Monday, December 11, 2006

Business Examples

2006 Digital Camera Sales to Rise 17%

For this article, it briefly discusses the expected growth of the digital camera business. Thety say that revenue will increase by 8% and sales of cameras will rise 17%. This article didn't really do much besides present data. It was more or less just a summary of expected market sales.

http://news.digitaltrends.com/article9728.html


Mid-season report: Stores ply shoppers with discounts.

For this article, a discussion of how many people go to the stores in search of the ultimate bargain are successful or come up empty. Several company heads and market anaylists provided information and quotes throughout the article. They said that flat screen plasmas, video game consoles, and digital cameras were in high demand.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/sns-ap-holiday-shopping,1,5865433.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

More Camera, More Style, Modest Price

This article, above all the rest, I found the most interesting. It discussed the best cameras that consumers can get for under $300. More than that, however, it broke down the differences between features and talked about the pros and cons about each camera. I thought that this was the most thorouh and interesting article to read. The lead was also humerous in that in made digital camera purchasing seem like a life-changing decision.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/technology/07pogue.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Black Friday Consumer Technology Sales Post Double Digit Increase But Growth Slows

In this article, I found the information that I was most seeking for my own article. It talked about how digital cameras scored a good portion of Black Friday Sales and that it increased over last year. This is information that I needed. As a whole, the article was very informative but wasn't very lively to read.

http://www.tekrati.com/research/News.asp?id=8217

Must-Have Holiday Gifts Not Easy to Find

This article, though not really focused too much on digital camerasa, mentioned briefly the difficulty of finding certain digital cameras, namely ones marketed to children this season. This bit of information gave me the tip that digital cameras are even being marketed to young ages now. The bulk of the article, however, focused more or less on other things like not being able to find Elmo dolls, etc.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-holiday-gifts-must-haves,1,2571263.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

I want to do my article on digital camera sales this year.

Final business article

A war is brewing. A war that has been in the making for over 20 years. It is a war of two Japanese super powers and both sides will stop at nothing to step on their opponents throat. But this is not a political war or a governmental dispute. This is the war between Sony and Nintendo.

On the third weekend in November, the Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii were launched. The release of these consoles mark each companies first foray into the world of next-generation entertainment.

The PS3, which launched in North America on Nov. 17, offers consumers high-definition graphics, blue-tooth connectivity, Wi-Fi, and other home theater options. Sony’s goal with the PS3 is to deliver the ultimate multimedia/home theater experience in one box.

However, even with the myriad of options the PS3 encompasses, many industry analysts frown upon Sony’s chances of winning the next-gen war. This negative outlook can be attributed to the $600 price tag that comes with the PS3. However, not everyone views the steep price tag as an area of concern.

“People that want a PS3 are going to buy a PS3” says an Oshkosh Game Crazy rep. Gamers just don’t care. It’s a technically, impressive machine that, to them, is worth the cash.”

Its competition, the Nintendo Wii, launched Nov 19. Nintendo’s focus for the Wii lies not within superior visuals and multi-functionality but with innovation and the ability to have a truly immersive gaming experience. Nintendo strives to revolutionize game play by creating a system and controller unlike anything the industry has seen before, and their doing it all for only $250.

The Wiimote is the controller to the Wii and acts as an extension of the player. By using sensors inside the Wiimote, players are able to simulate real-life motions. Players can aim the Wiimote like a gun, swing it like a baseball bat and hold it over their heads like an umbrella. The Wii console recognizes these motions and makes the characters perform the same motion as the player. With the Wiimote, the possibilities are endless.

Both the Wii and PS3 faced vast amounts of initial hype. Stores across the country started to allow pre-orders uncharacteristically early. Some stores even opened up pre-order options a year in advance.

Wisconsin stores were no different, as many game retailers sold out of preorders within minutes.
“We started dealing with pre-orders a month before each consoles release,” said a Wausau Gamestop rep. “There were people waiting in line just to pre-order them. They were literally gone within an hour.”

So with these two systems each offering their own respective strengths and at such high demand, who would come out on top this holiday season?

Before the launch Sony had promised consumers 400,000 units in North America and 100,000 units geared toward the Japanese market. The company had also made promises of having one million consoles worldwide by the end of the year.

After the smoke from launch weekend cleared, it appears that Sony has come up short. While both the Japanese and American launches saw the PS3 selling out within hours of it’s release,
Sony was not able to produce the units to fill out their projected figures.

In America, Sony sold 197,000 PS3’s. This is well short of their 400,000 unit goal. Even though Sony sold out of their console behemoth across the country, the launch can not be viewed as a success. Numerous manufacturing problems kept Sony from attaining their goal. And while Sony is standing behind its promise to ship one million consoles by the end of 2006, many analysts say that such a goal is highly unlikely.

PS3 shortages have affected stores in the Oshkosh area as well, leaving many gamers to go home empty handed.

“We initially had eight PS3’s and 18 Nintendo Wii’s” said a Fond du Lac Target sales rep. “ Since the launch, we had another shipment of 18 Wii’s but only four additional PS3’s”.

Daniel Van Rooy, an associate receiver at Sears in Oshkosh, shares similar concerns.

“We only received two Nintendo Wii’s and we never got any PS3’s,” Van Rooy said. “We were suppose to get a couple of PS3’s but when the truck came there was nothing there.”

All of these problems, coupled with the initial success of the Wii, finds Sony quickly falling behind in the next-gen race.

If the initial launch figures are any indication of the final result, then Nintendo has a lot to be excited about. The Wii sold 476,00 units in the United States alone and within the first eight days of its release, Nintendo reported sales figures of 600,000 units worldwide.

Another aspect that favors the Wii are its reviews. While critics are not saying overwhelmingly bad comments on the PS3, many are finding trouble trying to justify its steep price tag. The innovation, playability and price that the Wii console brings to the table is garnering rave reviews from critics around the globe.

While Nintendo seems to be the victor thus far in the console race, it is only the beginning. Console cycles typically reach a span of four-to-five years and most consoles do not peak until the third or fourth years. So while Sony currently may be down, they are far from out.

Despite the problems Sony has faced within the last month and the ever-increasing competition from the Wii and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, they have little reason to be scared. Sony has faced many of these problems before with the Playstation 2.That console is currently on top of the sales charts and has outsold all of the next-generation offerings that have made their debuts thus far. Not bad for a console that was released over five years ago.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Kelly's Draft

xxx

Rough Shopping Draft

It was 1 p.m. at the local Target retail store in Oshkosh. A steady flow of people walked in and out of the building. Lines are ten deep, and it hasn’t even hit the crazy part of the day. All signs that sales are up and local citizens are going about holiday shopping as usual.
Through all of the negatives that have been discussed about the U.S. economy recently, sales and shoppers attitudes haven’t been affected, for the most part. “I know the economy isn’t in the best of shape right now,” Samantha Podd, who traveled from over an hour away in Franklin, Wis., to shop in Oshkosh, said. “I haven’t been slowed down one bit. If anything I am spending more money this year than I have in the past.”
This year’s hot items are electronics. According to a recent report, retail technology sales have increased over 12 percent to more than $2 billion dollars compared to last year. Of the hottest items sold on Black Friday were flat panel television sets. LCD televisions showed almost 300 percent gross improvement from last year’s numbers on the craziest shopping day of the year.
Along with the increased sales of flat panel televisions, other electronics sales have increased as well. Digital cameras, gaming systems, cell phones and mp3 players have been among the top selling items this holiday season.
“iPods are really hot right now,” Ryan Sanders said. “It seems like we have been selling a lot more than we have in past years.”
The Staples store on South Koeller Avenue had an extraordinary day of sales on Black Friday. Last year Staples hauled in around $65,000 in revenue on Black Friday, and set their goal for $67,000 this year. By 2 p.m. their goal for sales had already been met.
“I went into work and I asked my boss if we were busy,” Staples sales associate Nathan Bartel said. “He said ‘yes’ and that we had already sold what we were aiming for and the rest of the money we brought in that day would be icing on the cake.” By the end of the day Staples had brought in over $77,000 in retail sales for the day, surpassing their goal by $10,000.
Although stores that deal largely with electronics are faring extremely well this holiday season some stores’ sales are down. The Polo Ralph Lauren Factory Store at Prime Outlets in Oshkosh that couldn’t surge past a crazy Black Friday with lots of traffic was one of those businesses.
“Our sales are down a little bit from last year,” Manager Melissa (she wouldn’t tell me her last name, what do I do?) said. “I think it is because of location in the mall and the lack of traffic we get as opposed to our lower sales being the economy’s fault.”
Some businesses sales are down from last year, but as a whole it seems sales are up around the Oshkosh area. With two weeks left until Christmas, this holiday season is shaping up to be a very good one for consumers and businesses alike.
As Podd said, “One thing is for sure, I am not going to change my spending habits this year. It is Christmas time and bring on the holiday cheer.”

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Business Article Examples

Marathon on the move to Lambeau Field area
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061206/GPG03/612060527/1247/GPGbusiness
This article had to due with the annual Cellcom Green Bay Marathon being moved from it's current location next to the KI Convention Center to the "stadium district" of Green Bay near Lambeau Field. The article talks about a scheduling conflict that led to the decision to move the marathon. More importantly though, the article goes into detail about the effect on businesses that the marathon has had ($1.2 million) on local economy, the consequences of moving the event, and how the move to the Lambeau Field area will help market the run more. Finally, the article also mentions the other events going on around the city that weekend (dart tournament, etc.) that will also help fuel hotels, restaraunts, and other businesses.

Oshkosh Truck base to remain in Oshkosh
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061206/GPG03/612060538/1247/GPGbusiness
This article explained how the Oshkosh Truck Corp. is deciding to keep it's offices based in Oshkosh for the time being. After many aquiring many other large and small businesses, Oshkosh Truck has grown a lot over the past decades and is starting to feel its office space is too confining. They have been looking at places in Neenah to relocate to gain greater space. Oshkosh is trying to keep the trucking company based here because of the jobs it creates.

MySpace acts to boot entries by convicted sex offenders
http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-bz.myspace06dec06,0,2176586.story?coll=bal-business-headlines
This article talks about how MySpace is now launching a database in thirty days that will help comb its sites for convicted sex offenders. This is being implemented in response to criticism and recent fears about sex predators on the website. MySpace is teaming up with the Sentinel Tech Holding Corp. to undertake this operation.

Taco Bell Removes Green Onions
http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap_business11dec06,1,283250.story?coll=la-wires-business&ctrack=1&cset=true
In this article, it explained that Taco Bell is currently removing all green onions from their stores for the time being. This is in response to the chain being linked to E. Coli cases in three states. As a precation, they are eliminating the onions from their menu in order to find out if, like spinach earlier this year, the vegetable is to blame. The article also talks about the various Taco Bells that have shut down completely for a few days because of the scare, and also gave a few quotes from consumers about the impact of this decision (one mother told her son not to eat there for awhile.)

Yahoo, Aiming for Agility, Shuffles Executives
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/06/technology/06yahoo.html?ref=business
This article talked about how Yahoo was trying to reinvent itself from within because of growing criticism that it had become "too bureaucratic to compete effectively against nimbler rivals." In summary, by March of next year, their management and operating unit setup will have fully transformed from its current state into three different branches. One aspect will deal with its audience, one with advertisers, and one with technology. This is being done in an effort to regain some of the lost revenue that MySpace and other websites are taking away. Two new chairmen are being put in place to try to close the gap, citing that Yahoo has lost touch with some of the internet world because of its reliance on its earlier success.

For my business article, I would like to focus on #1. I wil talk about Christmas shopping in the Oshkosh area.


Monday, December 04, 2006

Russ' business examples

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/Community/story.cfm?storyID=28801

This article focuses on one shopping mall. It interviews the shoppers and goes in depth about their shopping strategies and thoughts about Black Friday. I like the quote from the Hickory Farm kiosk worker because it shows the amount of money Black Friday brings to businesses. I think interviewing workers at GameStop was a good idea because videogames will once again be the big gift for the holidays.

http://www.sheboygan-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006612040570

I like how this article focuses on the kiosks found within the mall. I think people overlook kiosks. The reporter talked to owners of two kiosks and one shopper. I thought the article was rather informative and covered a unique topic.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/4378912.html

This story addresses "Cyber Monday." I have heard of this term before, but I learned that it is actually not real and was used to build hype. I think the best part of the article is, "Financial analyst Deloitte & Touche says that more people did Internet shopping on the recent Black Friday than on Cyber Monday. Furthermore, only one in four of the Cyber Monday customers did their buying from work. The vast majority shopped from home."

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlebusiness.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-12-05T091629Z_01_L04377757_RTRUKOC_0_UK-BRITAIN-SALES-BRC.xml

This article is about the decrease in sales for winter wear. It is a topic I never really thought about, but the warm weather would affect sales of clothes as Christmas gifts. I think this is informative, but I would like quotes from customers and shopkeepers. The average person might think sales would be about the same with people buying for the upcoming cold weather. In addition, people might not need warmer clothes if they are lazy and stay indoors.

http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061125/APC0101/611250464/1979

This article is about "Black Friday." However, the focus is on our area. The article interviews analysts and shoppers. I thought the most informative part was that Black Friday is not the biggest shopping day of the year, but a day when the most people pass through stores and see the new items.

Business Articles

x

business links

1) The first article I read was an article on how shoppers are more bargain-driven than ever. The article , which was on CNN. com used polls and statistics from America's Research Group (ARG) to show interesting data. The statistics show that a third of American shoppers polled are waiting until the day before christmas to do their shopping. One other statistic that they concentrate on is that a large majority of shoppers are waiting until discounts become as large as fifty percent to purchase some of thier items.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/04/news/economy/holiday_sales/index.htm?postversion=2006120412

2) The second article I read is on Playstation 3's being stolen in Japan. The 180 consoles, which wer a part of a 1,560 shipment were stolen on Friday Dec. 5. The consoles which were stored at Meitetsu Golden Aircargo appearently just "dissapeared" when a employess went to check on them and found that they were missing. There was $82,500 worth of PS3's stolen from the aircargo storage area.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162774.html?tag=latestnews;title;2

3) The third article I read was about the about the console release of the Nintendo Wii in Japan. the console sold 372,00 units in just two days which was just short of Nintendo's projected 400,00 unit goal. While both the playstation 3 and the Wii sold out in Japan the Playstation 3 topped out at 80,000 units.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162702.html?tag=latestnews;title;4


4) This next article I looked at was an article pertaining to the concerns of Nintendo outdoing itself. There was fear of the amazing Wii sales overshadowing the Nintendo DS which is its handheld giant. However the president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, is not worried and the sales predictions for 2007 remian strong. In total,Nintendo expects their two consoles to earn them over 1 billion in 2007.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162728.html

5) The last article I read was on sony's new technology; the blu-ray player. It was an article about how the high-defintion dvd player is at war with another format of hd-dvd and it doesn't look good for sony. The model sony is realeasing is priced at around 500 dollars more than other hd-dvd players and does not provide much over thier competition.

http://blogs.business2.com/utilitybelt/2006/12/sonys_1000_blur.html

5 Business Stories

1. http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061122/OSH06/611220386/1190/OSHopinion

The author challenges Oshkosh citizens to keep their spending in the city of Oshkosh for the holiday season. He/she explains why companies ask for your zip code when you buy things. It is to gague whether or not money is flowing in from a different city, so that the company can decide if they should build a store in a certain place. If we dont travel to other cities to buy from Best Buy or other stores like that, they may be more inclined to set up a store in the Oshkosh area (I thought the opposite, I thought if we bought more from a store, then they would want to move up here to make it more accesible to us).

2. http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061122/OSH06/611220386/1190/OSHopinion

the story is about the San Antonio area post-Thanksgiving Day sales. The story goes very little into the money, but reflects how satisfied the customers are at the stores they visited. The people rave about the amazing deals they got and how happy they were that they showed up early to the stores. It also paints a picture of the chaos that comes with the sales on Black Friday at the retail stores. the writer got a lot of good information and a lot of good quotes on the story.

3. http://www.thenorthwestern.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061125/OSH03/611250353/1128/OSHnews

This is a similar story to the San Antonio one. The only major difference is this story is about local Oshkosh businessess on Black Friday. I think it was creative for the writer to have the lead being a man is hunting, but not for an animal. It was unique, but still a little cheesy and left a bad taste in my mouth. But,hey, he tried. It gave a local look at the line of 150 people outside of target before it opened at 6 am and other stories showing the shoppers' devotion to getting a good deal. One line that sticks out for me is a quote from a guy who said the crowds are getting meaner, not larger. That was agood quote to put it, I think it added a good dimension to the story, and got me to forget about the whole hunting lead.

4. http://www.postcrescent.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061125/APC0101/611250464/1979

This story is about how Appleton business owners are pleased with the turnout on Black Friday. The writer adds an interesting element which I have never heard before. Black friday isnt the biggest day of the year in terms of sales, it is only in traffic. The biggest day of the year in sales for retailers is the Saturday before Christmas. Black Friday is such a big deal for the businessess, however, because they get a chance to showcase some of their new products that people will be shopping for throughout the year. The second part of the story is just the run-of-the-mill how crazy it is shopping on Black Friday.

5. http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20061204005434&newsLang=en

this article goes over how electronics are the hot thing to get this holiday season. electronic sales are up over 11 percent from last year. This story doesnt really have a human side, just reports on what items were hot and what sold how much. LCD tvs and plasma TVs were the hot item of the year. They produced the best sales of any other electronic, as a whole.

I am doing a story on local retail sales, possibly comparing a larger company like a place in the outlet mall compared to a ma and pop store. Either that or I will focus on Oshkosh retail sales as a whole.