Alpine Electronics’ profits soared over 400 percent in its recent fiscal year ended in March, while sales jumped 28 percent over the previous year.
The company said gains were due to an improved economy, better sales of new cars and the devaluation of the yen. 80 percent of Alpine’s business is in OEM sales.
Alpine’s financial report, published Tuesday, also offered insight into its aftermarket strategy and its outlook for the U.S. economy in general.
As competition grows intense in car electronics, Alpine has chosen to focus on car radios tailored to specific car models. It is also expanding its series of large screen radios. And as it announced at CES in January, Alpine is veering away from the younger demographic. It’s report said, it is now focusing on “the needs of families” and it “launched new products designed to bolster its competitiveness by distinguishing itself from competitors.”
Alpine also briefly mentioned that it “laid the foundations for future growth by using its venture capital fund to invest in a company developing voice interaction technologies in the United States.”
The company is expected to benefit this year from an increase in sales of new Japanese-branded cars in the U.S., including hybrid cars with very advanced navigation systems, it said.
It projected that over the next 12 months, the U.S. may lead a gradual recovery for the world economy, although economic uncertainly still remains in China and other emerging countries. Alpine further expects that the car electronics industry should benefit from the new law mandating that installation of rear view cameras in new cars in the U.S.
For the recent year, Alpine reported sales of $2.8 billion (285,884 million yen) compared to sales of $2.2 billion a year earlier. Net income was $90 million (9,229 million yen) compared to $17 million a year ago.
Alpine also noted challenges such as lower new car sales in the Japanese market. For the coming year, Alpine predicts lower sales of $2.7 billion and lower profits of $58.6 million.
Source: Alpine
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A 208 Billion dollar in sales company says,
It’s report said, it is now focusing on “the needs of families” and it “launched new products designed to bolster its competitiveness by distinguishing itself from competitors.”
1) Focus on “the needs of the families” not what you think they need!
2) DISTINGUISHING ITSELF FROM THE COMPETITORS!
What are you doing to distinguish yourself from your competitors? Anything?