RadioShack board authorized expansion of stock repurchase plan to 25 million shares from 15 million. Under original 10- million-share authorization, company bought back 7.8 million shares through end of Nov.
Threat of legal action by Sony caused European vendors of PlayStation 2 (PS2) modification chips to remove items from sale. First 2 vendors jumping ship are in U.K., but more are likely to abandon “mod” market. “SCEE is currently actively pursuing prosecutions against various mod-chip distributors… across Europe,” said David Reese, senior vp of Sony Consumer Entertainment Europe (SCEE).
LodgeNet Entertainment increased its guidance for 4th quarter and year. Sioux Falls, S.D., provider of Nintendo videogames and other interactive services to lodging industry said Thurs. it expected to report $51-$53 million revenue and $16.5-$17.5 million earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for 4th quarter. Company previously had projected $47-$50 million revenue and $14-$16 million EBITDA. For year, LodgeNet said it expected to report $215-$217 million revenue and $73.5-$74.5 million EBITDA. It previously had projected to report $211-$214 million revenue and $71-$73 million EBITDA. CEO Scott Petersen said: “We are pleased with the positive trends we are seeing in our financial results. Our room base has seen a greater-than-expected rebound from September lows, driven primarily by the diversity of our customer base, strong Hollywood product and a continuing focus on controlling operating expenses. Our growth drivers remain intact and we are well positioned to continue to execute on our business model in the current environment.”
Good Guys Thurs. unveiled redesigned Beverly store in L.A. that it said would be prototype for future store remodels. Exec. Vp Cathy Stauffer said redesigned store was “dramatic departure” from traditional merchandising of consumer electronics.
Although NPD told us last week it would be releasing sales results for GameCube and Xbox launches during systems’ first 2 weeks on sale in N. America (CED Dec 6 p2), those numbers still weren’t available at our Thurs. deadline. NPD spokeswoman had told us report would be coming out in middle of this week comparing GameCube’s performance with Xbox’s.
Kimball International, blaming lower sales on slowing U.S. economy, said 2nd fiscal quarter profit would decline to 12-16? from 32? year ago. Restructuring costs incurred during quarter ending Dec. 31 are expected to reduce earnings by 1?. While sales in electronic contract assemblies increased on strength of acquisition, revenue for furniture and cabinets declined. Kimball supplies TV cabinets, many of them produced at Juarez, Mexico, plant it acquired from Zenith several years ago. Kimball is expected to report 2nd quarter earnings Jan. 17.
Fledgling organic light-emitting diode (OLED) industry will face supply constraints for 4-5 years as companies bring factories on line, industry sources said at Stanford Resources conference in Monterey Wed. Lack of volume production capabilities will force OLED companies to focus development effort on low-volume, high-value products including handheld PCs and cellular phones, and larger 10-13” OLEDs for PC monitors aren’t likely to be available for at least 3 years, DuPont Displays CEO Chester Pribonic said.
Following release of game on PS2, Electronic Arts (EA) and MGM Interactive will bring James Bond 007 in… Agent Under Fire to GameCube and Xbox in N. America in spring.
Infogrames said PS2 version of game TransWorld Surf would ship in spring 2002 under resurrected Atari brand. Game maker said that until now title had been available only for Xbox.
Technology that protects copyright of digital material still has many hurdles to jump before becoming common in marketplace, digital rights management experts told Streaming Media conference in N.Y.C. this week. One major obstacle is psychology of Internet users accustomed to free online content, they said. “They think when they pay their monthly ISP bill, they get everything for free,” said Jeff Albertson of RealNetworks, typifying opinions of other conference speakers.