As we're about to jump headlong into a new year, I thought it would be appropriate to thank all of you for your support over the years. 2012 was another record-breaking year for Salk Sound. While we are still a very small company, we have come a long way in the past decade. What started as a hobby in my back yard now encompasses over 5000 sq. ft. of manufacturing space with expansion plans on the drawing board.
This past year we introduced the SoundScape 8's which quickly became our top-selling high-end speaker. We introduced the Supercharged SongTowers which took that line to new levels. And our relationship with Rythmik greatly expanded our subwoofer production. Those were just a few 2012 highlights.
During 2012, we accepted the challenge of taking on the Bud Fried and IMF brands, which will be run as independent business. Our goal in 2013 will be to resurrect these legendary brands in a way that would have made Bud proud.
We will also begin building and shipping products for other speaker companies that would rather concentrate on designing and marketing than on manufacturing. We have had inquiries for this kind of relationship in the past but have declined. Now, we will actively explore relationships with entities that are doing great work but are not interested in the manufacturing end of the business.
Why would we build speakers for brand names other than our own? Simple. Our goal is to increase production volume so that we can expand our capabilities (and gain additional production efficiency as well). By combining our production volume with those of other brands, we will be able to justify the investment in additional tools and equipment our current volume cannot support. These tools will allow us to produce designs that are more complex than is practical with our current manufacturing capabilities.
As for Salk Sound in 2013, we have a number of new speaker projects in the works. I never like to talk about products that don't exist yet since they may never see the light of day. Many of these projects are still in the early planning stages, so don't expect anything soon. And who knows, they may not pan out. But, as always, I'm personally looking forward to some exciting new products in the coming year.
In 2012, we also started producing a music streaming product called the StreamPlayer. I think music streaming is the wave of the future and StreamPlayer owners seem to be very happy with our first foray into this area.
We spent about six months during 2011 searching for a case for the StreamPlayer and developing the faceplates and associated metal parts...something I knew little about since I am not a metal worker. Once we had everything ready to go, we placed an order for a production quantity of cases only to find that the case we chose had been discontinued. Consequently, we did not heavily promote this line of products as we only have a limited number of cases left at this point.
This year, our goal is to find or develop an alternative case and get this project fully off the ground. We have some great ideas on related products as well. Hopefully we'll have the time to get to them this coming year.
We are a small company and have limited resources to throw at all of these various projects. We have some ambitious plans and we'll just tackle what we can as time and revenues permit. But one thing is certain...it will be fun!
Again, thanks to all of you for the support and encouragement you have provided over the years. Without it, none of this would be possible.
Have a great 2013!
- Jim
