the firm will strategically allow the brand and product to degrade slowly while using “cost savings” schemes to extract every last dollar and cent to recoup their initial investment. product engineers and designers will be quietly fired, ayy eye will be used to write new slop code for slop machines.
once the profit margin is satisfied for everyone involved and the bankers are all paid, they’ll sell the name again to an even sleazier entity and on that day Elektron will be Elektron in name only, a mere shadow of its former self.
truly, a sad day but i’d be lying to say i’m very surprised.
Though they say everything will stay the same their goal is surely making profit quickly and make elektron sellable which often requires changes in personnel, production and financial cuts or restrictions.
Unfortunate but expected. Rushed release of Tonverk only signaled rather desperation then proper launch of finalized product. Now we know why. This buyout could have been the live line before bankruptcy.
The new owner does not do fast buy/sells, could force Elektron for more software related products w/subscription models to go along with their existing products. For sure will revise the pipeline so I would be skeptical for new boxes any time soon.
I work at such a company in the Netherlands (be it not in consumer electronics). Things were f*ckd by the original owners, then we were bought by a PE-firm that made us much more efficient and cut all the bullshit that bloated the firm. Then we were sold to a very socially conscious foreign competitor. Business has never been better at the moment, last years we created lots of extra budget/jobs.
Just to say: not all investment firms are predators. They got a bad rep (very understandable), but they come in all shapes, sizes and convictions.
To assess this particular situation we just do not have enough info. Nobody knows how Elektron was really doing, no one knows where Bonnier sees (quick) gains. We know barely anything, so a bit early to make an educated guess.
