Appliance Design - March 2009 - (Page 7)

NEwS watch is achievable, based on a forecast of likely customer behavior, taking into account existing market, societal and attitudinal barriers, as well as regulatory and program funding barriers. ment of those rules should be achieved ahead of schedule. TVs to July 2010, and another for LCD TVs until January 2010. PaNaSONIc cUtS. SPEctRUM FILES. DOE DIREctED. On Feb. 5, President Obama ordered the Department of Energy to accelerate the development of efficiency standards for a wide variety of residential and commercial appliances, noting that the department had already missed numerous deadlines. The presidential memo ordered the DOE to set five efficiency rules by August that would include residential dishwashers, ranges, ovens, and microwave ovens; and commercial air conditioning equipment, boilers and beverage vending machines. The directive requested DOE to meet all future deadlines for efficiency rules, and that it should prioritize the rulemaking projects according to which will have the most immediate effect on energy savings, saying establish- Japan-based Panasonic will cut as many as 15,000 jobs and close 27 plants worldwide. Panasonic blamed the cuts on the global slowdown set off by the U.S. financial crisis, the rapid surge of the yen, and sudden price drops. Sales slid in a wide range of products, including flatpanel TVs, DVD recorders, microwaves, lamps, and semiconductors. The company lowered its forecast for the fiscal year through March to a net loss of $4.2 billion, its first annual loss in six years. The job cuts, about half of which are in Japan, will occur in stages and continue through the end of March 2010. They amount to about 5 percent of its 300,000-strong global work force. Panasonic will shutter 14 overseas plants and 13 plants in Japan. Panasonic will delay by a half year starting production at two Japan plants — one for plasma panel Spectrum Brands, which makes Remington shavers and Rayovac batteries, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Feb. 3. Several days later, the company received initial court approval to access $235 million in debtor-in-possession financing that will help it maintain ongoing operations while it seeks to restructure its debt. SaMSUNG EYES SURGE. Samsung Electronics, South Korea, aims to increase its 2009 home appliance sales by more than 54 percent to $10 billion. Sales in 2008 were $6.5 billion. The South Korean market is saturated, the company says, and to achieve its goal, the company wants to increase sales to overseas markets. The company will focus its marketing on premium products, such as Membrane Switches and Graphic Overlays for Your Unique Application www.applianceDESIGN.com AD01094DOUG.indd 1 • Custom design expertise • Single source manufacturing • Precise color matching and repeatability • Assembly of surface mount components/circuit boards/ backplates • Multi-tasking switch pattern designs • Custom molded boxes, bezels and frames with switch installation • Water resistant designs to Nema 4 • 100% function testing of all circuits in-house 9650 Valley View Road Eden Prairie, MN 55344 800-806-6113 • douglascorp.com applianceDESIGN March 2009 7 11/19/08 9:34:40 AM http://www.douglascorp.com http://www.douglascorp.com http://www.appliancedesign.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Appliance Design - March 2009

Appliance Design - March 2009 Contents Editorial Shipments/Forecasts News Watch Transmitting Power Wirelessly Promises to Reduce the Ever-Growing Tangle of Cords and Cables Found in the Modern Home. There Are Different Technological Approaches for Achieving this Goal, and Some Are Already on the Market. Electrochemical Capacitors Can Provide an Extra Peak-Power Boost in Battery-Operated Appliances, Allowing Product Designs to Have Smaller Battery Packs. Metallic Foams Put the Properties of Metals into Lightweight Packages. Applications for this Emerging Technology Include Gas Burners, Heat Exchangers, and Electronics Housings. Hall-Effect Switches Are Compact and Provide a High Degree of Reliability and Durability as They Virtually Eliminate Mechanical Wear, Shock, and Contact Oxidation. Blowing Agents for Polyurethane Foam Insulation Face Increased Scrutiny Due to Global Warming Concerns, but Alternatives with Lower GWP Values May Provide Solutions to Meet These Challenges. Design Marts Association Report: AHAM Advertisers' Index

Appliance Design - March 2009

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