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Industry participants paint a bright future for home theater and its growing consumer constituency We consider home theater a room-by-room proposition. Packaged deales have always outsold individual items. Consumer demand [...]

Office superstores continue to successfully sell personal computer accessories and supplies at average profit margins of 45%. An Electronic Industries Assn/Consumer Electronics Group survey revealed that total factory sales of all electronics accessories totaled $894 million in 1992, up $51 million from 1991. Most home office stores are carrying more SKUs in 1992, including Staples Inc, which carries more than 250 SKUs., Personal computer supplies and accessories continue to evolve as a category, sold separately or in conjunction with computer hardware, in mass merchants, superstores and other retail venues. Office superstores are [...]

A war is raging among personal computer suppliers. In recent months, Compaq and Dell have slashed prices on existing machines and introduced new low-priced systems, while IBM and Apple have [...]

Retailers of direct satellite TV (DSS) are optimistic about its future, and are preparing for the next step in marketing the product to a new level of consumers. Sales of DSS in 1994-1995 have been good, and very profitable given the high prices of such systems, but retailers acknowledge that the price will have to drop in order to attract a new wave of less-affluent consumers. They contend that DSS is considered a separate category now, and recent financing offers have helped pick up sales of the product in time for the holiday season., New York--Digital satellite TV is one of the hottest businesses this season and retailers expect it to stay that way. Beyond this year, however, the future gets a little unclear: [...]

Primestar small-dish-based satellite television service will be offered at RadioShack stores as part of a test of the service. The firm's main competitor is RCA Digital Satellite System. Primestar offers its customers 90 channels of programming with a lifetime warranty program. Retail clerks explain the service and signs customers up at $30 to $40 per month, which results in per customer commissions for the Radioshack., Fort Worth, Texas - the satellite TV competition continues to heat up. Beginning this week, customers can order Primestar's small dish-based satellite TV service through more than 200 selected RadioShack [...]

Retailers are divided about the impact of an increasing number of small-dish Direct Broadcast Satellite television products coming to market. A number of DSS platforms will be introduced by 1996 including systems from Thomson, Uniden and Toshiba. One industry source observed that product differentiation will be required to support many DSS systems on the retail level. An electronics retailer noted that the quality of programming will ultimately decide the success of DSS consumer sales., With at least five suppliers of Thomson's Digital Satellite System plus a pair of competing Direct Broadcast Satellite platforms all expected to be operating next year, the issue may well [...]

Home theater warranties offer new revenue opportunities for retailers and warranty administrators, as the home theater market grows. In addition, consumers receive the protection they need with such systems. Retailers aim to sell higher priced systems that have better profit margins, but technology and finance concerns often stand in the way of a sale. Third-party help ease part of the problem and warranty providers often offer technical support., As home theater becomes more popular, it gives retailers a much-needed margin boost and gives customers a packaged solution to their individual needs. And home theater gives third-party warranty administrators [...]

ST. PAUL, Minn. - USSB, one of two Digital Satellite System broadcasters, this week kicks off a $30 million fall marketing campaign in support of DSS - effectively doubling last [...]

Thomson Consumer Electronics is using several promotional approaches to boost sales of its RCA Digital Satellite System (DSS). The various promotions include a sweepstakes program, a bonus mail-in rebate program, and a no payment-no interest plan. Thomson is confident its promotional campaign will help to keep it ahead of its competitors. Retailers are enthusiastic over sales prospects for DSS based on the promotional incentives., INDIANAPOLIS--Thomson Consumer Electronics is following up its 'Small Dish, Big Wish' RCA Digital Satellite System sweepstakes with a series of consumer incentive programs that includes a no payment-no interest program [...]

Hitachi Home Electronics (America) is radically revising its marketing approach for its 1995-96 line of video products. A key step in the this process involved the merger of Hitachi Sales Corp with Hitachi Ltd., which has helped to streamline operations and thereby enhance communications. The company is introducing several new products loaded with innovative features. Several of these products and their features are described., NEW YORK--Hitachi Home Electronics (America) has decided that outstanding quality and lots of built-in features are not enough. So when the company revved up its 1995-'96 video product line to [...]

Consumers think they know what home theater involves, but many settle for a system that does not meet industry definitions. The Electronic Industries Assn defines home theater as a system with a large TV, surround sound hi-fi, VCR, laser disc player and at least four speakers. However, less expensive systems can provide a home theater experience. Audio is an important component, and impressive retail setups can help educate consumers., Many consumers are still hazy about home theater, even though most say they want it. Meanwhile, manufacturers and retailers alike are trying to come to grips with how to best [...]

WAYNE, N.J.--Toshiba American Consumer Products will offer two free laserdiscs with each home theater-oriented widescreen television set sold beginning this month. The company's first 16x9 rear-projection system, the 56-inch TheaterWide [...]

RCA Corp and LADD Furniture Inc have formed a joint venture to market home theater systems. Owners of the combined systems will have a single warranty and 14-day delivery on the cabinetry. The systems will retail beginning at $395 for a Fournier cabinet and $1,295 for a complete RCA 400 Series system. The market for home theater systems has provided a substantial boost for the furniture industry, NEW YORK--In a multimillion dollar joint venture, RCA and LADD Furniture hope to bring a big hit to the home theater business. Born of discussions between the two companies that [...]

EDISON, NJ. - Tops Appliance City will begin carrying the DISH Network satellite service from EchoStar Communications Corp. The move takes the programmer beyond satellite dealers to consumer electronics retailers. [...]

Toshiba Corp. held a publicity event in New York, NY, to introduce its new digital video disk technology which will be available by the end of 1996. Digital video is being touted as the next wave in consumer home entertainment, and is being supported by the motion picture industry, which will make the movies being digitized for the new technology. The early assessment on pricing the digital disk players is that $500 is the goal of the manufacturers, but that might not be possible at first., NEW YORK--Toshiba fired up its digital video disc publicity machine at a press event here last week, showing off DVD images in both standard and wide-screen video formats and contending [...]

FORT WORTH, Texas--With the newest Incredible Universe units opening last month in Salt Lake City and outside Washington, D.C., parent Tandy Corp. is looking forward to the new products that [...]

WHEATRIDGE, Colo. - Nineteen stores in the Ultimate Electronics chain, headquartered here, at least tripled their average Digital Satellite System unit sales on month-to-month basis during a DSS sales incentive [...]

NEW YORK--Radio Shack came to town last week loaded for bear. This once self-professed 'sleeping giant' division of Fort Worth, Texas-based Tandy Corp. has been busy re-inventing itself under president [...]

Toshiba is entering the Digital Satellite System (DSS) market, but will continue to support C-band. The company feels that there is a viable market for both satellite formats now that big-screen televisions have become more affordable. Toshiba hopes to have DSS equipment ready for sale by mid-1996, and feels that brand recognition will help it compete against RCA and Sony., BUFFALO GROVE, Ill.--As the newly named director of sales and marketing for the Toshiba America video communications group, Joseph Znidarsic has his hands full these days. He not only is [...]

LAS VEGAS--Amid a series of new high-tech products at Winter CES that included a 20-inch multimedia TV/monitor, a 61-inch projection system and a digital TV chassis, Toshiba America Consumer Products [...]

Noel Lee, president and founder of Monster Cable Products Inc, sponsored a training program to teach consumer electronics dealers how to increase their sales. Lee's M4 Dealer Success Program trains salespersons to offer a cable connection with every sale. Lee also plans to teach dealers how to hook up all the components in a home theater setting. Monster Cable also markets the Do-It-Yourself Home Theatre Speaker Cable Kit complete with cables in convenient lengths., NEW YORK - Displaying accessories may be fairly simple, but presenting them in an effective manner can be a lot more complicated. That's the word from Noel Lee, president and [...]

NEW YORK--Phil Tudanger believes he knows how to effectively combat the recession. As marketing director for J&R Music World, Manhattan's largest single-location consumer electronics/home office outlet, Tudanger is busy dreaming [...]