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MasterCard Say Retail Sales To Grow CE Remains Strong

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Consumer electronics is set to be one of the strongest retail sectors running into Xmas say research Companies GFK and Gartner. At the same time MasterCard has said that retail sales around Australia are predicted to grow 4.5 per cent, compared to the same time last year.


Using the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence the credit card Company has said that despite consumer confidence dropping, 22.1 points to 42.8 in their latest survey retail sales are expected to top $104 Billion over the next six months with one GFK executive in Australia claiming that “consumers are turning to consumer electronic goods as a form of therapy and a pick me up” as a result ales are expected to stay high with the sector achieving between 9 & 11% growth.  

According to the MasterCard survey the outlook on quality of life saw the biggest drop for Australia, down 28.1 points to 32.7.

Australians have become increasingly pessimistic about the future, with confidence dropping “The economic slowdown has become a major concern for many Australians, yet despite rising petrol prices and the risk of further interest rate rises by the big four banks, retail spending remains strong,” says Eddie Grobler, executive vice president, Australasia, MasterCard Worldwide.

“This is indicative of the strong period of economic growth Australia has experienced over the last decade. Australians may be feeling less confident as they hear about a possible slowdown in the economy, but they continue to manage their retail spending appropriately,” he says.

 

Across Asia/Pacific, retail sales are predicted to continue their strong showing for the second half of 2008 despite growing concerns surrounding the international financial market unrest. Across Asia/Pacific, retail sales are predicted to continue their strong showing for the second half of 2008 despite growing concerns surrounding the international financial market unrest.

All 12 Asia/Pacific markets are expected to continue seeing positive growth in retail sales, with China taking the lead once again as it did in the same reporting period last year. Retail sales in China are estimated to reach 5566 billion Yuan, representing a sturdy 18.0% year-on-year growth. The outlook for Hong Kong continues to be bullish, with year-on-year growth predicted at 12.7%. Other markets with strong growth set against the backdrop of subdued economic outlook include Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines, with year-on-year growth expected to reach 12.0%, 9.3% and 8.6% respectively.

Networking Over Power Lines Coming Soon

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Networking company Netgear is promising to turn your home’s electrical system into a high speed network capable of carrying high-definition video around the home.

 At the recent KickStart Media Conference Netgear boss Ian McLean alluded to Netgear being in the market for networking over power lines. 

Now we can reveal that Netgear has teamed up with chipset company Design of Systems on Silicon (DS2) and developed homeplug style device that will pump content around the home at 200Mbits/sec without having to lay any cables. Using DS2’s Powerline HD chipset the new products will turn your plug socket into a high-speed broadband connection.

Additional devices plugged in around the home will create a flexible network to stream content to and from PCs, set-top boxes, hifis, games consoles and TVs. This is not the first technology to use the electrical wiring system to create a communications network, but it is the first to promise high-speed delivery of high-definition content.

The first products will be on preview at the upcoming Cebit show and will be available to buy in Q2.

CHOICE:Journalist Seriously Screws Up Over Samsung Fire Claim

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Choice the consumer watchdog who loves telling consumer electronics vendors how they should run their business have been left with egg on their face after one of their journalists falsely claimed that a Samsung washing machine caused a NSW fire recently.

The consumer watchdog has become obsessed in taking on Samsung, who have gone out of their way to communicate with consumers who purchased a Samsung washing machine, that has subsequently been identified as having a fault.

The Company has spent hundreds of thousands communicating with the Australian market about the problem. 

It now appears that the so called Choice ‘Investigative Journalist’ Jemma Castle appears to have failed to check the NSW Fire and Rescue Service prior to writing her expose story, she also failed to wait for an answer from Samsung. 

Choice Investigative Journalist Jemma Castle Failed To Check Facts.


She also appears to have not spoken to the owners of the house where the fire took hold. 

Castle joined Choice from working as an information collector at Lloyd’s List DCN, prior to that she was a news assistant at the ABC. She also worked for Fairfax where her role was described on her Linkedin profile as a writer of ‘weddings of the week’.

It appears she has had no formal training as an investigative journalist with a newspaper, TV or radio station. 

Choice who has taken to conducting publicity stunts in an effort to raise interest in their subscription driven organisation, at one stage called in the media to witness a Samsung washing machine being crushed.
 
This was despite the fact that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has worked directly with Samsung to educate consumers on the problems associated with the Samsung washing machine which is currently under recall. 

Earlier today the NSW Fire and Rescue Service were forced to issue the following statement following Castle’s story.

“At 12.30pm on Friday, 18 March, Fire & Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighters were called to a house fire in Colyton’.

‘The fire in the laundry was extinguished quickly and no one was injured. FRNSW fire investigators have ruled out a Samsung washing machine as the source of ignition. The cause of the fire remains undetermined’.
 
Castle wrote in her story “A house fire that occurred more than two weeks ago has been linked to a new model of top loader Samsung washing machine that is not on the Choice recall list”.

She then claimed that Trish Robbo’s laundry went up in flames on 18 March in Colyton NSW after she put on a load of washing in her Samsung top loader (model number WA70F5G4). 

This model number is not on the existing recall list for Samsung top loader washing machines, and the incident raises questions over the safety of the machine she claimed.

Trish Robbo and the NSW Fire Brigade said that they did not provide the information to Castle. 

Samsung said that they never provided a statement to Castle who appears to be an inexperienced journalist that failed to conduct the most basic of checks.

When a similar incident happened at Fairfax recently the journalist was immediately stood down.

Fairfax columnist Paul Sheehan was stood down after making fake rape claims in The Sydney Morning Herald. 

Editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir said Sheehan will “stand aside from his duties until further notice” after the writer alleged a former nurse named “Louise” was the subject of an horrific rape at the hands of ‘Arabic-speaking” men when she left work as a nurse in Sydney in 2002.

It emerged shortly after publication of the column on February 22 the story as told by ‘Louise” almost certainly never happened and Sheehan retracted the vast majority of it two days later.

Choice have not said whether Castle will be sacked or removed from writing so called investigative pieces for their newsletter. 

HP Copies Apple

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HP the Company that claims it invents products is now blatantly copying Apple.

Just as Intel announced its intention to glam up mobile PCs (CDN yesterday) Hewlett-Packard has danced along with a notebook that reportedly sports an “elegant piano-white finish.”

It’s hardly an original idea especially for a Company that brags that they “Invent” products. Apple’s all-white iBooks have been selling for several years.

H-P’s Presario B2800 Notebook PC’s outer layer is described as “minimalist” (unlike the press release) and the whole device “affordable” for students and young mobile professionals. Prices start at $2499

The notebooks are equipped with Intel Centrino mobile technology, with Wi-Fi wireless networking and Bluetooth 2 built in.

Optus goes 3G With A Difference

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Optus has sought to set itself apart from other telecommunication carriers with the launch of a new 3G service that connects seamlessly to 3G, GSM and WiFi networks.

Optus consumer managing director Allen Lew said the telco is confident the new applications will lead to greater customer take-up and increased mobile revenue. ‘We are confident these applications will deliver simple, and easy to use, mobile services,’ he said.  Optus’ introduction of 3G services follows similar moves by Australia’s other key telecommunication firms — Vodafone Australia, Telstra and Hutchison Telecommunications Ltd.

Aimed at the peak mobile buying period of January and February 2006 the 3G roll-out follows a warning from Optus that it expects earnings to decline slightly in the March fiscal year as revenue growth is pared back in a competitive market.

In the September quarter, Optus added 59,000 net mobile customers to take the total number to 6.9 million, a 2.8 %rise on a year earlier. Four new capped plans will be available to consumers:

– $49 cap (minimum spend $49 with an included cap value of $230) per month

– $59 cap (minimum spend $59 with an included cap value of $280) per month

– $79 cap (minimum spend $79 with an included cap value of $500) per month

– $89 cap (minimum spend $89 with an included cap value of $560) per month

If small to medium businesses connect to any of the above plans, they can take advantage of a

20c call rate for 10 minutes between their fleet say Optus.

 

As of 1 February 2006, IM will be charged at 95 cents unlimited use per day or $5.95 unlimited for a month.

New handsets will be added to the range continually. Subsidised handsets are available on capped

Plans.

Optus Content Packs

In addition to the capped plans, a range of content packs are available to customers for $3.95 per month plus browsing charges. These include:

– Music pack

– News & Weather pack

– Lifestyle pack

Until 31 January 2006, Optus 3G customers can take advantage of a special launch promotion.

They will not be charged any extra to use new Optus 3G data features such as Ninemsn Instant

Messenger, video calling, WAP browsing on the new MyZooNow mobile interface and Optus’ 3G content packs.

 

Optus said its new 3G service will include live television from SBS, ABC and CNN, as well as access to 7,500 music titles that can be downloaded directly to a handset.

Vodafone partnered with Optus in November last year to establish a $700 million alliance to develop and operate a national 3G network.

Telstra and Hutchison also aligned for a $450 million network sharing deal.

Dick Smith Will Be Liquidated If Chinese Deal Falls Through.

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The Dick Smith retail group will be placed into liquidation today if a deal with Chinese retail group 5 Star is not ratified claims insiders.

ChannelNews has been told that 5 Star who on Monday made a none binding offer has been “haggling” with Ferrier Hodgson and the banks that are owed over $130M over the purchase price. 

The Company is concerned about the amount of money that will be needed to restock the stores, whether manufacturers who have lost over $100M in the collapse of the retailer will support them.

They are also concerned about the information they have been given and are keen to conduct their own audits, as a great deal of the stock left in the stores are house brand products that are not selling, or old branded stock that is about to be replaced with new models at stores such as JB Hi Fi and Harvey Norman.

Internally Ferrier Hodgson management are keen that the banks accept a 5 Star deal as the business is bleeding around $3-4M a week with the receiver now facing the real possibility that they are going to have to liquidate the Company or have the NAB and HSBC banks inject further capital.

An announcement relating to the 5 Star deal was due today. 

Dick Smith Moves To Copy JB Hi Fi In The Appliance Market

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Dick Smith is looking to mirror the success of JB Hi Fi’s move into small appliances with the launch of 100 new ConnectedHome concept designed to specifically appeal to people looking to buy appliances for the home.

The Company has also hired Bita Lowry, the former small appliances buyer for Myer to spearhead the Companies relationship with small appliance vendors.

The move is a blow to the likes of The Good Guys, Betta Electrical and Harvey Norman who have moved to shore up their relationships with appliance vendors while also increasing their house brand range.

Nick Aboud the CEO of Dick Smith told ChannelNews that he was “more than happy” as to how Dick Smith was currently trading he said that he was confident that there would be a big “upside” for his appliance business. 

He said “I do not see any problems dealing with suppliers, we will go extremely well, we intend to deal with big brands including Panasonic, Delonghi, Braun etc. We are currently fitting out 100 stores and we anticipate that these will be finished by Christmas”
Aboud added “we intent to focus on key brands in the coffee, health and food markets as opposed to larger appliances” he said.  


Several large appliance vendors have told ChannelNews recently that they are “reluctant” to supply new appliance retailers because they fear it will “tarnishing their relationships” with the likes of Harvey Norman, The Good Guys and  partners who have been selling appliances for several years. 

Senior JB Hi Fi management recently admitted to ChannelNews that not all suppliers were keen to do business with the mass retailers because of existing relationships. 

Aboud said that 100 existing Dick Smith stores will get makeovers including the Companies George Street store which will open on the 16th of August as a ConnectedHome operation, this store is right next to Myer in the Sydney CBD.

Two years ago JB Hi Fi moved into the appliance market in the last quarter the mass retailer grew their appliance business 11.8%, the Company has 43 JB Hi Fi home stores. 



Harvey Norman To Sell $4,500 HP 3D Sprout PC That Other Retailers Rejected

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HP has cut a deal with Harvey Norman in an effort to get consumer in particular business users to part with over $4,500 for an all in one PC that sprouts a 3D scanner.

ChannelNews understands that several other mass retailers rejected Hewlett Packard’s overtures to stock the expensive Sprout PC.


The HP Sprout PC comes with a 3D scanner that stick out at a 45 degree angle from the top of the PC. It appears that a keyboard is not included. 

As one retailer said “that is one very expensive all in one. You can buy a decent all in one for $1,550 so it is going to be very hard to justify the additional $3,000 dollars especially as 3D scanning technology is in its infancy”

“While the PC can be updated I doubt that the 3D Scanning can. This is a bold move by HP”.  

The Sprout has an Intel Core i7 processor with Intel HD Graphics 4600. There is 8GB of RAM, which is upgradable to 16GB (at additional cost).

A 1TB SATA solid state drive (5,400rpm) is included however it is not known how much space 3D scanning will take up and whether the PC slows down when the scanning takes place. 

At $4,500 the PC only ships with the cheapest version of Windows 10 Home 64.

Also included in the price is a 1-year warranty and “a white glove set up service” which includes delivery and someone to switch the device on. 

 Only select Harvey Norman stores will stock the device.

EXCLUSIVE:$798 Harvey Norman Hoverboard Banned

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A $798 hoverboard that has been ranged at Harvey Norman and advertised in their catalogue, has been banned even before the device has officially gone on sale in Australia.

Last night the UK Crown Prosecution Service banned the same hoverboard that is being imported by Melbourne based distributor Kaiser Baas from being used on public roads, however it can be used on private land. 

Two months ago SmartHouse and ChannelNews got an exclusive preview of the new device at the offices of Kaiser Bass, at the time Evan Kourambas the CEO of Kaiser Baas told ChannelNews that he was “concerned that users could make a claim” on the Company if someone got hurt falling off the Segway-inspired wheeled vehicle.


Click to enlarge


NSW Authorities that ChannelNews have spoken to have said that they are concerned and will investigate the device.  

Currently Harvey Norman is advertising the $798 Kaiser Baas Revo Glider as being available in Late October.

The device which has a top speed of 12m/h and a 20 km range before the batteries give out delivers “intuitive self-balancing using high grade sensors”. 

According to  Kourambas his Company sought and got approval to import the device from the Federal Department of Infrastructure.

“The device we are bringing into Australia is nor designed for Australian roads or pavements. It has rubber wheeels and not pneumatic tyres that are designed to go over kerbs. In London recently we were sitting in a pub when a person rode past on one of these devices. On a second pass he fell off. In the ones we are importing to Australia we are reccomending indoor use and for children 14 years and older”.  

In the UK The Crown Prosecution Service has released new guidance that forbids the use of self-balancing scooters on UK streets and pavements.

“Vehicles must be approved via ECWVTA or MSVA in order to be licensed and registered. Self-balancing scooters would not currently meet the requirements of these schemes so are not legal for road use,” reads the new CPS guidance.

It continues: “It is an offence under section 72 of the Highway Act 1835 to ride or drive a vehicle on the pavement.”
Users can ride the scooters on private property or inside a building. 

“You can only ride an unregistered self-balancing scooter on land which is private property and with the landowner’s permission,” explains the UK, CPS.

Apparently bicycles are covered by different rules to those applying to self-balancing scooters. 

In the UK Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles must meet the requirements of the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983. 

Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles that conform to these regulations are considered to be pedal cycles and as such are allowed to use cycle facilities such as cycle lanes on the road and cycle tracks away from the road which other powered vehicles are prohibited from using.”

In May 2012, the federal Department of Infrastructure and Transport amended the definition for power assisted pedal cycles (PAPCs) in the Australian Design Rules to allow for pedalecs, which are a form of electric bicycle that complies with the European Standard EN 15194. All jurisdictions have either already changed their legislation to accommodate pedalecs or are in the process of doing so. 

The amendment was in response to public demand for better, ‘greener’ vehicles.

The team investigating the issue were advised Transport NSW who recently issued new regulations regarding the use of powered pedalecs.


Dick Smith Grows 9%

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Sales at the Woolworths group’s Australian and NZ consumer electronics stores – including the Dick Smith chain – grew 9 percent to $839 million in the six months to December 31, the group said yesterday.

Sales at the Woolworths group’s Australian and NZ consumer electronics stores – including the Dick Smith chain – grew 9 percent to $839 million in the six months to December 31, the group said yesterday.

Growth in the second quarter was 11.6 per cent compared with just 6.1pc in the first quarter – possibly reflecting extra Christmas sales spurred by the Rudd Government’s stimulus program.

A Woolworths statement to the ASX noted that the consumer electronics sales spurt had been delivered at a lower margin “as we transition out of certain categories and experience both changes in sales mix and a highly competitive market.”

Woollies opened 29 new DSE stores and three Powerhouse stores during the six months, talking the total to 433 stores.

A joint venture with Tata in India now has 26 consumer electronics stores operating under the Croma brand, producing sales of A$90 million for the half year.