Reporters Notebook
TWICE reporters give you a deeper look into their areas of expertise.
Will We Recognize Panasonic In 2018?
Panasonic’s “Green Plan 2018″ announcement here in Tokyo last week was yet another indication of the paradigm shift at play in the consumer electronics market as familiar leaders of the past 30 years attempt to reinvent themselves to grow and survive. Panasonic president Fumio Ohtsubo’s plan called on the company to put more of its focus on eco-related technologies for ...... Read More
Comments (0)Rooney: “Hey Kids, Get Off My Lawn!”
Tune to CBS.com to watch the hilarity of Grand Curmudgeon Andy Rooney ranting about smart cars and technology in general. Other than the glaring question as to why this man is still permitted a voice on any platform, it’s relieving to know that he’s probably closer to having his license revoked for poor eyesight than he is to buying a new car. Rooney says that he often has the best ...... Read More
Comments (0)The Party’s Over In Appliances, For Now
Naysayers had said the $300 million in federal “cash for appliances” rebates was too little to stimulate sales, but the ebb and flow of factory shipments clearly jibes with the program’s state-level rollouts last spring. As AHAM’s data show, shipments returned to the plus column last March and hit a 12.3 percent growth peak in April before tapering off to flat gains in ...... Read More
Comments (1)Best Buy: Reports of PCs’ Death Greatly Exaggerated
Best Buy is stressing its commitment to the PC category after citing steep computer cannibalization by iPad. According to a story in last week’s Wall Street Journal, Best Buy’s internal estimates showed that Apple’s tablet computer had eaten into PC sales by as much as 50 percent, particularly for notebook models. The newspaper credited CEO Brian Dunn with the data, which set ...... Read More
Comments (0)Future Bright For e-Readership
Digital book readership is at about 4 percent of the book-reading population, according to a Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey issued on Sept. 15. The survey found about 35 percent of respondents said they had read a book the previous day, and 4 percent had read either a digital book or on an e-reader. This factoid is a small part of a very large and interesting report on c ...... Read More
Comments (0)Bring It On Home
“Made in The U.S.A.” is apparently making a comeback, at least within the major appliance industry. After years of plant consolidations and outsourcing, GE and Whirlpool are bringing production and jobs back home. Incentives include tax and wage concessions from government and unions, but also labor, currency and shipping issues abroad. The latest show of domestic support comes from ...... Read More
Comments (0)3D TV Looking A Little Green
Here’s some news to make 3D TV vendors puke: A Strategy Analytics consumer survey surfaced Tuesday saying 17 percent of Americans believe 3D TVs could post health risks to the eyes while another 55 percent “aren’t sure.” That’s 72 percent of Americans who are feeling a little queasy about plunking down big bucks for the new 3D TVs the industry is clamoring to sel ...... Read More
Comments (1)Will 3D Be The Next-Gen Mobile Interface?
Keypads, navigation keys, touchpads and perhaps even touchscreens could be the mobile-device interfaces of the past if Nokia and Intel have their way. The two companies opened their first joint research center at a Finnish university, where they will focus on creating new ways to interface with your mobile phone or other mobile device. What ways? Company and university representatives spoke of the ...... Read More
Comments (0)R'Shack Increases Stock Buyback Plan
RadioShack has raised the ceiling of its stock repurchasing program from $290 million to $500 million, ending speculation of a leveraged buyout by equity investors. “After careful evaluation of the options available to the company and capital requirements of our business going forward, the board has concluded that it is now appropriate to devote a part of our significant cash holdings to an ...... Read More
Comments (0)Polk Audio Offers Bright Spot for the Audio Biz
I’ve gotten used to filtering out positive spin from companies trying to position themselves in a down economy. That’s why I took what Polk Audio’s Al Baron said to me back in May 2009 with a grain of salt. (www.resmagonline.com/blog/30606.aspx).Don’t get me wrong. I’ve always like Baron and never took him for the slick sales and marketing type. In fact, Polk ...... Read More
Comments (0)Retailers As The Next Wireless MVNOs
During the 1990s, when retail sales of pagers were booming, multiple retailers — mainly car stereo retailers — resold paging service under their own brand name. Departing from more traditional private-label arrangements, these retailers billed customers for monthly airtime service and fielded customer-service calls. The retailer, in effect, was the carrier. Today, history has begun t ...... Read More
Comments (0)