InfoAnda - Analysis: GameStop sees solid future despite video game shift to digital |

Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case
Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They

Taiwan denies boycotting Australian film festival
Thursday, August 6, 2009

AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e

Merkel's support dips, regional ally resigns International
Thursday, September 3, 2009

By Sarah Marsh and Noah Barkin

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German

Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who

Asian markets mixed after Wall Street rally
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an

Khmer Rouge tribunal summons gov't party officials | 8 October 2009
Americans resume job hunt as economy improves | 8 May 2010
Nuclear weapons only in 'extreme circumstances': US | 7 April 2010

Danny Glover sees "WW2 destruction" in Haiti quake | 27 March 2010

Forum Views () Forum Replies ()

Read more with google mobile : Analysis: GameStop sees solid future despite video game shift to digital |

Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Home Business Business Home Economy Technology Media Small Business Legal Deals Earnings Social Pulse Business Video The Freeland File Markets Markets Home U.S. Markets European Markets Asian Markets Global Market Data Indices M&A Stocks Bonds Currencies Commodities Futures Funds peHUB World World Home U.S. Brazil China Euro Zone Japan Mexico Russia India Insight World Video Reuters Investigates Decoder Politics Politics Home Election 2012 Issues 2012 Candidates 2012 Tales from the Trail Political Punchlines Supreme Court Politics Video Tech Technology Home MediaFile Science Tech Video Tech Tonic Social Pulse Opinion Opinion Home Chrystia Freeland John Lloyd Felix Salmon Jack Shafer David Rohde Bernd Debusmann Nader Mousavizadeh Lucy P. Marcus David Cay Johnston Bethany McLean Edward Hadas Hugo Dixon Ian Bremmer Lawrence Summers Susan Glasser The Great Debate Steven Brill Jack & Suzy Welch Breakingviews Equities Credit Private Equity M&A Macro & Markets Politics Breakingviews Video Money Money Home Tax Break Lipper Awards 2012 Global Investing MuniLand Unstructured Finance Linda Stern Mark Miller John Wasik James Saft Analyst Research Alerts Watchlist Portfolio Stock Screener Fund Screener Personal Finance Video Money Clip Investing 201 Life Health Sports Arts Faithworld Business Traveler Entertainment Oddly Enough Lifestyle Video Pictures Pictures Home Reuters Photographers Full Focus Video Reuters TV Reuters News Article Comments (1) Follow Reuters Facebook Twitter RSS YouTube Read Obama takes a shot at Supreme Court over healthcare | 02 Apr 2012 Tornadoes rip through Dallas area, planes grounded | 5:25pm EDT Trayvon Martin: Before the world heard the cries 2:38pm EDT Government site back up after it crashes with 1940 census data 12:04pm EDT France best, U.S. worst in preventable death ranking 08 Jan 2008 Discussed 722 Obama confident Supreme Court will uphold healthcare law 191 Supreme Court weighs all-or-nothing on healthcare law 179 As Paul’s White House campaign fades, supporters face choices Watched High hopes for Dutch car plane Mon, Apr 2 2012 Traditional Chinese medicine gets 21st century makeover Mon, Apr 2 2012 A new Titanic rises in Belfast Fri, Mar 30 2012 Analysis: GameStop sees solid future despite video game shift to digital Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Best Buy sales, restructuring disappoint Thu, Mar 29 2012 Special Report: The Sony Schism Mon, Mar 26 2012 Apple's devoted shareholders get rich, and hang on Fri, Mar 23 2012 GameStop expects higher sales this year Thu, Mar 22 2012 Zynga buys OMGPOP games company for $200 million: source Wed, Mar 21 2012 Analysis & Opinion The recession killed journalism â€“ and saved it Press Round-up – March 27 Related Topics Tech » Media » iPad » People enter a GameStop store during ''Black Friday'' sales in Carle Place, New York November 25, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Shannon Stapleton By Liana B. Baker Tue Apr 3, 2012 2:30pm EDT (Reuters) - GameStop executives are tired of hearing about investors who bet against the stock of the video game retailer that they have given them a nickname: shallow divers. The knock against shareholders with a negative short-term view of the stock is meant to prove a point: take a more thorough view of GameStop to understand it will not end with the same fate as movie rental chain Blockbuster, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2010. "Are we paralyzed in fear that our business model isn't working? Not at all ... Investors are a trailing indicator," GameStop Chief Executive Paul Raines said in an interview. Raines and his team have their work cut out for them, as a growing number of their investors are getting pessimistic. Hedge fund manager James Chanos of Kynikos Associates singled out GameStop at a conference last fall for following in the footsteps of Blockbuster and struggling UK entertainment retail chain HMV Group in slides he presented entitled "digital distribution destruction." "Packaged games are pressured by growth in casual, mobile and social network games," and game publishers, such as Electronic Arts "are increasingly direct competitors," Chanos said in a slide show reviewed by Reuters. About 41 percent of GameStop's shares are now held by short sellers who are betting that its stock price will fall instead of rise over the long-term. That is up from 30 percent in January and more than double the amount of retailer Best Buy, which has short interest of 17 percent and has been posting weak quarterly sales. Raines and GameStop's other top executives have become well-versed in explaining to investors why it will not become the next Blockbuster. They note that GameStop currently has no debt on its balance sheet, which is rare for a retailer -- and unlike Blockbuster -- it has short-term, flexible leases on its 6,200 global stores and much smaller square footage. Raines has been driving change at GameStop since being recruited to lead the company from Home Depot in 2008. Raines has challenged executives to find a way to sell digital game downloads in stores, something that had not been done before. Raines also set aside $100 million for acquisitions related to online gaming and helped devise a customer loyalty program to ensure that gamers keep coming back to stores. "We were on a mission and you can't accuse us of not driving a heck of a lot of change," Raines said. The company says that the plan Raines and his team devised has worked. GameStop, which is based in Grapevine, Texas just outside of Dallas, invented technology that lets gamers buy access codes for games in stores and then download the content at home, a major driver of its $453 million in digital sales last year. The loyalty program Raines devised now has 17 million members and is growing rapidly. The program helps GameStop gain share in its most profitable business of buying and selling used games. GameStop has gone from having about $1.2 billion in debt after it bought Electronics Boutique in 2005 to generating an estimated $500 million in free cash. Of the 19 analysts who follow GameStop, none of them have a "sell" rating on the stock while 11 analysts have a "buy" or "strong buy" rating, according to Thomson Reuters data. Eight analysts have a "hold" or "underperform" rating. But GameStop's share price, trading around $22, has fallen about 10 percent this year, while the S&P's retail index has gained 18 percent. Revenue has flattened year over year after growth as high as 24 percent in 2009, which could explain why it catches the eye of the shorts. "They're trying to do the right things but they're fighting a losing battle of selling physical games in a digital world," said Jeff Matthews, an investment manager who has invested in long and short positions in GameStop in the past but is no longer a shareholder. Short interest in GameStop began rising steadily in 2007 and increased when video stores started struggling, said Dan DeMatteo, who was GameStop's CEO from 2008 and 2010 and is now the executive chairman of the board. CHANGE AND CHALLENGES There is no doubt that the video game industry has changed since GameStop was spun off from Barnes and Noble in an initial public offering in 2002. Total retail sales of video game products were down 20 percent in February compared to a year ago, according to research firm NPD. In March, Game Group, the British video game retailer which competes with GameStop in Europe, filed for court protection from creditors and had to cut more than 2,100 jobs. But Zynga, one of the hottest video game companies, sees most of its sales from games played on Facebook. To combat the secular changes and boost its digital efforts, GameStop spent some of the $100 million Raines earmarked for acquisitions to buy two digital gaming companies last year, Spawn Labs and Impulse. The company has also sought out more tech-focused board members, such as Shane Kim, who joined GameStop's board last summer after a 15-year stint in Microsoft's games unit. "The digital transition — evolving the company so that digital becomes a bigger part of the customer story and proposition — is a tough challenge. It is not part of their historical DNA," Kim said. But Kim said GameStop is well-positioned. It is trying to figure out how to create a new digital delivery service for both customers and video game publishers, he said. DeMatteo, the founder and former CEO, added the company is also studying how to distribute mobile games. iPAD HEDGE The slogan "We buy iPods, iPads and iPhones!" is now emblazoned on top of GameStop receipts, a sign that the company isn't sitting idle while Apple's slice of the gaming market keeps growing. It expanded a program this year where customers can trade in Apple devices and other used electronics in more than 1,000 stores for cash or store credit. "While our stores are very full today, there may become a time when they won't be as full and this is a hedge," said DeMatteo, who named "GameStop" after the book store "Bookstop" that was acquired by Barnes & Noble in 1989. GameStop expects used gadget sales of up to $200 million by 2012 and $600 million by 2014, which executives said would give it a leading position in the $1 billion market for used electronics. The company will face competition from Apple, which also pays customers for their used devices, as well as big-box retailers such as Target and Best Buy. But GameStop has an edge because its customers are already comfortable trading in their used products in stores, said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter. On a recent Sunday at a GameStop store in Farmingdale, New York, for instance, employees said that customers who trade in their old Apple products are usually members of GameStop's reward program. The Apple program is a new revenue stream that complements GameStop's core business. And while GameStop does not envision games on discs disappearing anytime soon, DeMatteo said the company has reinvented itself several times and can do it again if necessary. "We saw this coming and we've prepared for it. Every quarter we refine the plan but at least we have a good foundation," DeMatteo said. (Reporting By Liana B. Baker; Editing by Peter Lauria and Bernard Orr) Tech Media iPad Related Quotes and News Company Price Related News Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (1) govtmule wrote: Edition: U.S. Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom Back to top Reuters.com Business Markets World Politics Technology Opinion Money Pictures Videos Site Index Legal Bankruptcy Law California Legal New York Legal Securities Law Support & Contact Support Corrections Connect with Reuters Twitter Facebook LinkedIn RSS Podcast Newsletters Mobile About Privacy Policy Terms of Use AdChoices Copyright Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance Our next generation legal research platform Our global tax workstation Thomsonreuters.com About Thomson Reuters Investor Relations Careers Contact Us Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

Other News on Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Mali junta defies deadline for handing over power |
UK snooping row casts doubt on Cameron leadership |
Russia says kills five Islamists in Caucasus |
First Marines in Australia under new security deal |
U.S. puts bounty on Pakistani suspect in Mumbai attacks |
Brazil tax cuts, credits throw lifeline to industry |
Peru leader sends brother to solitary confinement |
Czech government shudders as party threatens to quit |
Netanyahu says sanctions hurting Iran but not enough |
Facebook launches patent counterattack against Yahoo |
SanDisk cuts first quarter revenue outlook, shares fall |
Analysis: GameStop sees solid future despite video game shift to digital |
Palin pans Julianne Moore in Game Change film |
All-American Rejects come of age in Kids In The Street |
Mario Van Peebles and family are We the Party |
Analysis: Success of Annan peace plan for Syria hinges on Russia |
French police swoop on more suspected Islamists |
Japan, Britain set to agree on joint development of arms: paper |
U.S., Afghanistan near deal on night raids: official |
First Marines in Australia as U.S. ramps up Asia-Pacific focus |
Czech government in danger over coalition row |
Former Turkish president on trial for 1980 coup |
Addicts embody cocaine boom in Brazil's cracklands |
Iraq says Iran proposes Baghdad as nuclear talks venue |
China keen on free trade pact with U.S.: Greenberg |
Toshiba to build new NAND chip plant: media |
Madonna keeps pop crown, MDNA tops Billboard chart |
Four contestants sing for final time on 'The Voice' |
A last dance for Jack Wagner on Dancing With the Stars |
Olbermann says screwed up with move to Current |
Beatles offspring could form next generation band |
Trump overrules rejection of transgender beauty queen |
Analysis: Syria peace plan seen buying Assad time |
U.N. ceasefire mission fails to curb Syria violence |
Russia accuses U.S. envoy of arrogance over missile shield comment |
Tunis reopens ancient Islamic college to counter radicals |
Italy's PM Monti concedes to unions, ally on labor |
Warring militias in west Libya vow no let-up in fight |
Housemaid's suicide rattles Lebanon's conscience |
Analysis: Mali's north feared new rogue state in Sahara |
Islamist rebels bomb Somali theatre, killing 6 |
Yahoo to lay off 2,000 employees |
Online startup seeks to rival the Ivy League |
YouTube to offer Paramount movie rentals |
Publisher-backed venture starts digital newsstand |
Thailand bans film based on Macbeth, fearing disunity |
Katy Perry 3-D concert movie to be released in July |
Taboo-breaking Saudi films spur debate in staid kingdom |
George Michael pens song about battle with illness |
UK protest punk band The King Blues announces split |
Amnesty urges Russia to free punks after protest |
A Minute With: Fred Savage and best friends forever |
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights

USD EUR - 1 year graph		BlogMeter 1.01