'Success Story' Surprises
By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 7/16/2007
With all the talk of iPhone since the end of June and its reported success at retail, albeit the slow connections via AT&T and the perpetual "For" and "Against" spinning that occurred in the days after, the casual observer may forget that there are plenty of other success stories in CE this year.
Hence our annual "Success Story" report compiled in cooperation with our friends at The NPD Group, which provides us with a list of the best-selling SKUs in selected CE and major appliance categories from the June 2006 to May 2007 time frame.
Top 10 lists of any type are always subject to debate and interpretation, and this year will not be an exception, especially when you are doing a list based on unit sales. Remember, this report does not measure dollars generated or profitability. Yet for this reporter, there were still some surprises based on brand.
For instance, while much of the attention in LCD TVs usually goes to Samsung and Sony, Philips brands garnered two spots in the top 10. While the Philips brand itself didn't make it, a Magnavox 15-inch unit, 15MF605T, topped the list and a 32-inch Magnavox unit was ranked 10th. And coming in at No. 3 was a former Philips brand, Sylvania, with a 20-inch EDTV. (See p. 34.)
It is never unusual to see Sony at the top, or close to the top, when it comes to product rankings but the top 10 for digital camcorders was surprising. Sony holds down the top four spots, as well as No. 9 for good measure. Canon (ranked No. 5 and 10), Panasonic, Samsung and JVC all appear in the top ten, as you'd expect, but Sony's dominance is surprising, at least to me. (See p. 37.)
One of the Rodney Dangerfield categories in CE or PC has got to be external hard drives. Some only find out they need it the hard way: when their computer crashes. Some savvy consumers buy external hard drives like they would insurance — just in case. With more and more video and audio being received by PCs and stored on hard drives, the category is growing. But who knew that Western Digital is such a kingpin in that category? I didn't. The company has seven products in the top ten, so it must be doing something right.
And since I started this column mentioning iPhone I might as well end it mentioning iPod. In the portable player docking speakers top 10, iHome's iH5 iPod Clock Radio is ranked No. 1, with other iHome product making the list.
No, having an iPod-related product at No. 1 in this category did not surprise me.
Neither did a story on p. 1 by associate editor Lisa Johnston about iPhone accessories that have reached, or will soon hit, retail shelves and shopping sites. What did surprise me was the number of SKUs that will be out there soon. Suffice it to say, there will be an iPhone-related accessory that will probably make one of next year's "Success Story" lists.
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