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Industry News

Taking a Profitable Seat: Selling AV Furniture

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Taking a Profitable Seat: Selling AV Furniture

It’s always amazed us how many integrators overlook the simplest of profit-makers…the seats, supports, stands, tables, trolleys and other “furniture” that is designed to complement pro AV/IT technology.

One of the company’s setting an example in the field is Modul IT, a young European company with a growing business. We recently interviewed Haim Elallouf, Sales Director, to talk about Cordica Limited, the challenges, and how furniture might be the missing link in the product chain of many integrators.

Please tell us about Modul IT? How did it start?

We were already in the business of professional AV for more than 15 years, experiencing a lot of excitement, opportunities and success. This drove us to expend our activities to new markets and more opportunities. About two years ago, we decided to establish Modul IT as our professional AV furniture activity in Europe.

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Ford Europe Shows off 3D Cave

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Ford Europe Shows off 3D Cave

Rather than building expensive prototypes of new cars, Ford uses a 3-D CAVE for exploring the possible details of new car.

“We can now conjure up a car in the digital world, and then actually get in and experience it,” says Michael Wolf, virtual reality supervisor, Ford Europe.

Engineers using the 3-D CAVE in Cologne sit in a virtual car interior as vehicle 3-D simulations project onto the ceiling and three surrounding walls. Wearing special polarising glasses and monitored by a motion-detecting infra-red system, the engineers can interact with the virtual vehicle.

The CAVE uses an animated external environment with pedestrians and cyclists to help engineers assess visibility of the outside world from inside the car. It also enables engineers to access and compare at the push of a button multiple designs – including vehicle interiors produced by other manufacturers. Ford’s CAVE in Cologne is supported by an identical set-up in Dearborn, U.S., and further single-wall facilities make it much easier to move prototypes around the world. Read more...

Trendforce: DRAM Prices Rebound in Q1 2013

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Trendforce: DRAM Prices Rebound in Q1 2013

According to TrendForce's DRAMeXchange Q1 2013 sees a rebound in commodity DRAM prices-- mainstream DDR3 4GB module contract prices grow by 36.2% Q-o-Q (from $17.25 on Q4 2012 to $23.50), a rare occurrence in a traditionally weak 1st quarter.

The analyst expects growing DRAM prices will support revenue growth until at least until Q2 2013.


When it comes to vendors, Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix control 64.3% of the market, a -3% drop from Q4 2012. Samsung fails to benefit from the price rebound, with DRAM revenues dropping by -10% Q-o-Q due to commodity DRAM production reduced to less than 20% of total supply. However, thanks mobile DRAM output exceeding 40% (mobile DRAM remains the most profitable of memory products) Samsung still sees strong Q1 2013 margins despite revenue reductions.

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Gartner: Worst W. European PC Decline Yet

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Gartner: Worst W. European PC Decline Yet

Gartner reports Q1 2013 W. European PC shipment decline for the 11th consecutive time with a -20.5% Y-o-Y drop on shipments reaching 12.3 million units-- the worst decline since Gartner started tracking shipments in the region.

"Wide availability of Windows 8-based PCs could not boost consumer PC purchases during the quarter," Gartner says. "Although the new Metro-style UI suits new form factors, users wonder about its suitability for traditional PCs."


All PC segments show declines. Mobile PC shipments fall by -24.6% Y-o-Y, while desktops drop by -13.8%. Shipments to the professional segment decline by -17.2%, and the consumer segment is hit even worse by -23.7%.

Both HP and Acer record declines of over -30%, even if HP remains the W. European market leader (with 19.7% market share) despite consumer notebook volumes dropping by half. On the other hand Acer slips to 3rd place in the vendor rankings, with shipments dropping by -36.8% Y-o-Y.

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Flat European Revenues for Ingram Micro

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Flat European Revenues for Ingram Micro

European Ingram Micro revenues remain flat Y-o-Y during Q1 2013 as the distributor sees higher global sales worth $10.26 billion and lower operating income reaching $90.8 million.

GAAP net income for the quarter is $49.8m, down from $90m for Q1 2012. However Q1 2012 did see a net discreet tax benefit worth $28.5m and favourable HDD pricing.

Gross WW profit totals $585.3m, up from $467.6m for Q1 2012..

"In addition to shifting market dynamics, we also saw increased competitive pricing this quarter due to the sluggish economic environment in Europe," CEO Bill Humes says. "However, even though we expect some relief in the mid-term, we recognized many quarters ago that strategically we needed to develop and grow markets where inherently better margins are available.... we have made, and continue to make, investments in several of these areas, which, while they impact our near-term expense levels, are consistent with our strategy to increase the ratio of our higher margin, and better returns businesses."

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