Skullcandy has appointed Hoby Darling, a Nike executive, as its new president and chief executive with immediate effect. The appointment comes less than two months after the U.S.-based headphone maker announced that former chief executive Jeremy Andrus had stepped down to pursue a job at a private-investment firm. Darling formally succeeds Rick Alden, Skullcandy founder, who held the chief executive title on an interim basis while the company conducted a search for a permanent successor.
At Nike, Darling had served as general manager of Nike Inc.'s digital sports division, a segment that has launched a motion-tracking wristband, the FuelBand, and other tech-focused products. During his tenure with Nike, he was also a member of the Nike Affiliates global leadership team and served as the head of strategy and planning for Nike Affiliates (Converse, Cole Haan, Hurley and Umbro). Prior to Nike, Darling served as senior vice president, strategic development and general counsel at Volcom, from its initial public offering in 2005 until its sale to PPR in 2011.
Skullcandy has just reported a 7.3 percent drop in net earnings to $11.5 million for the fourth quarter on 21.0 percent higher sales of $101.0 million because of higher sales of low-margin and discounted products. Sales outside the U.S. jumped by 90.2 percent to $18.3 million, mainly because of higher revenues from Europe.
