Move Networks Acquires IPTV Company, Adds To Their Confusing Portfolio
This morning Move Networks announced that it would acquire UK based Inuk networks, a provider of IPTV based technology. While terms of the deal were not disclosed, I've been told it was an all stock deal and was basically a fire sale as Inuk was out of operating capital. PaidContent UK has a detailed overview of Inuk's previous funding and money woes.
While it's too early for me to access what this means for Move Networks from an IPTV product offering perspective as I have not yet heard their strategy or seen the Inuk technology in action, this deal will only add to the confusion in the market of what exactly Move Networks core focus is.
Right now, Move Networks is in quite a state of transition, trying to figure out exactly who they want to be in the market and what their core offering is going to look like. I really wonder if they have any of that figured out yet and I hope they start to focus, iron out their offering, outline their product road map and then convey all of this to the market. Right now, no one has any idea what exactly Move's focus is, what their value proposition is to the market and what their core strength is. They are now involved in trying to offer so many different solutions that I think they have diluted their brand.
With Move's board of directors still calling the shots while they look for a new CEO, no message is being delivered. Move's board clearly thinks they have a plan in place and they may, but without conveying any of that to the market and to customers, their strategy can only go so far. I don't remember the last time I saw a company in our industry manage the communication in the market so poorly after so many changes took place. I place blame on this with the board, who is literally running the day to day operations of the company, something a board is not setup to do.
With new executive appointments already confirmed and being announced shortly, hopefully they can fix all of these problems. But until the board finds and appoints a new CEO, the vision for this company is coming from a board of directors instead of one person being in charge. That's simply a bad strategy and one I hope they are quick to fix.