainment arm, and sold under 20 percent of that when Spotify was listed, resulting in a payout of roughly $177 million. Good day is putting it mildly.
Spotify is now a public company
It's been a long road for Spotify in terms of going public, but now that day is here. The company is now public; it took the unusual step of pursuing a direct listing, rather than the more traditional IPO. Shares were set at a price of $132 by the New York Stock Exchange late Monday, according to Reuters. That gives Spotify a value of over $23 billion.
Dropbox's IPO filing reveals 500M users but a $1 billion deficit
In a move reminiscent of Snap's IPO journey, Bloomberg sources claimed last month that Dropbox had quietly filed to become a public company. Suspicious hires last year had tipped their hand, and we waited to see what would happen for a company valued over $10 billion a few years ago. Today, Dropbox's IPO filing surfaced, and while we still don't know what day its stock will hit the market, their documentation pulls back a bit of the veil on the company's situation as it gears up to go public.
After a decade, Dropbox quietly files for a public stock offering
Just a week after Spotify quietly filed to become a public company, it looks like another hot tech firm is doing the same. According to Bloomberg, Dropbox has just made its own filing to become an IPO in the US. The cloud-based file sharing company was valued at $10 billion just a few years ago and has been moving steadily towards a public offering for a while now.
Spotify quietly files to become a public company
It's a poorly-kept secret that Spotify wants to go public, but when, exactly? Apparently, the answer is "soon." Axios has learned that Spotify quietly filed initial public offering documents with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in late December. The company has declined to comment, but the insiders claim that Spotify has chosen to go with a direct listing, saving costs and preventing shareholders from losing money. The timing suggests that Spotify could launch its IPO in the first quarter of 2018, although whether or not that happens is up in the air -- the streaming service may have serious legal hurdles to clear.
UK government issues advice on what makes 'Kodi boxes’ illegal
While streaming services like Netflix and Spotify have provided easy (and affordable) ways for Britons to enjoy legal content in their homes, the UK government is still waging war against what it calls "illicit streaming devices." This week, the Intellectual Property Office published official guidance on such hardware, reiterating that streaming copyrighted material via an Android TV steamer or so called "Kodi box" is illegal and that any offending add-ons or software should immediately be removed.
Roku's IPO pushes its value to over $2 billion
When Roku announced it was chasing an IPO, its sights were to raise $100 million. The end result is more than double that, according to Bloomberg. As of press time, investors had bought some $219 million in stock and the company has been valued at $2.1 billion. What's the streaming outfit planning to do with all that cash? Probably wrangle together more ad-supported programming.
Roku's IPO filing reveals plans to raise $100 million
Roku has come a long way from its origin as the Netflix streaming player, and today the company filed for its IPO. The documents reveal that it hopes to raise as much as $100 million, and give more insight than ever into exactly how it's doing. The company says it had 15.1 million active accounts at the end of June, more than the number of subscribers counted by the fourth largest cable company in the US. It also mentioned that former Netflix tech lead Neil Hunt joined its board of directors last month.
Electric Jukebox has a new music streaming karaoke machine
You might recall the Electric Jukebox, a wand-style microphone and streaming stick that let you sing along to a Spotify-style music catalog at home. The company is still around — in fact, according to Music Ally, its first device sold out five weeks after launch — and is back with a new version called the Roxi. The basic concept is the same: For £199/$199, you get all of the necessary hardware (you'll need your own TV, however) and a one-year subscription to its music library, which boasts "tens of millions" of tracks. Once the year is up, you'll need to pay £52/$52 every 12 months.
Kodi boxes 'threaten to undermine' the UK's anti-piracy efforts
Media centre software Kodi is once again taking flak for its role in facilitating digital piracy today. An announcement from the UK's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has praised "innovative" services like Netflix and Spotify for keeping Brits on the straight and narrow, but notes that the scale of online piracy remains "stable" -- which is just a positive way of saying no gains have been made in tackling infringement over the past 12 months, following several years of decline. While not mentioning Kodi specifically (which isn't unusual), the IPO states that "illicitly adapted set-top boxes" are partly to blame for this, and "threaten to undermine recent progress."
Spotify's plan to go public might not include an IPO
Now that Spotify is locking down long-term deals with record labels, the company's next big task is going public. Before you run to the hills at the sound of financial speak, this influx of cash could help the company you know and love keep delivering the tunes you listen to on a daily basis. Rather than a typical initial public offering (IPO), Wall Street Journal says that the Swedish company may instead use a direct listing.
Spotify might delay album releases for 'free' users
Spotify's deadlock with three of the largest music labels could soon come to an end. According to the Financial Times, the streaming company has agreed to 'window' important album releases to keep them on side. It would mean select records are only available to premium members for a period of time, incentivising subscriptions and boosting the revenue that trickles through to labels. The FT says nothing has been signed just yet, but stress talks have "picked up considerably" since the concession was made.
Snapchat's cavalier attitude draws the eye of Wall Street watchdogs
Snapchat's parent company has finally filed for its IPO, and Wall Street has questions. Beyond what Reuters reports is the "richest" initial public offering since Facebook, is news that an investor committee advising the Securities and Exchange Commission will review some of Snap's more, ahem, peculiar moves. Like if denying shareholders voting rights will extend into hiding executive pay and "other governance matters."
NYT: Snapchat built its own drone
Snapchat's second or third reinvention was to describe itself as a "camera company," but really it wants to become a hardware maker. At least, that's the theory coming out of the New York Times, which has spoken to three anonymous employees who claim the startup has been working on a photography drone.
