Smart Office

Menu

Oonagh Reidy

JB Hi-Fi Sees Orange As Major Expansion Looms

by

Retail giant expansion to include NSW town of Orange, according to local media reports.
The company would not confirm specific details on new locations when contacted by Channel News, claiming plans have not yet been finalised, dismissing the report as “speculation.”

Last year, under the stewardship of new boss Terry Smart, the retail giant opened up 23 new stores and has plans to replicate these numbers in 2011 both in Australian and New Zealand markets.

This massive expansion comes in spite of the recent consumer backlash on brick and mortar retailers, opting to purchase many goods including electronics in startling numbers and at often reduced rates online.

Retailers including JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman are vulnerable to major future financial losses due the growth of online rivals continues, analysts at Morgan Stanley warned in December.

Last year the company reported a 26% increase in full-year profit across its group, and said it expected to grow sales by 17% in 2010.

Not everyone in Orange is happy about the possible move-in by the discount seller and electronic stores there have expressed grave worries about the impact the arrival would have on their trade.

 

“They’ll just decimate our sales, it’s as simple as that,” Leading Edge Computers owner Jim Whittaker told the Central Western Daily today.

“JB has some things that are cheap, but when you go to buy everything, it doesn’t always end up cheap.”

The town of Orange is located in north NSW has a population of around 38,000 with nearby catchment areas including Bathurst and Dubbo.

Oz Retail Exposed As Uncompetitive: Morgan Stanley

by

Harvey Norman and Co are in for a shock.Retail landscape is in for a shakeout in 2011, say analysts.

Some of the major retail giants – Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and Myer included are in for a huge shock, with analysts saying their trading could be uncompetitive.   

In its 2011 forecast, Morgan Stanley has said the Productivity Commission investigation into retail landscape here, is likely to find that it is ‘uncompetitive,’ despite claims by CEOs that GST is killing trade.       

The investigation, established following the furore kicked up by retailers claiming that internet trading eating into their sales figures, and demanding a GST of 10% be introduced on all online goods purchased from international retailers, who are currently exempt from the tax.            

Major price discrepancies between Australian and foreign retailers are clear – the Samsung Galaxy Tab is available online for $500 online from US retailers, while it retails for almost double that – at $899 in Harvey Norman stores.   

The recent strength of the Aussie dollar also meant consumers were getting more bang for their buck buying from overseas. 

It’s not the first time the market analysts have forecast shaky ground for the ASX listed giants – late last year they warned that retailers including JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman were set to make major financial losses due to the growth of online rivals.

However, reports this morning indicate that all is not lost for the retail sector.

Share prices at Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and David Jones are on the way up after better than expected end-of-year financial results were reported at outdoor retailer Kathmandu and Super Retail Group. 

New Zealand based Kathmandu announced a sales hike of more than  whopping 10.3 percent  in the second quarter of last year, while Super Group profits were more than double that forecasted – jumping from a conservative $9.5m rocketing to $25m.

However, analysts expressed caution about the likes of Harvey Norman and Dick Smith repeating this success and expects profit figures to suffer a fall, according to Evans & Partners analyst Tony Wilson.  

However, despite this share prices still floated higher for the tech retailers, with prices on Harvey Norman stock opening on a 3.22 high this morning.

 

Massive product margins and a domestic market of 20 million consumers all to themselves are just some of the conditions retail stores enjoyed for many years – although not much longer it seems.   

However, that’s not the only surprise in store for Harvey Norman.          

This year could also see the electronic kings issuing shares to pay a special dividend, say Morgan Stanley.          

In previous years, almost half of the analysts’ predictions came through, although we’re sure Gerry Harvey has his fingers crossed one or two of these fail to materialise.

Its All Clear: Samsung’s 22 Inch BLU LCD Transparent Screen

by

They’ve been named the top flat panel maker in the world.But now it looks like Samsung are looking to go one better again and create the first ever see through displays.


Click to enlarge
Credit: Gadget Mania

The 22 inch transparent screen was debuted at SID 2011 (Society for Information Display) this week and operates with or without a backlight with Engadget reporting it could see its hands through the screen when placed behind the LCD panel.

The LCD will also adjust to natural room lighting and are intending for commercial use for now.

The transparent technology is also certain to be used by other brands so see-through TV’scould be the norm in any living room, some day fairly soon.

Shipping will start next week although it will be Q3 before it hits shelves.

NBN: Not Waving But Drowning?

by

Drowning in a sea of paperwork, that is.

Commercial terms for the $11 billion NBN deal with Telstra have been finalised – at long last.

This latest stepping stone, the agreeing of terms which will pave the way for NBN to make use of Telstra’s copper fibre assets to rollout the broadband network, is in return for a tidy $11 billion fee to the Telco.

But it appears to be along road ahead until broadband rollout, with the ACCC and Telstra shareholders just some of the additional parties who must agree to the deal terms before final sign off.  

Other terms have also been outlined “in principle” the Communications minister announced this morning including retraining Telstra’s workforce to deploy the NBN and revisions to the governments public service obligation. 

“This is another significant step forward in the delivery of the NBN,” Senator Conroy said.

“Along with allowing for a cheaper, more efficient rollout of the NBN, the in principle agreement ensures there is continuity of all basic universal service outcomes for consumers while the country transitions onto the NBN.”

However, the deal isn’t finalised yet so could be subject to change. 

Telstra confirmed yesterday they were in talks with the NBN in a bid to finalise the deal terms, acknowledging the process was lengthy and cumbersome, at best.

When challenged by journalists yesterday about the length the process was taking, CEO David Thodey quipped; “well, have you ever dealt with lawyers?”  

 

He also confirmed his company has thought about the politics involved and what may arise if the Liberal party, who are strongly opposed to the deal were to get into power. 

Telstra are to commission an independent expert report which will be presented to shareholders later this year.

The Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will also have to scrutinise the deal as part of its consideration of Telstra’s Structural Separation Undertaking, the minister Stephen Conroy said.

However, it appears the gloss could be taken from the NBN’s claimed broadband speeds by the time it finally does come to fruition, with the news last week that WiFi speeds of 1 gigabyte will be in Australia by 2012 – matching that of the network.

Read the story here

Location, Location: 10 Future M-Apps Revealed

by

Mobile apps look set to become an increasingly in-demand – predicted to be a $15.9 billion industry by next year.Amongst the top ten tips predicted by Garter are location based services (LBS) and mobile commerce apps, already widely used by iPhone users which allows “check in” to a store or specific location.

LBS register user locations and offer services in the area based on their personal statistics, likes and dislikes – an “intelligent user experience.”

Smartphone will become smarter imbued with object recognition ability where the device will register surroundings through the camera as well as other ‘device sensors.’   

“Mobile carriers should provide expanded location services to include, among others, directory assistance, mapping, advertising and privacy controls,” warns IT researcher Garter.     
 
Users of the Smartapps looks set to reach 1.4 billion by 2014. 

On the m-commerce front, price comparison and payment solutions as well as Facebook, mobile e-mail and video and YouTube look also to be among the top apps of the future.  

“Mobile applications will be a highly competitive marketplace that attracts the interest of many stakeholders,” said Sandy Shen, research director at Gartner. 

The apps user explosion will also spark increased hardware sales and technology in the field as they become more and more mainstream – so watch this space.    

 

“Increasingly, mobile applications will define the user experience and device vendors that proactively integrate innovative apps and technologies at the platform layer will have the competitive edge,” Garter says.

Beleaguered phone maker Nokia, who has fallen off the cart when it comes to innovation in mobile apps, lagging rivals Android and Apple, should take note.   

Telstra Battles For AFL, Set To Be Major Player

by

The fight for sporting rights continues as content battle gathers pace.


Click to enlarge

And Telstra will be hoping they are among the big winners as its BigPond TV services continues to gather momentum.

And will the $11bn windfall from the NBN fibre buyout deal, it will have plenty of cash to play with.

The telco is said to be looking to extend its AFL live online coverage and is aggressively pursing the 2012-16 AFL rights, which would allow it to stream games live online and across its T-Boxes.

And David Thodey’s outfit is said to be willing to put its money where its mouth is, which could push negotiations for the lucrative sporting rights above the $1bn mark, for the first time.

Under the current deal, it can broadcasts games but only on a 12-hour delay, meaning the new deal will give it exclusivity rights, pushing it in with the heavyweights of sports coverage.

So where can we watch the footie next year? Free-to- air wise, Seven is tipped to clinch the free-to-air rights for a $450m pricetag, fending off rivals networks Ten and Seven, The Australian reports.

However, Pay TV Foxtel, is likely to pay in the region of $500m for exclusive rights to five games a round and the other four matches broadcast on free-to-air rivals.

And its not just its T-Boxes Telstra wants to kit out with the latest content
– its Blu ray players, set top boxes, flat panel TVs and home theatre
receivers, a move that will allow it to rapidly expand their Big Pond
content services in Australia. And lets not forget its content hungry
smartphone and tab subscribers.

Just recently it announced it will launch a new AFL Game Analyser service later this year, while only last week it launched the service for LG 3D smart TV’s and has also paired up with Samsung’s TV sets providing exclusive BigPond content service.

And BigPond has bigger plans for Australia, with its head of operations, Ben Kinealy, hinting it could morph into a Netflix US style operation, basically a one stop subscription service for movies, music and other TV content.

However, it may partner up with the US streming company rather than go it alone.

Read Telstra Look To Mimic Netflix Subscription Service here

Telstra may also be looking to add Foxtel content to its T-Box service, although nothing has been finalised yet, it is now said it may happen in June.

And according to reports this morning, the telco is looking to finalise
content agreements with Foxtel, before the proposed $2bn buyout of
Austar, the regional Pay TV player, goes ahead.

 

As for the Austar takeover, it is currently being thrashed out among Foxtel shareholders News Ltd, Consolidated Media Holdings and Telstra, who owns 50 per cent of the Pay TV giant. And it seems Credit Suisse has now joined the talks alongside the telco.

Vodafone Is Vodafail(ing), Say Consumers

by

New website, Vodafail.com has been set up by disgruntled Vodafone customers in response to the litany of service issues users have been experiencing in recent weeks.As reported on Smarthouse earlier today, users who have been reported as experiencing ongoing problems with Vodafone’s mobile service, including call failures, slow data speeds and poor reception, are not necessarily entitled to end their contract, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement.

The ‘share your pain’ section of the newly established site contains comments such as “I live in North Sydney and yesterday (16th Dec) rang my wife twice while she (also a Vodafone user) was in a taxi coming in from the airport. Her phone rang through to voicemail but she never heard it ring and she was holding it in her hand. There is no way the Vodafone problems have been fixed.”

Others had less to say but it is clear that despite Vodafone’s claim to the contrary, the network problems still exist.

“One freaking hour on the phone to Vodafone AU WORST SERVICE EVER! I’ve been on hold for 45mins of them. They can’t fix my problem!,” said another Twitter feed on the site.

Both Vodafone’s branded Facebook and Twitter pages have also been flooded with complaints.

The telco attributed the recent problems to unstable software issues, which meant slower 3G data downloads.

Affected customers would be offered refunds, Vodafone chief technology officer Michael Young, said earlier this month.

Metal, White iPhone 5 Out June 20?

by

Its white, looks like the Terminator, it’s got a metal back…is this the new iPhone 5?


Click to enlarge

Speculation is rife that the newest iPhone offspring will be hitting stores in the US as early as June, meaning it will hit here sometme later this year.

This follows confirmation by Phil Schiller, Apple’s VP of Marketing, that “the white iPhone will be available this spring (and it is a beauty!).”

However, note the clever Mr Schiller failed to mention a specific model, which is making many industry speculators believe his comments were a thinly veiled reference impending 5 release, which  could in fact be the model sporting the paler colour this spring.

And its not just a new colour the iPhone 5 will be sporting. It is also hotly tipped that Apple are bringing metal back.

A metal backed cover, which according to Maclife reports looks “looks like a descendent of the Terminator,” means the tech giant will be kissing goodbye to its glass encased cover.

Judging from images leaked online, it looks very similar to its predecessor in terms of size, but with a curved back.
 

 

It is also rumoured to have a larger four inch display screen, but keeping the 960×640 resolution, indicating the company is trying to improve the antenna performance of the smartphone after problems with the iPhone 4.

Apple Killing Rivals As iTunes Gets Greedy?

by

US authorities begin examining Apple iTunes new business arrangement as content providers cry foul.Steve Jobs’ company, which is taking a 30 percent cut from all non-Apple content sold through its music store has set alarm bells off in official circles who suspect anti-competitive practices are being pedalled by the tech giant. 

The US Justice Department as well as the Federal Trade Commission, who is responsible for investigations into unfair trading practices, have not yet acted on the case but are carefully examining the situation as are the European Commission, according to The Australian. 

Media companies wishing to sell their music, movies, games and e-books applications through the  eponymous iPhone, iPad iPod or Mac PC are forced to go through the Apple payment system, where they take one third of the sale price.

These new rules makes doing business through iTunes and now its other publication subscription services on its iPad and iPhone an unprofitable game for outsiders. 

In addition, Apple makes it almost impossible for customers to make purchases externally, forbidding all outside links to other retailers.

And if that isn’t enough it also prevents other companies from building relationships and gaining personal information on their customers and makes it easier for music lovers to purchase from its iTunes Store if they have previously made a purchase as billing details are already stored in their system. 

 

The tech powerhouse don’t allow the retailers to retain customer information but keep it on file for their own marketing department’s use. 

Complaints from music companies are fierce and most providers are deeply unhappy with the new regime.

 “The costs don’t leave room for a sensible business model,” says Jon Irwin, of Rhapsody international who already sells content through the system. 

“The rate is so obviously anti-competitive it will never survive in Europe,” states Axel Dauchez, president of Deezer, another digital music provider. 

This also comes as Apple announce a new subscription service for publishers also, which will allow users to make purchases of magazines or newspapers on a weekly or monthly basis, which the company says will give publishers a revenue boost, given the flexibility of the business model.

But the same business arrangements including the 30 per cent cut apply as with the iTunes model. 

However, Steve Jobs denies any wrongdoing in the new arrangements.

 

“We believe this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunities to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers,” Jobs said in a statement.

Telstra: Fixed Line Is Broke – Lets Go New

by

Something is rotten in the Telstra basket – fixed line phones. And how badly it has gone off it will be fully revealed this week.In accordance with earnings guidance issued last September, the Telco’s profits before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation (EBITDA) looked set to fall by “high single digit percentage” this year, with a free cash flow guidance of between $4.5 billion to $5 billion.

However, this original downgrade now looks set to free fall into low double digit territory, according to analysts at Deutche Bank who predicts Telstra profits for second half of last year will be $4.7bn – a  12.5 per cent drop. 

This massive fall is partly due to its declining phone line business, which thanks to massive mobile and broadband uptake has meant consumers are phoning less over traditional home lines.  

Despite disappointing fixed line business, mobile and internet divisions are booming with Telstra winning back previous losses to Optus and Vodafone, says Deutsche Bank analyst Andrew Anagnostellis. 

“Mobile is looking good for Telstra and it should look good because they have sunk a lot of money into it. That’s important because part of Telstra’s $1bn strategy was to get out there and grow market share. And they look like they have achieved that to some extent,” he told The Australian.

Revenues also look set to fall 0.7 per cent to $12.2bn. 

However, many analysts are keen to find out if their ‘Project New’, its  $1 billion bid to improve customer service and lure clients back into the Telstra fold will pay dividends, given its massive cost.

 

“Telstra has lost customers over the past year and in response to the erosion of our customer base we saw two strategic options,” the company said last year. 

“We could focus on maximising cash in the short-term, cut costs and continue to lose market share, or take a long-term view by investing in customer service, simplifying the business and competing effectively to retain and acquire customers.” 

Analysts also predict the Telco will again declare a fully franked interim dividend of 14c per share, in line with management objectives of a 28c dividend over a two year interm.

However, thats not all going on at the communications house.

This week may see the Telco finally confirm its $11 billion deal with
the NBN, according to the Australian Financial Review. 

The
Telco, due to announce its half year financial results this week, may
also outline its honourable intentions with the National Broadband
network, which needs its shareholder approval before it can get the go
ahead. 

 

Chiefs from both NBN and Telstra, Mike Quigley and David
Thodey were reported to have held a productive meeting last week
helping to finalise details of the selloff of the Telco’s copper fibre
network in return for broadband contracts and a large pay out.
           
Telstra,
who are to present shareholders with the NBN deal for approval this
June, are at risk of delaying the deal as bureaucracy gets in the way, analysts at
Goldman Sachs warned last week.