LAS VEGAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2001--

Following a reassessment of its technology and its primary business focus, SONICgreen has decided to change its plans in the consumer electronics market. SONICgreen feels that the consumer electronics market, being dominated by high volume production companies, will always be a difficult one to break into with leading edge products in the quantities that make such developments economically viable. Therefore, it has decided to discontinue it's entire like of products including the popular Rio-line of MP3 players.

Said James Riomula, SONICgreen VP of worldwide sales, "Many of our products occupied the same marketspace as those of leading consumer electronics companies such as Sony, Pioneer, and Toshiba. Take the new RioVolt SP250 player for instance. We may have built the most advanced portable CD player ever, but what chance did we have against the Sony's of the world when it comes to walkman-style portables? We even tried enhancing our position in the marketplace by prominantly displaying the famous Nike symbol on selected products, but even that was simply not enough."

SONICgreen Incorporated designs, develops and markets products for the digital media, consumer electronics, Internet applicance and home networking markets.

SONICgreen?

30 GB - Mk2a (Rio Car) - BLUE / RED

The RioVolt isn't theirs anyway - it is bought in!

(list 6284, Mk1 S/N 00299 4GB blue [for sale]. Mk2 S/N 080000094 26GB blue)

I used SONICgreen so everyone would understand it's a parody. A long time ago I made fun of Bose in a message forum by making fake press releases. They were absolutely idiodic sounding so that only a complete fool would think they were from the real Bose. Yet, Bose threatened me with legal action.

Anyway, the point is that Sonic Blue's stated rational for leaving the car stereo market isn't at all consistant with what the company is currently doing. Portable music systems, GoVideo VCR's, ReplayTV, CD Players, etc. These are all consumer items that compete against the big boys of electronics just like RioCar.

One has to wonder if SonicBlue is discontinuing RioCar at least in part due to the company's dire financial situation. Revenue down 72%! Profit change of almost a billion dollars in the wrong direction! A stock price around $1. If it weren't for the events of Sept 11th, SonicBlue would probably be delisted from Nasdaq by now.

I hear what the company is saying, and it makes sense to me on one level. Yet, the company's actions elsewhere are completely different. I would suspect RioCar was simply the most vulnerable product that had the least developed marketshare, and times where tough so they pulled the plug. It's too bad because they never really gave the product a chance since there was virtually no marketing effort.

SonicBlue is one of those companies that will be hit hardest by a recession. Nearly everything they sell is expensive fun stuff that consumers don't really need.

I contest that last point.

I NEED my empeg

But they don't make them anymore.

Murray
new styleee

These are great! One of my favorites is right here. And, of course, Rob's reply.

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (96GB Smoke)
SN# 030103046 (10GB Blue - Emergency Spare)

So was Jim Hogan's post real insider info, or just a spooky coincidence?

-Doug
Mk2-12G Blue (Now A/R Green)

A humorous spoof that someone at Sonic Blue took a little too seriously...

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (96GB Smoke)
SN# 030103046 (10GB Blue - Emergency Spare)

Hmmm. Maybe it wasn't a spoof after all. I *was* reasonably close on the price wasn't I? ('Course you don't have to be a loyal existing owner to get it, which is fine, and it's nice that they're letting recent purchasers opt for a cash credit in place of the Rio 800.) Let's see how that delivery to Nova Scotia goes!

Jim