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EXCLUSIVE:Chinese House Brand Supplier Put In Bid For Dick Smith

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A new Chinese bidder has emerged for Dick Smith.

The new bidder is Chinese Company Shenzhen MTC who supplied Dick Smith with over $150M dollars’ worth of house brand TV’s last year. 

Still in negotiations for the retailer is Indian conglomerate Tata who also owns consumer electronics manufacturing plants in India, including a TV manufacturing plant who is currently looking to buy into Vizo one of the biggest suppliers of TV’s in the USA. 

Shenzhen MTC was established in April, 2005. 

A public Company registered on the at Shenzhen Stock Market, the Company manufactures consumer electronics at three factories in Fuyong, Shajing and Songgang in Shenzhen. 

The Company only made contact with Dick Smith receiver Ferrier Hodgson last week.

According to sources the man who bought Shenzhen MTC into the bidding process is Tony Abvel Ahead a relative of former Dick Smith CEO Nick Aboud who is still listed on LinkedIn as the General Manager of International sourcing for Dick Smith.

Abvel Ahead who was responsible for sourcing and shipping millions of dollars’ worth of Dick Smith house brand stock, that is still sitting in warehouses in Australia including 3 years supply of batteries has been involved in the negotiations with Shenzhen MLC.

Former managers at Dick Smith have told ChannelNews that the close relationship between Aboud and Abvel Ahead was often questioned at the Company due to the “excessive” level of house brand orders being placed on the Dick Smith Hong Kong subsidiary run by Abvel Ahead.

ChannelNews has been told that management from Shenzhen MTC are looking to recruit Australian retail management including some former Dick Smith management to run the retail operation. 

TEAC Sales Plunge Distributor Reports $5.7M Loss

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TTA Holdings the distributor of the struggling TEAC brand that has been available in Australia for more than 36 years has reported a 46% decline in revenue and losses of over $5.6M during the last financial year.

Back in January the CEO of TTA Holdings James Phoo, quit with the Company elevating Daniel Seow the senior product and marketing manager to run their operations in Australia.
  
The Company said that TTA’s revenue had decreased from $51.1million in 2014 to $27.6million in the year ended 31st March 2015.

 This resulted in an after tax loss of $5.6million compared with a profit of $464,000 in the previous period. 

This loss was largely attributed to incentives paid to mass retailers to clear excessive stock.

A write down of goodwill of $2million from $2.92million to $900,000 also contributed to the result.

ChannelNews understands that one major retailer is set to delist TEAC audio products in their stores. 

In an effort to improve revenues the group took on the distribution of additional brands including iDance and TEAC car radios. 

The current visual products range includes flat panel televisions, (LED, LCD), portable DVD players, digital set top boxes and twin tuner personal video recorders. 

Audio products include sound systems, potable digital/analogue audio, iPod/iPhone docking systems and clock radios. The iDance products include DJ (disk jockey) products, headphones and party sound boxes. The Group’s sales are primarily from the distribution of audio visual products.

Currently TEAC products are distributed through major retailers including Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi, Good Guys and BSR (Betta Home Living). 
Other home State based retailers such as the Radio Rental (South Australia) Group in South Australia and Retravision and Kambos in Western Australia also form part of the Companies distribution network.

In their annual report the Company said that major restructuring process has taken place over the past year to reduce costs in line with the reduction in revenue. This resulted in several senior and operational staff being retrenched. 

 As part of the process, interstate sales and show room offices were amalgamated back to head office in Melbourne. 

They said that the Group’s inventory level has been significantly reduced to 45 days stock turn as compared to 90 days in the previous period.

Executives said that the Group is finding the Australian market “challenging” and that a weak Australian dollar was driving competitive price competition between major brands a move that was hurting the Company.

TTA said that their forward strategy is to consolidate its product range and focus on product profitability and higher turnover to deliver improved results. 

Support from major retailers to continue ranging the struggling product range is critical to future results the Company said.

How Dumb IS AAMI

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AAMI has to be one of the dumbest insurance companies when it comes to marrying their online operations with their traditional paper system.

Earlier today I went online to purchase a green slip from AAMI. After five minutes of obtaining a quote I decided to go ahead with the transaction.

After entering the details for my motor vehicle, my application was rejected with a message claiming the registration number of my vehicle already existed in the AAMI system.

A call to the AAMI help line resulted in an operator telling me the registration number for my vehicle did not exist on their system. When I told her that I had a renewal certificate from AAMI she finally found the former CTP green slip for the vehicle.

This is when a farcical comedy unfolded.

Firstly I was told that I cannot proceed with an online transaction as a quote already existed in their system.

Then I was told that I cannot pay over the phone for the renewal quote as I was dealing with the online transaction department.

When I ask to be transferred to a person who could take a transaction payment over the phone, I was told that this couldn’t happen either.

When I asked how I could pay, the operator said “I don’t know”.

I was then told that as it was 1.00pm the call centre was closing down for the weekend.

This appears to be another dumb marketing initative as many Australians often find time over a weekend to attend to administration needs like car insurance and registration.

One only has to walk into the North Sydney RTA offrice of a Saturday morning to realise this.

Their actions smack of an organisation that puts systems first and the needs of a customer second.

It also shows how easy one can lose a customer with a sour online experience because some dumb IT executive coupled with AAMI marketing have not worked out that when a customer comes online to pay, they are doing it because of the convenience of online transactions.

This is a Company that spends millions bragging about their “Lucky that you are with AAMI” message; maybe more should be spent on computer systems and customer service.

Currently I have several vehicles registered with AAMI, never again.

The answer for me was five minutes online with GIO and I had my green slip.

Do you have a bad AAMI experience you want to tell me about?

Send an email to dwr@4squaremedia.com

COMMENT:Sony Mobile A Serious Basket Case, As Consumers Shun Xperia Smartphone

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One has to seriously question why Sony is still in the mobile phone market, they are under water and sinking fast according to the latest IDC Mobile Research.

One has to seriously question why Sony is still in the mobile phone market, they are under water and sinking fast according to the latest IDC Mobile Research.

In the first quarter of 2015, shortly after John Featherstone the former MD quit Sony Mobile Communications Australia to take on a senior role in Asia for Sony, the struggling Japanese brand had sales for the quarter of 62,000 units, this was not good, compared to the million plus sales for Apple 800,000+ sales for Samsung and the 150,000 units sold by Chinese brand Alcatel.

 Under Fetherstone management from Asia, Sony smartphone sales have slumped to just 7,000 units this is despite the Japanese Company rolling out their all singing all dancing Xperia Z5, Xperia Z5 Compact and the bigger Xperia Z5 Premium in the last quarter of 2015.Sony Smartphone Sales

All of these smartphone Sony models appear to have been shunned by consumers which are switching to Chinese brands such as Alcatel, who had sales of 126,500 units in Q1 2016, and Huawei with 57,000 units.

Even McKeon’s former employer ZTE had better sales than Sony managed to achieve. They racked up 42,000 ZTE branded units, they also manufactured the 108,000 house brand units sold by Telstra.

This time last year Sony was taking back faulty Xperia 3 smartphones in the hundreds according to retailers.

Carriers who ChannelNews has spoken to say that there is simply “no appetite” for a Sony branded smartphone.

“The brand is dead and so are their smartphones” a leading retailer said.

Back in 2015 ChannelNews was told by Senior Telstra management that “hundreds” of Sony Xperia smartphones had “gone dead” within days of the device being activated on the Telstra network.

We reported that up to 70% 0f Sony Xperia Z3 smartphones failed shortly after consumers purchased their new Sony smartphone.

Telstra management who spoke to ChannelNews at the time, on the basis that we did not reveal their identity, said that Sony were well aware of the issue as they had replaced the problem devices.

Sony who has a track record of trying to manipulate the media at the time refused to acknowledge the problem.

Initially ChannelNews spoke to Joshua Velling Account Director for Telstra at Sony Mobile Communications. He did not deny the failure. He said “I cannot make a comment on this issue, I have to pass you onto our PR Company Hausmann”. 
A spokesperson for Hausmann said after contacting Sony, “Sony does not comment on rumours or speculation”.

The only problem was that the speculation proved to be accurate, with former Sony Mobile staff confirming that the problem had cost Sony Mobile in Australia, sales and tens of thousands in losses. 

Parent Company Sony, who has a history of trying to protect their brand when challenged by media Companies such as 4Square Media has a chequered history.

In Australia the Company has been forced to downsize from palatial offices in North Ryde that the Company spent hundreds of thousands remodelling to a significantly smaller refurbished building in North Sydney.

A 12-month investigation of Sony Australia by the Australian Taxation Office resulted in the Company being hit $21M in penalties and $32M in back taxes, shortly after the assessment was delivered the Chief Financial Officer of the Company quit along with the CEO.

Sony also moved their accounting and back office operations to Asia. 
The ATO investigation covered tax returns spanning several years, questions were also asked about the Companies management practises.

Sony initially paid $26.8M back to the ATO they eventually settled the issue with the ATO by paying an additional payment two years later.

Unlike most other consumer electronics brands Sony Australia has kept their senior executives away from being questioned about their performance in Australia.

Globally, Sony has been shopping their mobile division around for the past two years in an effort to attract a trade sale despite this sales effort, Sony has found no takers for the besieged division.

Their desperate attempt to reinvent themselves is occurring under the shadow of inconsistent sales performance and profitability, with Sony now seriously looking to exit the handset market entirely if it can’t prove financially sustainable.

In a last desperate roll of the dice the Company is having one last crack at trying to restructure their disparate handset lines under the Xperia X brand.

The new line-up will consist of the Xperia X Xperia X Performance, and Xperia XA.

Brasso The Fix For Problem iPods

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As the world debates the problems associated with Apple’s new iPod Nano blog sites have discovered that the scratching problems could well be fixed with a simple can of Brasso.

As Apple Share crash, Blogg sites humming with comment on the problems associated with Apple’s new iPod Nano was last night running hot on the smell of Brasso when one ingenious correspondent worked out that the easiest way to fix scratches to his brand new Nano was a simple can of Brasso.

Apple have blamed poor workmanship for the problem and say that It is only 1% of there production. However they have have that they will replace damaged iPods. Blogg web sites are sceptical of this claim. Todd Dailey stumbled on the idea when researching ways to eliminate the problem. He said “I had read on Slashdot and a few other places sites that Brasso can restore an iPod to like-new condition, but I didn’t believe it myself, and I was a bit worried that it would have some sort of bad reaction with my iPod, such as melting it.  After all, a $4 can of Brasso can’t compete with $20+ third party creams and polishes can it? I happened to be in the grocery store and saw a can of Brasso on the shelf. I decided to give it a go”

As these before and after shots show the experiment worked.


Click to enlarge
Before

 Said Dailey” My 3G iPod’s back was quite scratched. I thought it would be a good test for Brasso to see if it did any permanent damage before I started on the Nano. I cleaned the back with iKlear, then soaked a cotton round with Brasso and got to work. Look at all the grime it started taking off! At this point I thought maybe I was onto something with the Brasso, but I was also afraid that I was about to melt my iPod”.

He added “The Nano had picked up a lot of grime and small scratches from use. To me, this wasn’t any different from my 3G iPod and I could have lived with the marks, but the urge to experiment was too strong.  

 


Click to enlarge
After

 

For the Nano, I switched from using cotton rounds to using a small MicroFiber cloth. My theory was that the MicroFiber was a lot softer,  I put some Brasso on the cloth and started working it in. I used light pressure, barely pressing at all and letting the weight of my hand do the work. I also held the Nano in my hand so that I wouldn’t scratch the back by cleaning the front on a hard surface. I worked the Brasso in for a few minutes, and it appeared to be working! The small scratches were gone, and the ones that were slightly deeper were faded. I worked over the front of my Nano for about 20 minutes.

 Apple Computer Inc. shares fell more than 4% Wednesday when the company said it would replace units of its new iPod nano, after complaints that screens on the tiny portable music players are prone to cracking and scratching.

 
Apple stock fell $2.56 to $50.88 in afternoon trading on volume that was nearly double the three-month daily average. Earlier, the shares touched $50.70. An Apple spokesman said that the company would replace iPod nanos with cracked screens for free. The spokesman said the problem was related to manufacturing defects in the screens and didn’t affect the nano’s performance.

The spokesman added that the problem was “a real, but minor issue” that had shown up in “a small number of units.”

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, took a calculated risk by replacing the best-selling model of the company’s digital-music player, called the iPod mini, with an even smaller device. Apple is touting the nano’s small size in its marketing campaign, a move that could backfire if the product is perceived to be too fragile.

Apple released the iPod nano on Sept. 7. The music player uses flash memory and can hold up to 1,000 songs in its 4-gigabyte version. The company intends on having the nano to replace the iPod mini, which uses a hard-disk drive for storing music and data.

 


Click to enlarge

Creative Technology Struggling

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The struggling Creative Technology group is back in decline after Microsoft denied that it was buying into the company. Facing a share decline this year of 50% and a massive downturn in profits the company is evaluating its future.

Microsoft will not buy into the struggling Creative Technology group according to a Microsoft spokesperson. Microsoft claims that will continue to work with Creative in developing new products as ‘we are the platform provider and Creative provides music devices,’ said Charlene Chian, the company’s public relations manager for Asia Pacific.

 

In early July, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said at an industry briefing that the US software giant would work with vendors like Creative to produce better-designed MP3 players to help gain market share on leader Apple Computer.

That fuelled speculation that Microsoft would invest in Creative. And within days, Creative shares jumped by more than 20%. Some market watchers even predicted that the stock had ended its six-month slide.
Creative shares have fallen by about 49% since the start of the year and are trading at about 25 times their estimated 2005 earnings.

 

Many people say that Creative are not in a position to compete in the MP3 market and that all they are doing is dressing up old MP3 technology in an effort to take on the success of the iPod. Now with companies like Samsung and Toshiba tipping millions into MP3 marketing Creative are set to come under further pressure.

 

A Citgroup spokesperson said “Creative Technology is struggling and resellers are starting to turn to a new generation of MP3 players from a variety of other vendors. All that Creative has done this year is back peddling in an effort to compete on price. They don’t have deep pockets and investors are recognising this. The issue for them going forward is that the MP3 and Video Player battle is set to suck cash and this could impact on other parts of their business”.

 

NIck Angelluci Marketing Manager for Creative in Australia said “We are defiantly under pressure on margins. Everyone is coming after us from Olympus to Samsung to Toshiba. The future for us in the video player market as in the MP3 market  everyone is screaming for margin which is not there”.

Free Condom Like Protection for Apple iPhone 4

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Apple has finally come clean in admitting that their new iPhone 4 has major antenna problems and that they “screwed up” the design of the phone. Their answer is to offer consumers a free rubber cover to protect the phone

CEO Steve Jobs at a rare press conference called to address the issue after mounting criticism said last night “we are not perfect” during a presentation at the company’s US headquarters. The Company has sold over 3,000,000 phones during the past two months.
 Facing up to criticism over the reception issue and antenna design of its recently launched iPhone 4, Apple admitted the phone drops more calls than the previous version.
The big question now is will Australian’s buy the phone when it goes on sale in Australia on the 30th of July 2010, the device is already on sale in the USA and Europe?  
Apple “screwed up” with the signal algorithm of the phone, Jobs at Apple’s press conference last night. He said that there was no “antenagate”.
If the device is launched in Australia consumers are expected to be given a free protective cover, or bumper. In the USA anyone who has already purchased a bumper will get a refund. 
“To customers that are having problems, I apologise to them,” Jobs said.
Despite the problems he said it was “perhaps the best product made by Apple.” He also admitted that 1.7% had returned their phone.
Apple admitted that their new iPhone 4 lost signal strength when touched in the lower left corner which is where most consumers grip the phone.
Not to be outdone Apple revealed a video of their competitor’s phones including the BlackBerry Bold Earlier this week the US organisation Consumer Reports said that they could not recommend the phone for consumers.
of the device, weakens the device’s signal.
The rubber bumpers will cost Apple around $3 each and freely distributing them would cut into its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings by 2 cents a share said the Wall Street Journal.

Future Of Clive Peeters Decision Soon

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EXCLUSIVE: Greg Smith the CEO of Victorian retailer Clive Peeters has said that he is close to a decision on the future of the business following an extensive review by KPMG. He admits that that he is talking to several interested parties with a view to getting either “an investment of capital” or an “additional shareholder”, failing this it will be “business as usual”.

Greg Smith the CEO of Victorian retailer Clive Peeters has said that he is close to a decision on the future of the business following an extensive review by KPMG. He admits that that he is talking to several interested parties with a view to getting either “an investment of capital” or an “additional shareholder”,.

“We are going to bring the issue to a conclusion soon, as there is too much uncertainty about the future of the business. We believe that it is in the best interests of everybody that that the review process which has been going on for 6 months has a finale. We are currently cutting capital expenditure and controlling inventory in an effort to preserve capital”.

When asked what will happen if no one makes a bid for the Company Smith said “This is a real possibility, it will be business as normal. I stress that we need to get this issue behind us. We have engineered the business to continue through the downturn and that is what we will do”.

Smith, who is also a major shareholder in the troubled group refused to speculate on which other retail groups, he was talking to however he categorically ruled out Woolworths as a potential investor or shareholder. However he did not rule out the Good Guys as a potential investor or even owner of the group.

Commenting on the recent Good Guys publicity in the Australian Financial Review he said “It was extremely unusual. While I have no knowledge of whether they are talking to Woolworths it does appear that something is happening as they are an extremely private Company”.

 

Smith said that during the past two weeks business had picked up but after this week’s Federal Budget he was not confident that “growth will be sustainable”.

He has also said that the Australian Federal Government may have to step in and support retailers and suppliers across the consumer electronics and appliance markets, if a potential cash-flow crisis emerges because trade insurance underwriters, such QBE, start cutting back on their exposure to the sector.  

“In Australia QBE started cutting back last year and while there are no indication currently that there will be further cuts from QBE the issue could arise similar to what has happened in Europe where Governments have had to move in to support retailers. This could be an issue for the Federal Government going forward”. 

OZ Interest Rates Not Cut As Expected

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At its meeting today, the Australian Reserve Bank Board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 3.25 per cent. In a statement to the markets Board Govenor Glenn Stevens said that Australia was in a better position than a lot of other Countries and that demand had not weakened.

The statement said that recent data confirm that the world economy has remained very weak following the sharp decline in demand that occurred late last year. The major industrial economies reported large contractions in output in the December quarter, as did a number of emerging market economies across Asia and eastern Europe. Many countries are likely to be experiencing further falls in output in the current quarter.

Conditions in global credit markets have improved since November, but sentiment remains fragile. Share prices have weakened and banking systems in several major countries are still under pressure, as authorities work towards a resolution of the balance-sheet problems. Significant macroeconomic policy stimulus is being put in place around the world, but it is too soon to see the effects of those measures.

In Australia, demand has not weakened as much as in other countries and, on the basis of currently available information, the Australian economy has not experienced the sort of large contraction seen elsewhere. The Australian financial system remains strong and the monetary policy transmission process is working to deliver large reductions in interest rates to end borrowers. Nonetheless, economic conditions are clearly weak, and given the speed and scale of the global economic deterioration and its effect on confidence, weak conditions are likely to continue in the near term. Inflation is likely to decline over time.

 

In response to that outlook, there has already been a major change in both monetary and fiscal policy. Market and mortgage rates are at very low levels by historical standards and business loan rates are below recent averages, reducing debt-servicing burdens considerably. Together with the substantial fiscal initiatives, the cumulative decline in interest rates will provide significant support to domestic demand over the period ahead. On this basis, notwithstanding evident economic weakness at present, the Board judged that the stance of monetary policy was appropriate for the moment. The Board will consider the position again at its next meeting.

Australian Business Told To Kill Off Adobe Flash Due To Security Risks

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Adobe has been told to kill off Flash after it became a major security risk for networks.

Australian businesses that used Flash have been told to look at recoding content or face the real risk that content will not play in a browser when delivered.

Facebook chief security officer Alex Stamos last week offered Adobe some unsolicited advice: Stop trying to fix Flash and kill it outright.

 Google and Mozilla have already disabled Flash in their Web browsers after it was revealed that hackers were exploiting a bug in the software. 

The move is set to hit Companies that are running Flash based web sites in Australia as well as Companies who have invested in Flash based digital documentation and eBooks based around Adobe Flash technology. 

Flash, was once a popular software program that allowed designers to bring to life, pages formerly occupied by static text and photos by combining them with video clips and animated cartoons. 

Last week the program, criticized for years as a security risk and a drag on online progress, became a top contender for the technology dead pool said the Wall Street Journal.

The tech giants’ offensive was the latest chapter in Flash’s downfall and an illustration of how mobile devices- Apples iPhone in particular -are rapidly reshaping the business landscape.

Adobe continues to distribute Flash and regular security updates for users to download. If consumers remain concerned about it being a drag on their system or a security risk, they can uninstall it from their computers, though they might then not be able to view some video and interactive content.

But Danny Brian, vice president of research at Gartner Inc., views Flash’s demise as inevitable. “The writing has been on the wall for at least a year or two,” he said.

Introduced in the early 1990s as an easy-to-use digital animation program, Flash went on to be included on virtually every computer shipped. It was the strategic cornerstone of Adobe’s $3.4 billion purchase of Macromedia Inc. in 2005.

 YouTube founded its streaming video operation on the technology, and Netflix used it as well. Advertising agencies championed it as a way to produce eye-catching online ads. It seemed as though Flash was a permanent fixture of the Web.