It seems to me that Best Buy is in the midst of some kind of change- their previous markets for computer stuff, video game stuff, music media and video media has gone the way of the Dodo, and they’re trying to fill this gap with smartphones, earbuds and Breaking Bad iPad cases.
I have a feeling they’re circling the drain- there’s this sort of stink of death about the store to me.
Any other big national chains that you think are potentially circling the drain?
Sears is hanging on by a fingernail - this holiday season may be their last. Same for JC Penny.
Blackberry seems like they are on life-support as well.
The makers of digital cameras and stand-alone GPS units may have a few more years, but the prospects are grim unless they get a piece of the smart-phone market.
Barnes & Noble, perhaps. They were helped somewhat by having the Nook tablet, while Borders didn’t even have that. And B&N also owns or manages the bookstores at a couple hundred universities. But even college students buy their books from Amazon. (I know that’s what my nephew does.)
Well, it all depends upon how you define “circling the drain.”
BlackBerry will hold on for awhile but the future has passed them by and I would get the hell out if I had any of their stock. They had a solid product but did not keep up with innovative changes, they just stuck with the product that worked. Faithfull users will hang on for maybe even a few years, but there will be no up-market in their future.
Facebook is not circling the drain yet but they can feel the suction. Young people and early adopters have already moved on. It has become a major tool for business and has lost it’s cool factor. Hell, my JOB asks me if I visit their Facebook page to check out the latest corporate news. At that point it is fucking over.
Facebook will still exist 10 years down the road for pictures of Grandma’s cats and news from the local hardware store, like Photobucket still exists for pictures, but everyone in the know uses imgur to post pictures now.
I disagree with this one. Smart phones make terrible cameras (that is limited by physics because of small lenses) and only mediocre GPS devices. Smart phones don’t affect the business of the top camera makers like Cannon and Nikon. For GPS devices, Garmin has been in business for a long time and consumer level standalone GPS devices are only part of their business. They make much of their money building very profitable and expensive items like flat panel, integrated avionics suites for airliners and other commercial and military uses. They aren’t going anywhere any time soon. I am not sure about Tom-Tom but I don’t even think smart phones will replace most standalone GPS devices because standalone ones are inexpensive and work better for many purposes.
Yellowbook/Hibu. Was just taken over by their creditors, who are wiping the slate clean of the current executive staff. The banks will likely try to dump the company off on some hedge fund, who will then drain Yellowbook for as much cash as they can, discarding the shell of a company sometime in 2025.
Of course, Yellowbook is the company who gave us this as our last image of David Carradine working as an actor.
While true, most consumers of smart phones will use the camera as a way to share stuff with their friends via social media - they are not looking for “good” photos, so they will not bother purchasing a nice camera on it’s own. Same for GPS - smart phone navigation will be good enough for the masses.
Having those capabilities on smart phones will pre-empt most people except sophisticated photographers or serious tech-types from buying a stand-alone digital camera or GPS.
Kodak just went thru bankruptcy, and time will tell if they are able to survive. They are not really selling cameras any more.
You are right, tho, Garmin does have more markets than just these devices.
Which Motorola? They’ve broken up so much in the past decade its hard to keep track. The part that’s actually still an independent Motorola (Motorola Solutions) is actually doing well.
You misspelled “AOL.” I have my buzzard’s eye on Wal*Mart. It seems like their personnel abuses, shoddy name-brand variants, and predatory business model is on the heels of any cost-benefits. While not tits-up all at once, I can see the owners selling off the individual stores & logo before the ship goes down. They’ll do protracted, squirming death throes like K-mart. Give them 5 years.
