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NY Times Launches Blistering Critique of LG; Says New U.S. HQ is a ‘Public Shame’ & a Reminder to ‘Shop Samsung’

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Photo of LG HQ protesters
LG’s new HQ project protesters.

We told you a few days ago about a rising chorus of opposition to the construction of LG’s new 143-foot tall U.S. headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ – a borough which borders on a lush, green, wooded area of the state known as the Palisades – a National Natural Landmark. Now, in a scathing “Critic’s Notebook” article in Saturday’s New York Times, Michael Kimmelman compares how Samsung – also building a new headquarters building in San Jose, CA – took steps to be a good corporate citizen and fit in with the community…versus the approach by LG, “…a lousy neighbor.”

A critique of building design, the article didn’t pull any punches in thoughts about LG… [Read more…] about NY Times Launches Blistering Critique of LG; Says New U.S. HQ is a ‘Public Shame’ & a Reminder to ‘Shop Samsung’

Talk About Income Inequality! Just Four Companies Generated 90% of All Net Profits in South Korea

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Graphic pie chartIn a report that is sure to surprise many and even stun some, the Korea Fair Trade Commission, South Korea’s fair trade watchdog, announced that just four large companies – or conglomerates – generate 90% of all of the total net profit earned in the country in 2013. The commission, which closely tracks the performance of what they call the largest conglomerate companies, issues their report every April with this year’s report showing the share of the top four have continued to grow since 2011.

But wait until you see the percentage of profits from just the top TWO companies… [Read more…] about Talk About Income Inequality! Just Four Companies Generated 90% of All Net Profits in South Korea

CES Opens to Press and Already…A Couple of Surprises

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Photo of CEA/CES logoPress Day at CES is – to put it mildly – a bit of a grind. A seemingly never-ending series of scheduled press presentations that are scheduled one hour apart so the press can run from one supposedly 45-minute (of course they all run long) event to the next. The hallways often look more like a mosh pit as reporters, bloggers, and editors push, shove, and elbow their way to the next presentation hoping to get a seat close enough that the presenters don’t look like ants.

It’s easy to become jaded, as one sits through slickly produced, Hollywood-style presentation after another. Rarely, do we get surprised.

But this time…we got a couple of surprises… [Read more…] about CES Opens to Press and Already…A Couple of Surprises

Major OLED Production Problems Force Panasonic & Sony to Refocus on 4K

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Photo of early Sony OLED
An early Sony OLED TV.

 

In a report that appeared in the Nikkei on Christmas Day, it appears that Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. have dissolved a joint OLED production initiative and will instead seek new methods individually. As a result, both companies will back-burner OLED and redouble their efforts on building their 4K UHDTV businesses.

This decision – along with poor sales of OLED sets from Samsung & others, calls it’s future into question… [Read more…] about Major OLED Production Problems Force Panasonic & Sony to Refocus on 4K

Toshiba Tries to Turnaround Its Troubled TV Division

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Toshiba FactoryToshiba Corp. has launched an aggressive strategy aimed at turning around its troubled, money-losing television manufacturing business. We wrote last week about their decision to close a manufacturing plant in China in a bid to restructure their production base – one part of a larger TV turnaround strategy. Now word comes of additional aggressive moves by the company attempting to return their once vaunted TV business to profitability.

Toshiba plans to cut factories, jobs, and even countries as it tries for a turnaround… [Read more…] about Toshiba Tries to Turnaround Its Troubled TV Division

CEDIA EXPO 2013 Overview and Attendance

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Photo of Blue Bear in front of Colorado Convention Center
Looking for innovation…

 

CEDIA’s Expo in 2013 returned to Denver, CO, a favorite location for many attendees and exhibitors – a point to which we can attest as so many said so in Strata-gee’s CEDIA Survey over the last few years. So was Denver the panacea needed to get everyone back into a positive state of mind? Was the show everything everyone hoped it would be?

See our thoughts below on EXPO 2013… [Read more…] about CEDIA EXPO 2013 Overview and Attendance

Huge Loss & Management Dismissals Induce Sharp Pain at Sharp Corp.

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Photo of Sharp booth at CESSharp Corp. announced this week the worst net loss in its long corporate history for the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2013. Booking a net loss of ¥545.35 billion ($5.4 billion), the company has aggressively moved to shake up the company management replacing both the President and Chairman in a rare (for a Japanese company) public rebuke of company leaders. And in what may be a signal to the market, the new President has no ties to the company’s TV business…and he’s talking tough.

See more on this worse-than-expected result… [Read more…] about Huge Loss & Management Dismissals Induce Sharp Pain at Sharp Corp.

Onkyo Forges Global ‘Strategic Collaboration’ with Imagination Technologies Group

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Out of Tokyo, Japan this past Monday came word of a new global strategic collaboration between Onkyo Corporation, U.K.-based Imagination Technologies Group, and Imagination’s consumer division known as Pure. A global technology creator, Imagination Technologies Group largely focuses on multimedia, cloud, mobile, and connected audio technologies – often licensed to major consumer brands as part of their product offerings.

See more on this technology agreement…and what it portends for future Onkyo products… [Read more…] about Onkyo Forges Global ‘Strategic Collaboration’ with Imagination Technologies Group

Can Sharp Survive? Company’s Performance ‘Raises Serious Doubts About [Our Ability] to Continue’

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Photo of Sharp booth at CESLast week, we reported on a rumor out of Japan that Sharp Corp. was about to report a dismal interim net loss that was much worse than anticipated. This Wednesday, Sharp confirmed those rumors announcing an interim (Apr-Sept) operating loss of ¥168.9 billion ($2.1 billion). This result was after a ¥84.4 billion ($1.1 billion) charge for costs associated with restructuring their struggling business.

But what really has the industry and investors talking is that the company affirmed that it is likely to show a “huge” net loss for the entire fiscal year of ¥450 billion ($5.6 billion), almost double a previous estimate of ¥250 billion. It is also well above analysts’ estimate of a ¥296 billion loss according to a survey of 17 analysts  by Bloomberg. [Read more…] about Can Sharp Survive? Company’s Performance ‘Raises Serious Doubts About [Our Ability] to Continue’

Panasonic to Cut Production of LCD TV Panels

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CEScrowd2PanasonicPanasonic Corp. has announced it will cut production of LCD panels targeted for TV manufacture in the next fiscal year in order to increase production of small and midsize LCD panels for tablets and other mobile devices. The move is seen as a response to the company’s declining TV business.

Juggling purchase and supply agreements…looking for cost savings…

[Read more…] about Panasonic to Cut Production of LCD TV Panels