Tag: INDUSTRY

The Internet, never one to hold back from kicking someone while they're down, has eclipsed magazines when it comes to ad spending. Companies in 2009 set aside more of their marketing budget for Web-based advertisements than they did for those in the glossy tomes on magazine racks. According to ZenithOptimedia, magazine ad sales took a nose dive from $23.7 billion in 2008 to $19.5 billion in ...

Quantifying the effect that online piracy has on businesses and copyright holders has always been an inexact science. For years, suspicion has been brewing over the accuracy of estimated losses claimed by software companies, the MPAA and even governmental agencies. Yesterday, though, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finally admitted to the scientific shortcomings of many common ...

The CD market has been dying a slow, inglorious death for more than a decade now, since consumers having long ago shifted to the quicker, easier digital download format. According to a new study, though, it's not just CD sales that are suffering, but the music industry as a whole -- including those vaunted download sales. A report from market research firm NPD shows that between 2007 and 2009, ...

Whether you overindulge in it or find it morally repulsive, the pornography industry and technology have a very, well, intimate relationship. When the world was deciding between VHS and Betamax, the adult industry chose VHS, and everyone listened. Hopefully, this trend doesn't cross over into content, because, as the New York Times reports, the Web is destroying the creativity behind pornography. ...

If you thought the death of Circuit City would lead to even higher prices at Best Buy, you're obviously not considering the Bentonville powerhouse in your calculations. Since the downfall of one of America's most well-known electronics retailers, Best Buy has now refocused on rivaling Wal-Mart, who has done quite a lot over the past year or so to become a serious venue for buying new HDTVs. ...

We've listened to Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings talk business about his company, but how's about a little background? After announcing a momentous Q4 while practically every other outfit on the planet hung their head in shame, the understandably elated exec sat down with Fortune to explain how Netflix came to be. As the story goes, Reed lamented the $40 fee he was nailed with upon ...

Laptops have officially overtaken traditional desktop PCs, according to a Reuters report. In the all-important week before Christmas, laptops dominated online retail giant Amazon.com's list of the 10 highest selling computers and hardware components, while nary a desktop appeared on the list. Noting advances in laptop technology and consumer demand for portability, commentators find that ...

Go ahead, pick your jaw up off of the floor. We'll wait. On the real, you can't possibly be surprised to hear that high-def makes sports entirely more palatable, and a recent Nielsen study on the matter has found that HD broadcasting of sporting events has increased ratings on those very events by quite a margin. The numbers show that at least 22-percent of US households receive HDTV programming ...

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Circuit_City_files_bankrupcy'; Even after shutting down 155 retail stores and announcing plans to cut around 17-percent of its 43,000 employees, Circuit City couldn't avoid the dreaded bankruptcy court. Today, the Virginia-based company (along with 17 affiliates) petitioned for Chapter 11 protection in Richmond as it attempts to survive under the ...

The times, they are a-changin'. Back in February, we found that LCD TV shipments had surpassed CRTs for the first time in history. Now, an iSuppli report on HDTV growth has shown that HDTVs overtook standard-definition televisions "as the leading TV shipped globally" in 2008. Sure, the current economic environment may put a damper on HDTV sales for the moment, but the previously mentioned ...

Even we would agree that digital downloads aren't apt to siphon away a significant amount of physical media market share in the immediate future, but a recent survey conducted by CinemaNow (read: your skeptic hat should now be firmly in place) suggests that the vast majority of Americans feel otherwise. As a matter of fact, 87% of those surveyed agreed that "renting DVDs at the video store or ...

Universal Music Group has pulled out of iTunes. That's according to The New York Times, which, citing anonymous sources close to the negotiations, is reporting that the world's biggest music company has opted not to renew its contract with Apple to carry its artists on iTunes -- artists that include U2, Akon and Amy Winehouse. The move by Universal is an attempt to coax Apple chief Steve Jobs ...

Saying that Google is the world's most popular search engine is a statement that maybe only a time-traveler from 1994 would argue with. Saying it's the world's most popular brand, well, that's something altogether different. But, according to market research company Millward Brown and its BrandZ database of "brand equity," Google indeed owns the top slot as the most valuable brand in the world. ...