TWICE News

• Harman Posts Higher Q4, Year-End Sales, Earnings
  
  By TWICE Staff, August 15, 2007
  Washington — Harman International Industries reported higher sales and earnings for the fiscal year and quarter, ended June 30.
  
• Best Buy Vet To Head Polaroid
  
  By TWICE Staff, August 15, 2007
  Minneapolis — Former Best Buy merchandizing VP Michael London has been named CEO of Polaroid.
  
• Epson Boosts Speed of Entry-Level Inkjets
  
  By Greg Scoblete, August 15, 2007
  Long Beach, Calif. — Epson is shipping four new C-series inkjet printers and all-in-ones to dealers this month, offering quicker print speeds.
  
• InFocus Adds Mobile PJ
  
  By Greg Tarr, August 15, 2007
  Wilsonville, Ore. — InFocus unveiled a new “ultra-mobile” DLP video projector, called the Work Big IN12, that uses a compact optics system.
  
• Best Buy To Sell Liz Claiborne CE Accessories
  
  By Lisa Johnston, August 15, 2007
  New York — Liz Claiborne Accessories and Best Buy announced a new line of consumer electronic accessories will become available in October.
  
• Best Buy For Business Partners With Independent Solution Providers
  
  By Colleen Bohen, August 15, 2007
  Minneapolis — Best Buy’s Best Buy for Business division is finishing up a trial next week of a program that Chris Mauzy, director of business for Best Buy for Business, said is being designed to build a “collaborative selling environment” between Best Buy and local independent A/V and IT solution providers nationwide.
  
• Sharp Unveils Thin-Bezel Aquos TV Line
  
  By Greg Tarr, August 15, 2007
  New York — Sharp used a press event here Tuesday to take the wraps off its new entry 1080p LCD TV line, featuring slim-depth and -width bezels and a reduced footprint to fit into more cabinet spaces.
  
• Harvey, MyerEmco Merger Off
  
  By Alan Wolf, August 15, 2007
  Gaithersburg, Md. — The proposed acquisition of MyerEmco by Harvey Electronics has been scuttled.
  
• Sonos Adds Broadband Access To Sirius Internet Radio Service
  
  By Joseph Palenchar, August 15, 2007
  Santa Barbara, Calif. — Sonos added broadband access of the 80-channel Sirius Internet Radio service to its wireless multiroom audio system as part of an effort to drive more Internet-based music content to consumers without forcing them to boot up a PC.
  
• CE/Majap Retail Sales Up 2.8% In July
  
  By Alan Wolf, August 15, 2007
  Washington — July sales at the nation’s CE and majap specialty dealers rose 2.8 percent year-over-year to $9.3 billion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s latest monthly retail sales report.
  
• Nationwide's Show Registration Up 19%
  
  By Alan Wolf, August 14, 2007
  Updated! Las Vegas — Pre-show registration for the Nationwide Marketing Group’s summer PrimeTime! convention, to be held here Aug. 19-22 at the Venetian Hotel, is up 19 percent over last year’s confab and 42 percent over the 2005 event.
  
• Housing Woes Take Toll On Wal-Mart, Sears, Home Depot
  
  By Alan Wolf, August 14, 2007
  New York — Wal-Mart, Sears and The Home Depot reported disappointing results for their second fiscal quarters, citing the weak housing market and soft macroeconomic environment.
  
• XM, MySpace Launch Contest
  
  By Amy Gilroy, August 14, 2007
  Washington — XM Satellite Radio and MySpace today announced the launch of an online search contest for the “hottest unsigned hip-hop and R&B music artist.”
  
• LCD To Dominate TV Sales By 2011: InStat
  
  By Greg Tarr, August 14, 2007
  Scottsdale, Ariz. — LCD will represent almost 75 percent of the worldwide TV market by 2011, according to a market study released by In-Stat.
  
• NPD: Cellphones Up 14 percent
  
  By Amy Gilroy, August 14, 2007
  Port Washington, N.Y. — U.S. consumer cellphone sales reached $2.4 billion, up 14 percent over the same quarter last year, according to The NPD Group.
  
• JD Power: Satellite Radio Capability In 40 Percent Of Cars
  
  By Amy Gilroy, August 14, 2007
  Westlake Village, Calif. — Nearly 40 percent of consumers report having satellite radio capability in their cars, up from 26 percent last year, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
  
• Customers’ Satisfaction: Majaps Up, PCs Down
  
  By Doug Olenick, August 14, 2007
  Ann Arbor, Mich. — The major appliance industry scored a small increase in customer satisfaction this year, while computer industry fell by 2.6 percent, according to the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
  
• hhgregg’s Q1 Sales, Earnings Soar
  
  By Alan Wolf, August 14, 2007
  Indianapolis — Reduced expenses and strong same-store sales of higher margin products helped fuel strong earnings and revenue growth at hhgregg for its first fiscal quarter, ended June 30.
  
• CSAV To Exclusively Distribute CLO Systems Mounts
  
  By TWICE Staff, August 14, 2007
  Minneapolis — CSAV (Chief/Sanus Audio Visual) has agreed to be the exclusive U.S. and Canadian distributor of CLO Systems products. CLO Systems’ products include X-arm and T-arm motorized wall-mounts for residential and commercial applications.
  
• Nokia Recalls Cellphone Batteries
  
  By TWICE Staff, August 14, 2007
  Espoo, Finland — Nokia today issued a product advisory for the 46 million Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries manufactured by Matsushita Battery Industrial between December 2005 and November 2006.