Tag: inventory

  • Can Rising HDTV Prices Be Sustained?












    After a period of steadily dropping HDTV prices the cost of sets to consumers appears to be climbing again.

    The average selling price for HDTVs in the US jumped by more than 10 per cent in February, according to data from the Retrevo CE Index.

    TV prices started a downward shift around May last year, ultimately dropping approximately 35 per cent in January 2009.

    Vipin Jain, CEO of Retrevo, said the price cuts had come as the economy and consumer spending weakened.

    He said this prompted manufacturers and retailers to offer steep discounts during the holidays and leading up to the Super Bowl – two important seasons for HDTV sales.

    "This meant great deals for consumers, but hurt the bottom lines of TV makers," he said.

    "The bankruptcy and liquidation of Circuit City may have also played a factor in keeping prices down.

    "Now that deep discounts from the all-important holiday and Super Bowl seasons are over, excess inventory is clearing out of the channel and merchants are returning to running their business at more sustainable price levels."

    Jain questioned whether the upward price trend was sustainable but said deals were still to be had.



  • Inventory Problems Cloud Storm's Launch


    Whether the long, cold waits – and, for many, ultimately empty-handed departures – were down to a security issue or general inventory problems is still not clear.

    What’s certain is that the Blackberry Storm’s US launch didn’t go as either exclusive operator Verizon or maker Research In Motion would have wished.

    Lines of people formed outside Verizon Wireless stores on Friday to buy the Storm, the first touch-screen phone from RIM that aims to compete with Apple’s iPhone.

    Today, Verizon has placed a notice on its online ordering page stating that: "Due to limited availability of the BlackBerry Storm 9530 smartphone, orders will ship by 12/15".

    While Verizon has declined to give specifics on inventory levels, the shipping delays are being attributed in some quarters to a last-minute security glitch.

    The Storm was to have launched with OS version 4.7.0.82, but because of the security issue every handset had to be downgraded to .65.

    This time-consuming task is the most likely reason why so many fewer handsets arrived in-store and online for release.

    Just to make matters worse, some of those who did manage to buy a Storm were met with activation issues as Verizon’s servers seemingly met the same fate as AT&T’s and Apple’s on iPhone 3G launch day.