The TouchPad is dead. Long live the TouchPad.

Hewlett-Packard Co. said it will temporarily resume manufacturing of its ill-fated tablet computer just 11 days after killing its iPad rival as part of a sweeping corporate overhaul.

The resurrection of the TouchPad follows a spike in demand after H-P, desperate to clear out unsold inventory that had piled up at retailers, slashed the price of the low-end model from $399 to $99.

The decision to discontinue the TouchPad came less than two months after the tablet first went on sale in July, but made little traction against Apple Inc.’s iPad despite an earlier 20% price drop. H-P executives said sales were too weak to justify continued investment.

H-P didn’t say what it would charge for the new batch of TouchPads, but cautioned potential buyers there might not be enough to go around.

“We don’t know exactly when these units will be available or how many we’ll get,” H-P spokesman Mark Budgell wrote on a company blog. “We can’t promise we’ll have enough for everyone.” The company said it is pleased by the response it has gotten so far.

To read the rest of the story, either contact me directly or read more online at the WSJ: here. (subscription required)

(Originally published Aug. 31 2011 in the Wall Street Journal.)

Steve Jobs turned Apple Inc. into the world’s most valuable technology company with high-tech products like the iPad and iPhone. But one anchor of Apple’s success is surprisingly low tech: its chain of brick-and-mortar retail stores.

A look at confidential training manuals, a recording of a store meeting and interviews with more than a dozen current and former employees reveal some of Apple’s store secrets. They include: intensive control of how employees interact with customers, scripted training for on-site tech support and consideration of every store detail down to the pre-loaded photos and music on demo devices.

More people now visit Apple’s 326 stores in a single quarter than the 60 million who visited Walt Disney Co.’s four biggest theme parks last year, according to data from Apple and the Themed Entertainment Association. Apple’s annual retail sales per square foot have soared to $4,406—excluding online sales, according to investment bank Needham & Co. Add in online sales, which include iTunes, and the number jumps to $5,914. That’s far higher than the sales per square foot and online sales of jeweler Tiffany & Co. ($3,070), luxury retailer Coach Inc. ($1,776), and electronics retailer Best Buy Co. ($880), according to estimates.

With their airy interiors and attractive lighting, Apple’s stores project a carefree and casual atmosphere. Yet Apple keeps a tight lid on how they operate. Employees are ordered to not discuss rumors about products, technicians are forbidden from prematurely acknowledging widespread glitches and anyone caught writing about the Cupertino, Calif., company on the Internet is fired, according to current and former employees.

Behind Apple stores is Ron Johnson, 52, who J.C. Penney Co. confirmed Tuesday would become its new CEO in November.

Apple’s retail success is fueled to a large extent by demand for the company’s products. Retail analysts say many of Apple’s advantages over rivals such as Best Buy are technical: It sells a single brand, has far fewer products and has only a few hundred stores compared to Best Buy’s more than 4,000. As the company continues to expand, some analysts expect it to face more pressure to consistently execute good customer service. Some former employees say they have already seen the quality of Apple retail staff decline as the retail network has expanded and has fewer enthusiastic fans to choose from.

To read the rest of the story, either contact me directly or read more online at the WSJ: here. (subscription required)

(Originally published June 15, 2011 on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.)

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The holiday shopping season, which starts online Cyber Monday, promises to be very good for Apple Inc.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based consumer electronics giant will likely take advantage of the gift-giving season to flex its muscles, grabbing market share for its popular iPod, iPhone and iPad products.

In particular, analysts say Apple will lock down its dominance of the touchscreen computer market, moving more of its iPad tablet devices through retail partners, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Verizon Wireless. A recent survey by ChangeWave Research found that 9% of holiday shoppers plan to buy an iPad in the next 90 days. Apple has sold more than seven million iPads since the device went on sale in April.

Of course, Apple won’t be the only beneficiary of the season’s spirit. Smartphones are expected to do well as more utilities and productivity apps become available for phones running Google Inc.’s Android operating system, as well as Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Palm products. That software, known as apps, gives people a reason—other than making calls—to use their phones.

To read the rest of the story, either contact me directly or read more online at the WSJ: here. (subscription required)

(Originally published Nov. 29, 2010, in the Wall Street Journal.)

Apple Inc. will unveil Wednesday a new version of its computer operating software, a development that comes as the consumer-electronics giant makes a more aggressive move to expand in a market that has historically eluded it: corporate customers.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company will hold an event dubbed “Back to the Mac,” a reference to its line of laptop and desktop computers. The event, which comes just two days after Apple’s planned fourth-quarter earnings release, will feature new bells and whistles in the software that powers Macs and possibly new computer models.

The event comes amid Apple’s rapid transformation. Once known for computers popular with students and graphic designers, the company morphed into a mobile-device giant as its iPod, iPhone and iPad products took off with consumers. Now, those devices are proving popular with business executives, driving Apple to aggressively move into the corporate market.

To read the rest of the story, either contact me directly or read more online at the WSJ: here. (subscription required)

(Originally published Oct. 18, 2010, in the Wall Street Journal.)

This year’s All Things Organic conference and expo showcased necessity as the mother of invention. Slumping sales and a weak economy have forced the industry to innovate just to hold onto customers.

In a 2009 briefing on the organic packaged food market, Euromonitor International said the largest threat to the future growth of organic products is price sensitivity among U.S. consumers in the current economic climate.

“In previous years, many consumers were willing to trade up to premium products,” the briefing said. “However, more consumers are looking to trade down, as they can no longer afford to even try some premium products, much less purchase them on a regular basis.”

The response has been for some companies to expand their product offerings, such as Clorox’s Green Works laundry detergent, hitting store shelves this summer, and Rain Organic Vodka’s new lavender flavor.

Others are expanding their reach as they try to drive sales. Safeway’s O Organics line, for example, is now in other grocery chains, such as Albertsons.

Still, people were all smiles, saying that while their sales were down, their companies had still experienced growth. In their eyes, weathering the economic storm means that they’re just that much more prepared for the recovery.

Watch the audio slide show below:

(Video by Reuters/Ian Sherr)

(By Ian Sherr. Originally published June 22, 2009 on the Reuters News “Shop Talk” blog, here.)

Part I:

Part II:

This project represents the majority of my work while interning at KCBS between January and May of 2009. I organized, produced, edited and implemented this multimedia project from beginning to end.

See the full centennial website, here.

More of china’s people wander their country and the world seeking work, love and community. Yet Beijing’s new magnetism pulls at them. Watch stories of hustle, stress, and solace on the streets of Beijing and beyond.

“Nesting”

(Beijing Beat was produced for the Washington Post’s “Emerging Voices” project, and published on the front page of the Washington Post website for nearly a week during the Beijing Olympic Games. The entire project is available at the Post’s website, here.)

By Ian Sherr

PALO ALTO, California (AFP) — Two US men on Friday claimed to have found the body of “Bigfoot,” the legendary ape-like creature that has been the subject of decades of hoaxes and dubious sightings.

Matthew Whitton and Rick Dyer claimed before a crowd of sceptical reporters that they were hiking in a northern part of the US state of Georgia in June when they stumbled upon a body near water.

“I recognized it was unusual right away,” Whitton told the press conference in Palo Alto. “The first thing that pops into your head is that it’s Bigfoot.”

The body was said to be seven-feet, seven-inches tall and weigh more than 500 pounds. The men claimed to have stored the body in a freezer.

Photos of the “corpse” were posted at www.searchingforbigfoot.com. Advertising on the Web page Friday offered Bigfoot T-shirts and films.

Reports of Whitton and Dyer’s “find” appeared across national print and US media on Friday, with many experts suspicious of the men’s claims.

Jeffrey Meldrum, a prominent Bigfoot expert and professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University told Scientific American.com he doubted the find was legitimate.

“I’m extremely skeptical about this bigfoot claim,” he said. “What I’ve seen so far is not compelling in the least, and I think the pictures cast grave doubts on their claim. It just looks like a costume with some fake guts thrown on top for effect.”

Bigfoot, also referred to as “Sasquatch,” tells of a gargantuan, elusive furred creature that walks upright and lives in remote forests in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada.

Georgia is in the country’s south.

Many scientists believe Bigfoot is folklore instead of fact.

Biscardi says he has been tracking Bigfoot since 1971 and speaks of his efforts on an internet radio show.

(By Ian Sherr. Originally published Aug 15, 2008, on the wire with the Agence France-Presse, here. Photos published with the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, and CNN .)

By Ian Sherr

The Beijing Olympic Torch made its only appearance in North America on Wednesday. After protests disrupted the torch relay in Europe, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom changed the planned route without an announcement to the public.

Click to watch the video

Video produced by the Center for Digital TV and the World with April Dembosky, Marnette Federis, Julie Johnson, Alison Satake, Kerry Seed, and Ian Sherr.

(Originally published April 10, 2008 with the Washington Post, here.)