About a decade ago, at the height of the dot-com boom, I was doing some work for a tech industry heavyweight that sold some of the most sophisticated technology on the planet. Unfortunately, despite their technological prowess, they had trouble … Read More
pricing for the CFO
What do investors care about?
Who in the organization is most aligned with the pricing group? If the pricing group is doing it’s job, it’s the shareholders. When companies report strong pricing power, share prices go up. When company struggle with a tough pricing environment, … Read More
Wholesale Prices Make Biggest Jump in 27 Years
The US Producer Price Index rose 9.8% for finished goods for the 12 month period ending in July, the largest jump in 27 years. Businesses are stuck between the rock of rising costs and the hard place of weakening spending. … Read More
Experimental Economics: Finding Millions of Dollars in the Haystack
Wired recently ran a story on Experimental Economists, who model complex scenarios and attempt to optimize outcomes for large companies and government agencies. My reaction to the story was “wow– that’s what Mimiran does all the time, we just didn’t … Read More
Competitive pricing cuts tech profits, despite topline growth
Despite strong demand for technology products by both home and business buyers, competitive pricing is exerting strong downward pressure on profits and stocks. Hardware makers are suffering the most, from storage, to memory, to processors. As this Wall Street Journal … Read More
Blockbuster Goes after Netflix with Pricing
Punished by the the popularity of cheap DVDs, video-on-demand, and the Netflix DVD-rental-by-mail service, Blockbuster announced further price cuts on its subscription plans. These plans allow consumers to rent and return videos at stores or by mail. The added ability … Read More
Royal Carribean “Sinks” on Pricing Outlook
MarketWatch reported that the cruise giant lost 6% of its value Monday after investors learned of weak pricing ahead. Investors know what drives profits.
Pricing Pressure Pounds AMD Shares
Shares of AMD took a beating last week after the Austin chip maker announced a 4th quarter loss and offered cautious guidance because of an ongoing price war of attrition with Intel. The loss is largely due to charges related … Read More
Motorola Lays Off 3,500, Cites Pricing Problems
Electronics giant Motorola, the number 2 maker of cellphones after Nokia, announced that it will shed 3,500 jobs in a cost-cutting move after overly aggressive discounts trimmed profits. Motorola reported net income of $624M, off nearly 50% from a year … Read More
Why Price Wars Are a Bad Idea
People are competitive. Companies are competitive. They want to beat each other, they want to “win.” That’s why otherwise smart people often start or join price wars. Price wars transfer money from sellers to buyers. This is not a good … Read More