The CEA is predicting slow growth in 2004, with projected total revenue at $97.3 billion, a 3% rise over the $95 billion expected for fiscal 2003. The industry has seen back-to-back years of incremental growth. For 2002, the CEA reported total sales of $93.9 billion. Results for 2003 should come in just over 1% above that mark, and significantly under the $98 billion predicted by the Arlington, VA–…
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Manufacturers and retailers don't expect an upswing in electronics sales next year. That's the consensus of members polled by the Consumer Electronics Association, published in mid-October.
It is with regret that we announce to Stereophile's readers the closing of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, on November 19, 1999. Known to audiophiles since its inception in 1977, the company provided serious listeners with hundreds of remastered LPs, cassettes, and CDs.
Audiophile companies often live a precarious existence, and, with the demise of a key distributor, MoFi was dealt a fatal blow. A press release from the company says that in "September of 1999, the closure of M.S. Distributing's music division resulted in a substantial percentage of uncollectible receivables for MFSL, plus the…
Both Sonic Frontiers Inc. and The Lenbrook Group of Ontario, Canada stated June 5th that they will not be proceeding with a deal announced earlier.
According to Sonic Frontiers' Chis Johnson, "We mutually agreed that it would be in the best interest of both parties not to complete the transaction. Everyone came to realize the deal would not make a perfect fit."
In a statement, Sonic Frontiers said: "Notwithstanding this event, Sonic Frontiers remains focused upon allying itself with a strategic partner, and remains committed to its product and marketing strategies. Sonic Frontiers'…
Whether listeners like it or not, record labels, including major players like BMG and Arista Records, are now making moves to rein in how their CDs are played and used. Unfettered CDs have been on the shelves for almost two decades, and some industry observers note that changing how they work at this late stage could be a recipe for trouble with consumers.
Recognizing that the flash point for much of this trouble will be at the record counter—imagine the scenario when angry customers bring back new discs that won't rip to their iPods—the National Association of Record Merchandisers (NARM)…
First, a prediction: some day we'll buy the nearly complete music library and the player will be free. Imagine getting a player pre-loaded with most songs in your favorite genre already installed, with room left over to add more and a subscription service for instant updates. Imagine even being able to buy the high-resolution library.
But for the next couple of years, the majority of consumers, and even audiophiles who rip their music at he-man lossless bit-rates, will find that as the storage capacity on a music player increases, the problem will be finding enough free time to fill it up.…
From the October issue, John Atkinson gets acquainted with the Morel Octwin 5.2M loudspeaker, noting, "Once you become accustomed to its admittedly weird looks, it is actually visually appealing and has a small footprint in the listening room." But there's something about the Morel's sound that causes JA to raise an eyebrow.
In Listening #10, Art Dudley explains, "Merely because of the way it looks, I didn't think I'd like the Simaudio Moon i-3 integrated amplifier." Then he heard it. AD also takes a jab at the wacky marketing of classical music.
Finally, the most recent installment…
Information released last week by NPD Intelect reveals eye-opening statistics about digital audio recorder formats. The numbers show that, from January to May 2000, unit shares of digital recording sales in retail stores were 30.8% for CD recorders (not including computer-based systems), 40.9% for MiniDisc recorders, and 28.3% for MP3 recording devices (also not including computer-based systems).
NPD found that, because consumers are more comfortable with CDs and the dual-deck approach to home recording, CD recorders are rapidly gaining popularity. In addition, NPD explains that "the…
Last Thursday, Virgin Entertainment Group announced an agreement with RedDotNet, a Digital on Demand company, that Virgin says will allow its customers to download music and create custom CDs, DVDs, and MiniDiscs in-store. Virgin describes the deal as "a revolutionary development heralding a new wave of music retailing." As part of the agreement, Virgin will become a shareholder in Digital on Demand, RedDotNet's parent company.
The first unveiling of this approach to audio distribution will be at the chain's newest Megastore, set to open in Columbus, Ohio next month. The company says the…
Although it announced support for SACD in early September, the world's third-largest record label, EMI Music Distribution, says it is also gearing up for a full slate of DVD-Audio titles. While the company has numerous new releases available, these will be the first to come from its back catalog.
EMI reports that the first three titles in the series, culled from various labels, are slated for release in December and include Al Green's Greatest Hits, Leon Russell's Retrospective, and Eric Johnson's Ah Via Musicom. In the months that follow, the label says, other key catalog titles will…
Chip Stern finds the AH! Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD player to be a bargain in its modest price range. CS writes: "Consider the notion of an exceptionally musical, single-chassis CD player with a tubed output stage that evinces the kind of soundstaging depth, liquidity, timbral accuracy, high-frequency detail, and top-to-bottom smoothness for which, barely five years ago, consumers might have eagerly coughed up $3000 and more."
Next, Art Dudley looks for the ultimate outlet in Listening #11. After sorting through a few hardware bins and higher-priced products, AD gets down to the job of how to wire…