Uh - Oh - More Gibson troubles

https://www.cnbc.com/2018....html?__source=xfinity|mod&par=xfinity
 
Maybe its time Gibson gave us the permanent unlock / Auth codes??

The news isn't that old.. it was only a theory before, its being proven a fact now.
All media outlets are picking up on this story within the past 24 hours (CNN, NBC< ABC,Exc)
So this means something is going down soon.
 
I agree with the OP hopefully we are handed something soon.
 
I am absolutely mystified how a company that has founded one of the best guitar for over 100 years (including the iconic Les Paul) is on the brink of pushing up daisy's. I DO understand why, seeing there is a shortage of Rock legends happening. But its a sad day not just for Cakewalk but for guitar players every where.
 

Jim Roseberry
Gibson generates 1-Billion a year in revenue.
Someone is asleep at the wheel.
 

That's been my thought exactly.  How can you not manage an iconic company that actually brings in a very high revenue.  

I posted a legitimate news story today regarding potential Gibson bankruptcy that was reporting on CNBC site.   I think its important for the forum members to be aware of this.  We are all concerned about potential authorization issues in the future and a bankruptcy is the type of thing that can cause a restructuring of resources, leadership etc and included with that could be servers.   I think now might be a good time to get a permanent auth solution out to those that own sonar.   Why was the post deleted??

It's down in the coffee house

merged with the original thread
 

MandolinPicker
One thing that seems to be consistent in most of these articles is that they state Gibson's 'core business' is profitable, but it has tons of debt. Debt that was caused by purchasing these other companies (like Phillips)..

Gibson didn't even buy the profitable part of Philips. What Gibson bought was Philip's consumer audio products division. A division that Philips had already downsized to 1900 staff, shifted to Hong Kong and tried re-branding it as “Xoom” (information about Xoom from the Financial Times). According to Henry J’s blurb at the time this purchase would be the key to turning Gibson Brands into the major player in consumer audio/video.

Philips were once a big name in budget hi-fi and televisions, especially in Europe, but they lost their market position years ago. To revive the brand now would mean taking on Samsung, Sony, LG, Panasonic etc. Which menas injecting a lot of capital, a lot of ideas and being able to wait a while before there's any sight of a profit being made. I suspect even if Gibson has good ideas it lacks the capital and certainly can't afford to wait many months or even years to get a return on the required investment.

Gibson Brands have the appearance of a company that's been buying up other companies in the hope that something, somehow will be the money spinner and trying to shore up the company's financial position by increasing it's apparent capital value while not actually making an adequate income to meet its existing debts.

I guess it's a strategy that might be useful in avoiding or trading through bankruptcy because the various subsidiaries can be sold off to raise some cash to keep creditors happy - though any prospective purchasers might decide to wait for the bankruptcy fire sale in the hope of picking up bargains. Or maybe someone at Gibson was trying the "borrow money to buy up companies, then use the income from them to repay the loans taken out to by them” strategy. Which is a gamble that can show high returns or can kill off the company very quickly if things don't work out.

Whatever happens I expect the guitar division will probably survive in some form because even if current sales are down it's still likely to be an attractive proposition to someone. Maybe PRS, Fender or one of the Japanese or Korean companies might even end up with it. >:-)

stxx
https://www.cnbc.com/2018....html?__source=xfinity|mod&par=xfinity
 
Maybe its time Gibson gave us the permanent unlock / Auth codes??

I can't help but think a permanent unlock code to the SOANR user base is the absolute very least concern of Gibson right now.