City of Industry, Calif.
– Newegg.com, the largest CE- and IT-specialty e-tailer, has extended its
direct-order relationship with Sony to all categories of consumer electronics,
including home and car A/V, digital imaging, mobile communications and gaming,
effective Oct. 1.
Newegg has long
been authorized to carry Sony’s Vaio PC line, and expanded the partnership
following a year-long courtship, explained Michael Amkreutz, the e-tailer’s
product management VP.
Initial shipments
began in September and Newegg expects to have its full Sony assortment in place
by year’s end, where it will be presented in a dedicated brand store featuring
such new site features as streaming video and 360-degree high-definition
photography.
News of the Sony
partnership follows Newegg’s filing on Monday of a proposed $175 million
initial public stock offering.
According to the
Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company will use the proceeds to
expand in China,
fund other capital expenditures and pay down $8.6 million of debt.
Newegg said it has
been profitable since its launch in 1991, and earned $29 million last year on
net sales of $2.1 billion. Net sales for the first half of 2009 were up 7.4
percent to $1.1 billion, and earnings rose 21 percent to nearly $16 million,
according to a preliminary prospectus.
The company began
as a low-cost retailer of computers, components and peripherals and more
recently expanded into consumer electronics and small kitchen appliances.
