EXTERNAL EFFECT
Product Freeze, Gas Squeeze and More Ready for Summer? Be ready for higher gas prices and continued economic woes to challenge your high. On the other hand, tablets and other new tech will challenge your skills.
CRUDE REALITY
What’s Going On: As of this editorial deadline, gas prices have risen 14 straight days in California. Dropping crude oil prices may not necessarily predict lower gas prices as Middle East turmoil keeps supply and demand uncertain. How It Could Affect You: As the summer comes, many drivers may be looking toward newer, fuel-efficient vehicles, which could be a boon to those savvy retailers that market properly. Don’t forget that as gas prices increase, so do motorcycle sales, and while those customers don’t listen to music the same way, they still have mobile electronics needs.
TSUNAMI AND ELECTRONICS
What’s Going On: While this story had tragic beginnings, its impact will be felt for some time. The destruction of component factories may create a shortage, and therefore put a premium on parts used in several categories of electronic products. How It Could Affect You: The situation with several mobile electronics products, especially head units, could become grim as companies go through their ‘in the pipe” inventory, and have to ration what’s left to cover larger customers. The time to buy back stock in head units or to make a plan to sell without them is now.
THE STERN AFFECT
What’s Going On: SiriusXM personality Howard Stern recently sued his employer to get stock awards he felt were owed him based on subscriber milestones. Marry this event with the popularity of free, Internet-based radio, and we see that real value of SiriusXM is its exclusive radio personalities ... and not its music. This is just one example of the power of the company’s talk show elite. How It Could Affect You: While we aren’t looking at the demise of satellite radio, we could be seeing a shift toward promoting its real content. We could see music taking a back seat in ads as well.
IN YOUR HANDS
What’s Going On: Everyone is trying to play the game that Apple started, and no one seems to have a real plan. A couple years ago people scoffed at the need or even desire for a tablet product, but now every major player, including RIM, has introduced one. How It Could Affect You: RIM’s offering joins an increasingly crowded group, including the Xoom and at least two models from Viewsonic. As customers get used to and start to embrace larger screens and easier touch function- ality, we could see a change in our equipment to match the tablet’s consumer experience.
64 Mobile Electronics April | May 2011
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