Samsung Pays $10M For Bombers Bragging Rights In what is claimed to be the biggest individual club sponsorship in AFL history, Essendon has signed a three-year deal with Samsung for Guernsey sponsorship rights.
Whirlpool Profit Goes Down The Drain According to AFP, appliance maker Whirlpools profit fell 27 per cent in the second quarter due to “higher material and oil-related costs and lower U.S. demand”.
Hisense Gets Naming Rights To Melbournes Heart Hisense Australia has scored a six-year naming rights deal of to the former Vodafone Arena in the heart of Melbourne’s major sporting precinct, which the company says now “heralds an exciting new commitment in the sponsorship of Australian sports and entertainment”.
Electrolux Profits Get Sucked Away Swedish appliance giant Electrolux has reported an 82 per cent drop in net profit and cut its full-year forecast, citing very weak markets in North America and Europe.
Samsung Boss Cops Massive Fine For Tax Dodge According to overseas reports, the former chairman of the Samsung Group and one of South Korea's most powerful business leaders has copped a huge fine and a slap on the wrist over corruption allegations.
LG Recalls Microwave Ovens LG Electronics is voluntarily recalling microwave ovens manufactured between August 2007 to February 2008 in order to repair a fault which “may pose a risk of electric shock to the user”, according to the company.
Wow Goes Online As Of Today Queensland electronics retailer Wow Sight and Sound has launched its new online shopping website today at www.1wow.com.au.
Sharemarket Savages Harvey Norman From that perpetual font of bad news known as the ASX, shares in Harvey Norman (HN) have dropped some 43 per cent since the start of the year, contributing to a $1.2 billion wipeout from the value of the retailer.
Wow! --- QLD Retailer Takes On JB Hi-Fi Its only been some 6 months when JB Hi-Fi launched their online Digital Home concept and less than a few weeks when the company topped 90 stores nationwide, but all of a sudden they now have had the gauntlet thrown down at them by Queensland electronics retailer, Wow Sight and Sound.
GE In Death Spin As It Puts Appliance Division Up For Sale According to Bloomberg.com, General Electric, just two months after placing its appliance unit up for sale, said it plans to spin off its entire GE Consumer & Industrial group to shareholders as it struggles to raise a slumping stock price.
Vivo Grabs Onto Dick Smith AV and consumer electronics brand Vivo has announced a supply deal with Dick Smith Electronics, which will see VIVO 32 inch Plasma and 15 inch LCD televisions in Dick Smith, Dick Smith Powerhouse and Tandy stores throughout July.
Retail Spend Increases In May It seems consumers are not as concerned about high fuel rates and rising interest rates as the media would have us believe as Australian retail sales rose in May at the fastest pace in six months, according to Bloomberg.
Australian Company Invents Power Saving Breakthrough Adelaide-based Ember Technologies has developed a globally applicable technology that can selectively turn off idle electrical devices, both in the home and in businesses, which are in idle or standby mode. Standby power represents roughly 10 per cent of the power used in Australian homes.
Panasonic Unveils Its New Olympic Website Panasonic Australia has unveiled a new website dedicated to Panasonic’s Olympic sponsorship, allowing consumers and business partners to find information and updates on the company’s Olympic program
Philips Turns One Consumer Division Into Four In its push to grab a greater share of the consumer lifestyle electronics market, Philips has split its consumer lifestyle division into four separate product divisions called Mind, Space, Body and Appearance.
Its Syonara For The Matsushita Brand According to reports from Japan, Matsushita Electric Industrial, best known for its Panasonic brand, has announced its shareholders have approved a proposal to change the company's name to "Panasonic Corporation" at its 101st Annual Shareholders' Meeting that was held today. The change will become effective from October 1, 2008.
Bing Lee Unleashes The Animal Within Bing Lee is continuing its support of Taronga Zoo’s conservation initiatives with the launch of the electrical retailer’s Threatened Wildlife Trail.
Miele Unphased By Slowing Economy In a frank and exclusive interview with channelnews, the Product Marketing Manager of Miele, Rudi Niemoeller says that despite the economic doom and gloom, things are actually looking up for the German appliance giant in Australia.
Electronics Retailers Start Feeling The Pinch There are many indicators of how an economy is faring – inflation, unemployment, petrol prices and GDP figures. However if we look at how the major electronics stores are faring, it looks like the economic slowdown is well and truly here.
Appliance Retailing Sales Start To Wobble The recently released Citi's Retail Sales Indicator showed a retail spending slowdown with 6.8 per cent growth in March, compared with the 11.1 per cent growth in February 2008.
Fridge Patent War LG Slug It Out With Whirlpool A fridge war between Whirlpool and LG Electronics has broken out with both Companies claiming alleged refrigerator patent infringements in a US Court.
Churn And Burn Retailers Leave Customers Fuming According to a new online satisfaction report released yesterday, more than half of the consumers surveyed have ceased buying products and services from a company due to poor customer service and a high number felt that the supplier didn’t know it had lost their business.
Electrolux Chief Punishes His Indians According to Hans Stråberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of Electrolux, his staff will be bearing the brunt of any changes the company will make in a bid to try and get back into the top tier of electronics retailers.
Retail Habits Start To Change Australias spending habits are changing, with consumers moving away from traditional gifting sources and towards the emerging concept of gift cards according to a survey by Blackhawk Network.
Hasta La Vista Baby: Fisher & Paykel Runs Off To Mexico Fisher & Paykel Appliances is to close production at its Cleveland factory in Brisbane, Dunedin and California plants within the next 12 to 18 months, in a move many observers say shows the company is having trouble competing with the razor thin margins in the whitegoods sector.
Supplier Churning And Burning Costs Soar According to the latest BMC Software Churn Index, customer churn is no longer an issue confined to the banks and telephone companies but is now affecting additional sectors including mobile phone companies, utilities and broadband suppliers.
Dick Smith Increases Sales By 13.7 per cent Who says make-over’s don’t work?- certainly not Woolworth’s the owner of the Dick Smith consumer electronics group who after re-branding and re-positioning the company has delivered a 13.7 per cent sales increase for the third quarter – a rather respectable figure considering parent company Woolworths's sales were also up a healthy, albeit slightly lower 10.2 per cent.
Citi Retail Report Gives JB-HiFi A Gold Star The just released 2008 Citi Retail Benchmark Report has shown some eye-opening results for a number of well-known retailers, including electronics retailers whose outlook is generally better than expected, although some have been far more successful than others.
Google It, Then Buy It- Shopping In The 21st Century In a report released by Google Australia it was revealed that 50 per cent of Australian shoppers research their purchases online before going to the store to buy- a phenomenon that is happening across the developed world.
$5 Billion Spent on Digital Technology In 2007 According to the latest Canon Digital Lifestyle Index (CDLI), during the second half of last year alone, Australians splurged $2.89 billion on digital technology resulting in the highest half year result since the CDLI commenced in 2003.
Samsung Teams Up With ActronAir Samsung Electronics Australia earlier today announced a partnership with ActronAir, one of Australia’s leading designers and manufacturers of ducted air-conditioning systems.
Grooming Appliances Click For Men & Women Australians are turning to personal care appliances in droves with men as much as women buying into a new generation of personal care technology. As a result the Asia Pacific personal appliance market which includes Australia is growing among the fastest in the world according to reseach by Global Industry Analysts.
Record Rate Rise Will Rattle Retail Consumer electronics and IT retailers could be headed for strife this month after news that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has hiked interest rates by 25 basis points to 7 per cent – signalling the highest interest rates in the country for 11 years.
Osram Unveils Eco-Friendly Light-Bulb Successor Lighting manufacturer Osram has launched what it claims to be an environmentally friendly replacement for the common incandescent light bulb.
Hoover Smeg & Whirlpool Slammed By Appliance Report A European research study has slammed some of the biggest kitchen appliance brands in the world claiming that their products can break down 10 times more often. Among those brands slammed are Hoover, Whirlpool and Smeg brands.
Siemens Appliances Launches Brand Website European household appliances brand Siemens has launched a new Australian website for consumers and industry professionals following a hike in retail expenditure and brand awareness supporting the label.
Technology Shortens Coffee Queues If you’re tired of standing in long queues for your juice, coffee or even your café meal, you will like the idea of Q’LESS – a self-service food order station developed by Whitech Solutions, which promises a reduction of queuing time by over 30 percent.
Screw Cap Tech Too Savvy For Corks Screw caps are better at preserving sauvignon blanc wine than cork stoppers, according to The University of Auckland.
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