TWICE News

• Kodak Announces More Job Cuts
  
  By Greg Scoblete, February 9, 2007
  Rochester, N.Y. — Kodak will shave an additional 3,000 employees worldwide in its continuing efforts to restructure its business, the company said.
  
• PMA: Digital Print Growth Continues
  
  By Greg Scoblete, February 9, 2007
  Jackson, Mich. — The number of prints produced from digital cameras continues to grow, according to the Photo Marketing Association’s (PMA) monthly printing and camera trends report.
  
• Lenovo To Enter Best Buy For Business
  
  By TWICE Staff, February 9, 2007
  Research Triangle, N.C. — Lenovo will begin selling its Lenovo N100 and ThinkPad T60 notebooks through Best Buy for Business locations starting this month.
  
• Dell Selling Sony BRAVIA LCDs
  
  By TWICE Staff, February 8, 2007
  Round Rock, Texas - For the first time, Dell has started selling another vendors television models with the recent addition of two Sony BRAVIA LCDs to its online store.
  
• Traditional PDAs Down, BlackBerry Sales Up
  
  By Amy Gilroy, February 8, 2007
  New York — Shipments of traditional PDAs continued to slump, down 28.5 percent worldwide, according to IDC.
  
• HTSA Adds Jamieson’s Audio Video
  
  By TWICE Staff, February 8, 2007
  Chester Springs, Penn. — The Home Theater Specialists of America (HTSA) buying group reports that it has signed Jamieson’s Audio Video of Toledo, Ohio, giving the group 58 members.
  
• Nationwide ‘PrimeTime!’ In Orlando Next Week
  
  By TWICE Staff, February 8, 2007
  Orlando, Fla.  — Nationwide Marketing Group will kick off the industry’s series of buying group meetings next week drawing more than 3,000 independent dealers and vendors to its semi-annual buying convention, PrimeTime! at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel, here.
  
• I3A Launches Photo Preservation Site
  
  By Greg Scoblete, February 8, 2007
  White Plains, N.Y. — Hoping to rescue digital images from the perils of digital extinction, the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A) launched a consumer Web site aimed at explaining the art of photo preservation in the digital era.
  
• Discount Chains Report Brisk Jan. Sales
  
  by Alan Wolf, February 8, 2007
  New York – National full-line discount chains said business was brisk in January, with computers, TVs and video games helping to heat up sales.
  
• PS3 Pushes BD Sales Ahead Of HD DVD
  
  By Greg Tarr, February 8, 2007
  San Diego — Explosive sales of Sony’s new PlayStation3 (PS3) video game console helped products based on the high-definition Blu-ray Disc platform top sales of products based on the rival HD DVD platform for the first time this month, according to research gathered by market researcher Nielsen VideoScan.
  
• Tough Choices Ahead For Michael Dell
  
  By Doug Olenick, February 8, 2007
  Round Rock, Texas — With Michael Dell once again at the controls of the company founded in 1984, analysts are trying to cipher out if the company’s long-standing direct-to-customer model is still viable or if a change is in order.
  
• Circuit City Restructures Amid Flat Panel Profit Woes
  
  by Alan Wolf, February 8, 2007
  Richmond, Va. – Circuit City has overhauled its corporate structure and will close stores in the U.S. and Canada in a dramatic bid to improve its financial performance.
  
• Auction Begins For JVC
  
  By Greg Tarr, February 7, 2007
  Tokyo – Three private equity firms are competing in an auction to acquire controlling interest in Victor Co. of Japan, parent of JVC of America, from Matsushita Electric Industrial, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
  
• TiVo, Amazon Offer Downloads
  
  By Greg Tarr, February 7, 2007
  Alviso, Calif. — Amazon.com and TiVo announced a partnership to sell downloads of video programs to TiVo DVRs for playback on household TV screens.
  
• DirecTV Reports Major Sales, Profit Increases
  
  By Steve Smith, February 7, 2007
  El Segundo, Calif.. — The DirecTV Group today reported fourth-quarter revenues increased 16 percent to $4.18 billion and operating profit before depreciation and amortization more than doubled to $915 million compared to last year’s fourth quarter.
  
• Whirlpool N.A. Posts Higher Q4 Sales, Lower Profits
  
  By Steve Smith, February 7, 2007
  Benton Harbor, Mich. — Whirlpool reported higher sales for its North American operations during the fourth quarter, driven by the acquisition of Maytag earlier in the year, but lower profits for the region.
  
• Tweeter: Flat-Panel Pricing Stable, For Now
  
  by Alan Wolf, February 6, 2007
  Canton, Mass. — Tweeter Home Entertainment Group anticipates stability in flat-panel pricing at least through the first half of the year, but fears that the marketplace could heat up again by the back half of 2007.
  
• Wal-Mart Launches Video Downloads
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, February 6, 2007
  Bentonville, Ark — Wal-Mart launched a beta version of its promised video-download service, said to be the first such service to offer movies and TV shows from all major Hollywood studios.
  
• Panasonic Intros High End AVCHD Camcorder
  
  By Greg Scoblete, February 6, 2007
  Secaucus, N.J. — Panasonic said today it will ship an AVCHD-based high definition camcorder for the professional market in March.
  
• DXG Launches Colorful Camcorder
  
  By Greg Scoblete, February 6, 2007
  City of Industry, Calif. — Digital camera manufacturer DXG said it will ship a new flash-based video recorder this month.