I think one needs to look at the assets and core competencies of the company. If the company were to liquidate today, what are the assets that would have value in a fire sale
• Modern, emotional industrial design
• Psycho-acoustic algorithms

And now think about core competencies that may not be the huge competitive advantage that they might have been in the past
• Digital audio data transport. Think about Sonos synchronizing music in multiple rooms, all over Wifi. Or for $100 I can buy a set of JBL SoundSticks that are USB to the speakers. I understand that they are not DPS7200, but it is a single digital link to a remote DSP that retains signal synchronization to each speaker. GigaBit Ethernet is a commodity today, (cabling, terminations, switches etc). Alternately, with 802.11n, there is more than sufficient bandwidth for 8 channels of hi definition audio.
• Distributed control via a comms link. Great work on RS-232 decades ago, but the world has also changed. This should be at least IP based.
• I recently bought a Linksys Media Extender DMA2200 to attach to my Windows Media Center PC. It cost $130 and includes a DVD player. It attached via HDMI or Component to your TV and receiver. Will up-convert video to 1080p. It can eitherplay loccaly from the DVD in the box, but it will also play video streams (from library or from TV tuners including HD) and audio streams from my PC over wired or wireless network, including PCM plus numerous audio formats. Several CE manufacturers have announced embedded hardware support for the protocols.

Video on the other hand is a non-core competency. Digital video is moving even more quickly that audio. 1080p is now a commodity in both rear and front designs, and frankly Sim2 has the industrial design prize sown up, at about 1/5 of M`s price. Give it up, the financial returns are just not there.

What this all means to me is the competitive quality edge (i.e. charge more) in digital audio and video processing is either gone or soon gone. The algorithms are very valuable. The ability to produce great speakers is still part art part science. The differentiator is the software and design. M needs to re-invent itself. The golden age of digital audio and video is here. M brought us here, now what?