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Below are the Kogan Blog entries filed under Industry commentary.
2012 January 27
It's back to school time, and technology is becoming more and more important in the education of students in Australia and around the world.
We think technology can make the world a better place, and we're doing our bit to make technology for education more affordable.
2012 January 16
The annual Consumer Electronics Show just wrapped up in the US, with the tech trends and changes that will define 2012 being shown off.
At Kogan we believe technology can make the world a better place, so we ensure we always have our finger on the pulse of the latest advancements.
2011 December 27
As we head into the New Year celebrations, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the tremendous year 2011 has been for the Kogan community of smart shoppers.
Thank you for your part in helping spread the word about the Kogan business! It's a real pleasure to have you in the Kogan community as we look forward to another huge year in 2012!
Happy New Year!
Ruslan Kogan
Founder & CEO
www.kogan.com.au
2011 December 22
On behalf of the entire Kogan team, I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous festive season.
2011 October 18
JB Hi-Fi’s slogan promises Australians “Always Cheapest Prices.” You have admitted to breaking this promise.
2011 October 06
The Kogan team and I are deeply saddened by the loss of one of the World's greatest ever entrepreneurs, and the man that has changed the world of technology forever. I think Apple said it perfectly: "Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."
2011 September 03
We are never beaten on price at Kogan. We're so sure of this, we are putting our money where our mouth is.
We've started the price wars, the big retailers are responding, and we're ready!
2011 August 25
Today, Steve Jobs announced that he is resigning as CEO of Apple.
On behalf of myself and the Kogan team, I would like to congratulate Steve Jobs on an incredible career.
2011 July 05
We have had our disagreements with Mr Harvey on the future of retail, and specifically the benefits of online. However, the latest attack against Mr Harvey is clearly nothing more than a desperate attempt by these groups to capitalise on a perceived public distrust or dislike of the man by grossly misrepresenting the truth.
2011 May 31
Consumer advocacy and advice group "Choice" recently confirmed what we’ve suspected for years: too many big Australian retailers are artificially hiking up the prices of many of their goods, instead of passing on the benefits of the high Aussie dollar to consumers.
2011 May 10
The Government is today outlining a $308 million scheme to ensure Australian pensioners still have full access to TV broadcast services following the digital switchover.
As technology experts, we know that the Government is proposing to spend far too much by allocating $350+ to each installation of a set top box.
2011 March 30
Today we extended our free HDMI cable offer to Australian shoppers who buy a TV from JB Hi-Fi, indefinitely.
2011 March 16
JB are trying to trick people into thinking they need a $200 cable after buying a FULL HD TV. This is simply not the case. You shouldn't be spending more than $10 on an HDMI cable!
It's time to cut the cable con.
2011 March 07
If you’re a JB Hi-Fi shareholder, there are some things you have to know. While they have been a great company over the past 10 years or more and have significantly improved the Australian retail landscape, they are about to lose over 50% of their business to the Internet.
2011 March 01
Here’s a link to Myer's store, which are happy to provide (even though it hasn’t yet been operational for three months) as promised:
2011 January 06
Australia’s big retailers need a reality check. The likes of Harvey Norman, Myer, David Jones and a whole host of bricks and mortar retailers have unleashed an expensive PR scare campaign to pressure the government to increase taxes and duties.
2010 December 20
I called Gerry Harvey out on his bluff right on this blog and in the media. Now I’m calling on Gerry Harvey to admit that Harvey Norman never intended to open up off-shore, and he was merely pulling political strings.
2010 December 06
Gerry Harvey announced that he would follow in Myer's footsteps by opening up a China-based website to sell direct to Australian shoppers.
The supposed aim of this store is for Harvey Norman customers to avoid paying GST. Myer boss Bernie Brookes announced similar plans on Friday.
2010 September 15
The Australian free to air TV industry is in the middle of a huge overhaul.
Everyone with a digital TV or digital tuner is about to start getting a lot more content on free to air channels.
All the major networks are pushing new channels as soon as this month.
2010 August 24
In the interest of the Australian consumer electronics industry moving forward, I proposed a debate between myself and Gerry Harvey on the issues faced by the industry.
He has chickened out of this debate.
2010 August 16
Last week Today Tonight ran a story on the LED TV price wars in the Australian consumer electronics marketplace. They interviewed me about the Kogan business and they also interviewed Gerry Harvey for his take on the situation.
You can see the story here:
2010 August 06
The NRMA recently released a report about the use of GPS navigation devices in Australia.
The NRMA found that looking at the GPS too often while you're driving is a serious safety issue, and that you should listen to voice commands rather than look at the screen where possible.
2010 July 16
In case you hadn't spotted it, Australia's leading technology blog Gizmodo are running a great 'Fight the Filter' campaign here in Australia.
It's designed to inform and spread awareness about the lunacy of the Australian government's proposed mandatory Internet filter.
2010 July 09
Since you're at the Kogan website you probably already know about the advantages of shopping online.
In case you haven't used them, there are some extremely helpful tools for comparing online prices that demonstrate the ability of online stores to smash traditional retailers.
2010 June 02
The Kogan team are technology enthusiasts and specialists first and foremost. We have extremely detailed knowledge and passion for our products, though it appears some other retailers have been a bit lazy with simply copying and pasting specs without ensuring they’re advertising a product correctly.
2010 May 21
Google TV won't be making its way into homes until 2011, but this is a very exciting look at the future of 3DTV. Google are not talking about gimmicks designed to quickly sell a few TVs with first-gen 3D features which have no content to test properly. They're talking about removing the gap between your computer and your TV.
2010 April 01
As you’ve probably heard by now the Australian Government is planning to introduce a mandatory internet filter which would block access to material that is “refused classification” by our politicians or bureaucrats.
I am passionate about internet freedom, and I would like to chat to you about the proposed filter and hear your thoughts.
To my mind, the issue really boils down to whether or not you think that Australians are mature enough to decide how they and their families use the internet.
2010 March 10
We’ve been thinking long and hard about 3DTV. The Kogan team were at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year when 3DTV first came to the fore, propelled by movies such as Avatar and Alice in Wonderland.
2010 February 04
The possibility for a Kogan tablet device to hit the market in the coming months is also a very real one – and an option I’ve been seriously considering. As it stands, the market could go in any direction, particularly given the huge variety in form factors, applications, and cost.
2010 January 08
To kick off 2010, Kogan is proud to announce the launch of a new LED TV range and is asking you to give it a name! The winning suggestion will win our new 26" LED TV and 32" LED TV
2009 July 27
Are these Australia’s best prices?
2009 May 29
We're thinking of launching a digital radio with DAB / DAB + and WiFi for around the $200 mark and want to hear your views on the market for digital and WiFi radio...
2009 January 23
Everyone is clearly looking online to get the best deal. When times are tough, every dollar counts. In 2009 Kogan will continue to deliver on our promise to offer the best technology at affordable prices. While everyone is raising prices, we’ll be either maintaining or lowering them.
For example, we recently dropped:
· 47" LCD from $1899 to $1699
· Blu-ray player from $349 to $249
· 42" LCD will soon drop from $1499 to $1299
2008 October 27
A lot has been written about how the global economic crisis will affect consumer spending. However, it seems electronics, gadgets, and technology are doing better than other sectors.
Canon recently released their annual Digital Lifestyle index which confirms this. What do you think, has the weak dollar, economic crisis, or anything else affected your purchasing habits for electronics?
Our business model helps Australians buy this sort of technology at affordable prices. Hopefully we're helping you make these decisions and ensuring they don't hurt the hip pocket much at all!
2008 October 17
Harvey Norman announced this week that they would be releasing weekly sales figures as an indicator of the state of the economy.
I think this is an extremely arrogant and naive approach to helping Australian's deal with the economic situation. Harvey Norman are clearly failing to recognise that consumers looking for the best prices in the current financial climate are moving to online stories in huge numbers.
I know Gerry Harvey's business has been painfully slow in moving online, no doubt through fear of cannibalising their retail sales model, but they surely can't think their stores are an indicator of the state of the economy!
2008 September 16
Philips recently announced they will be pulling the plug on their TV sales in Australia and New Zealand.
This follows on from Hitachi's exit earlier this year.
This shows just how cut-throat the retail market is for consumer electronics. By adding significant costs through middlemen, companies like Philips, Hitachi, and no doubt others down the track, are finding it very hard to remain competitive.
2008 August 26
I have been a big Nokia fan since the 6110. Every phone since has been a Nokia. I find them easy to use and functional. For instance, I connect my laptop (using bluetooth) to my N95 and access the internet through the 3G on my phone plan.
I have felt that Nokia have always had superior phones to the competition. Now that Apple have launched the 3G iPhone, Nokia's dominance is in question. I think the iPhone is a good mp3 and media player with built in phone, but, I don't think it's a great phone.
2008 August 15
Sony's recent announcement that OLED televisions will hit Europe in 2009 received a lot of attention.
Although this technology may be standard in 5 years, I really can't see this making a big impact at the moment.
OLED is obviously great technology. I recently saw an OLED product at an R&D facility that could be rolled up into a postage tube!
But at sizes like 11 inches, it's simply too small to be of any real benefit at the moment. What do you think?
2008 July 15
I've been doing some reading on media center extensions recently.
There are obviously a lot of options to stream media from your PC to your TV.
If you're using gaming consoles, which do you think is best for streaming video and audio? It seems like the Xbox 360 is the simplest, with it's integration into Vista. I'm keen to hear your opinions on these options.
2008 June 25
Engadget HD wrote an article about the picture-in-picture functionality on TVs.
They had a very mixed response from their readers, and I wanted to see what you all thought.
Personally, I think PIP is invaluable for sport, when you want to keep an eye on a couple of games at once.
Do you use picture in picture, or do you just see it as a gimmick?
2008 June 19
One of the most common questions I get asked is: Should I buy a plasma or an LCD?
On the blog alone, Heather, Jean, T-bone, and Rachel have recently talked about the debate.
I think LCD is the far superior technology. What do you think?
2008 June 13
I came across this article by Adam Turner, an Aussie freelance journalist. Amongst other things, he talks about the importance of selecting the right size TV for your room.
Brenda, Vin, Owen, Oz Man, and others have posted on this blog asking for different sizes. When I was in China last week I arranged to bring more sizes into the Full HD range, including 32" and 47". These will be available for pre-sale soon.
2008 June 03
I'm still in China and I'll be back in Melbourne later this week. I haven't had a huge amount of access to the net so I'll answer all of your questions as soon as I get back.
I have come across some news which you might find interesting. According to Current, Toshiba, a Japanese company, have moved some of their LCD production to Taiwan.
2008 May 20
This story at Channel News about home theatre/av integrators in Australia got me thinking today.
It talks about home theatre installers in Australia not taking their business seriously enough, and almost treating it like a hobby. What has your experience of these installers been?
Some of the blog readers have expressed a desire for Kogan Technologies to offer a service to organise installation, like Muriel.
2008 May 15
It looks like nervous web-entrant Gerry Harvey is starting to catch on to the benefits of the internet.
He's obviously running into a few issues with the new site for Ofis, but it's an interesting shift.
He's not the only bricks and mortar business moving online, JB Hi Fi are doing the same.
2008 April 29
I came across some news that the GPS market is changing. I’ve been selling a Kogan Five in One GPS unit for quite a while now, and you’ve seemed to like it.
2008 April 18
The eBay/Paypal issue has been doing the rounds of the media the last week, and now it seems the ACCC is getting involved.
It's no secret that Kogan Technologies uses eBay to generate a lot of our business. It's simply really -- as the world's biggest marketplace, we'd be crazy to ignore it.
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