THE WORD | INDUSTRY NEWS
Mainstream popularity of digital radio now established Digital radio listening has increased by 11% to a new record of 310 million hours, according to the latest Q1 2012 RAJAR figures. Highlights of the quarter included: Digital radio listening share increased 10% year on year to 29.2% 50% of all radio listeners listen to digital radio every week DAB digital radio listening reached a record 200 million hours, an increase of 15% year on year Internet radio listening share rose to a new record level of 3.9% Commenting on the figures, Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK, said the mainstream popularity of digital radio is now established. “With all the exclusive music and sporting events this summer available on digital radio, including the launch of BBC Radio 5 Live Olympics Extra, and the accelerating momentum of digital radio in cars, we expect 2012 to be the year that many more people choose to go digital.”
AMDEA offers advice on floorcare Industry body AMDEA’s Time to Change website has launched a new section for floorcare products, featuring advice on energy labelling, choosing the right appliance, information on allergies/asthma and FAQs. To promote the new section and the advances in vacuum cleaner technology, AMDEA is launching a series of online competitions and prize draws with relevant, simple multiple-choice questions based on information published on the site. The winners will choose from a range of branded vacuum cleaning products offered by AMDEA members.
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GET CONNECTED JUNE 2012 JUBILEE ISSUE
LG to bring OLED to European market in second half of 2012 LG Electronics has unveiled the world’s largest and slimmest 55-inch OLED TV and will be the first company to bring OLED large-screen product to European consumers. Units will be available in the second half of this year. The event took place at Monaco’s renowned Salle des Etoiles, with 400 dealers, journalists and special guest F1 champion Sebastian Vettel in attendance. “In the history of television, there have been very few innovations as impactful as the coming of OLED TV,” said Havis Kwon, President and CEO of LG’s Home Entertainment Company. “LG OLED TV is truly above all expectations and beyond everyone’s imagination with uncompromising picture quality and beautiful design. This year, we plan to make OLED synonymous with LG.”
New distribution partners for De’Longhi and Kenwood De’Longhi and Kenwood have confirmed their preferred UK distribution partners for 2012. The brands are no longer trading with Pik a Pak, Inman’s, which is in administration, DAD, Beam or RK Wholesale, and instead will be partnering with EPE (Department Stores and Cook shops), JEGS (Independent Electrical) and Stearn (Trade and Heating Customers). Paul Harrison, Sales Director of De’Longhi UK, commented: “These distribution changes will enable independent retailers to either trade directly with an experienced member of the De’Longhi and Kenwood sales teams, who will assist and support retailers in driving incremental business, or via the new distribution partners that enhance De’Longhi and Kenwood’s long-term strategy to support independent retailers.”
BSH reports “record year” for revenue in 2011 BSH (Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH), owner of the Bosch, Neff and Siemens brands, has reported revenue up in 2011 by 6.4% to €9.654 billion. Gross profit was down by around 1% to €3.577 billion due to “significant increases in material prices,” but the company says that it is still achieving “above average profitability.” The emphasis on BSH’s commitment to developing “super-efficient” appliances was a recurring theme at the presentation of its results, and was cited as a key factor in the company’s maintaining revenue growth and profitability in a difficult global environment. Western European markets delivered some mixed results, and across the region revenue suffered a slight decrease of 0.7%. BSH’s home country of Germany achieved an 8.2% uplift in revenue to € 2.062 billion, but there were difficulties in Greece, Spain and Portugal, the countries most affected by the Eurozone crisis. The UK showed “positive developments.” In 2011 BSH invested € 453 million in the development and production of energy-efficient home appliances and its sites, € 50 million more than in the year before. The company said that various products manufactured by BSH hold records for low energy consumption and thus set the benchmark for the entire industry. Since 2009, BSH has pooled these appliances in its so-called Super Efficiency Portfolio and has the respective figures confirmed by auditors every year. Compared to the previous year, sales figures for these home appliances in Europe went up by 12% to a total of 3.5 million units in 2011. The share of superefficient appliances as part of overall BSH sales in Europe thus increased to 28%. Looking ahead, BSH was cautious about growth forecasts for 2012, pointing out that revenues for the first quarter are only roughly equal to the same period in 2011. The business expects the overall revenue for 2012 “to achieve low single-digit growth rates.”