of its 3,000 American stores. (The company’s non-American operations and franchised outlets are not affected by the bankruptcy filing.) The growth of Netflix, a technologically savvy company with a vastly superior website and an attractive subscription model, was hard on Blockbuster. But the firm was caught in a pincer movement. On one side was Netflix. On the other was the decidedly low-tech Redbox, owned by Coinstar. Redbox rents films for one dollar a night through kiosks in drug and grocery stores—a 1950s technology applied successfully to a new medium. Netflix is a long-tail company. Its vast selection of DVDs means consumers with rarefied tastes can indulge their taste for Satyajit Ray films and Italian comedies. The firm is promoting the online streaming of older films, which subscribers will increasingly be able to obtain through internet-connected television sets. Redbox, in contrast, focuses on big films and recently-released DVDs. Blockbuster thus faces a “clicks” competitor that offers an enormous selection of films and a “mortar” competitor that specialises in hits. Life in between is tough.
Tears in Tinseltown
There will be no gloating in Hollywood at Blockbuster’s struggles. Although the film studios greatly prefer to sell DVDs than rent them, they would rather rent through Blockbuster than through Netflix or Redbox. Warner Bros estimated in December that it makes $1.45 when a film is rented from a bricks-and-mortar store. It makes $1.25 from a subscription rental, and just one dollar when a film is rented from a kiosk (most people keep their dollar-a-night kiosk movies for two nights). And Blockbuster sells DVDs as well as renting them. Hollywood wants to persuade consumers to rent films as videos-on-demand through their cable and satellite boxes. On each of these Warner Bros earns fully $3.50. To goose demand, studios now release some films as videos-on- demand before bringing them out on DVD. The worry is that the growth of two low-priced alternatives will persuade couch potatoes that films can be had cheaply. Netflix and Redbox have severely wounded Blockbuster. The next battle will pit them against the cable companies.
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Airbus to launch a new A320 version
Cleared for take-off
Sep 23rd 2010, 10:42 by The Economist online | TOULOUSE
AIRBUS is about to unveil a new version of its best-selling A320 aircraft. Along with its main rival, the Boeing 737, such single-aisle planes are the workhorses of worldwide aviation, accounting for four out of five commercial jets sold. But the Airbus A320 NEO will not be an allnew aircraft built from scratch; instead it will be an upgraded version of the classic A320, with a choice of two new, advanced engines which will offer big savings in fuel consumption. Airbus bosses will meet on September 30th to put the finishing touches to the $1.3 billion project before putting it to the parent company, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS). John Leahy, an Airbus executive, hopes to begin marketing the new plane as early as mid-October. Airbus’s chief executive Tom Enders says his only remaining concern is to be reassured that his core team of 200-300 senior engineers can move on to the new single-aisle plane without disrupting other programmes, such as the A350 wide-body jet or the A400M military transporter—both of which have already suffered delays. That hurdle should be cleared at next week’s meeting. One of the new engines, Pratt & Whitney’s geared turbo-fan, cuts fuel consumption by incorporating a gearbox that allows the air-intake fan to run at a different speed to the turbine that generates the thrust, unlike conventional jet engines. The other, an advanced version of the CFM56 engine made by a joint venture between America’s General Electric and France’s Safran, improves mileage by running at hotter temperatures than the current version.
Developing an all-new A320 would cost at least $10 billion. But Airbus does not believe the technology is currently available to make a big enough leap forward to justify spending that much. Mr Leahy points out that on smaller planes, unlike on large wide-bodies, it is difficult to achieve significant fuel economies through weight reduction, by using carbon-fibre composites instead of aluminium. Moreover, both Airbus
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and Boeing have found on their large-aircraft programmes that switching to carbon fibre is a lot harder than they had expected
Mr Leahy thinks the new A320 NEO—which is likely to cost up to $8m more than the current model—will keep the product line going until 2025. He foresees sales of a further 4,000 planes, which is as many as it has delivered since the first A320s were launched in 1988. By 2025, he believes engine and composite fuselage technology should be ready for a dramatic improvement in weight and fuel economy. In the mean time, a touch of “frugal innovation” will keep the orders rolling in from costconscious airlines.
France's reputation
Carla's charm offensive
Sep 21st 2010, 12:23 by The Economist | PARIS
IT HAS been a disastrous week for France’s public image, but now the presidency has struck back. As part of a rescue operation, President Nicolas Sarkozy called yesterday for a global finance tax to help the world’s poor, during a speech at a UN anti-poverty summit in New York. He persuaded Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, to pose with him for the cameras, just days after her office had denied his version of a conversation the pair had had in Brussels over the expulsion of illegal Roma. And Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the president’s wife, put in an elegant performance on CNN to quash rumours about her published in two new French books. Mr Sarkozy’s suggestion that a modified version of the so-called "Tobin tax" be put in place to raise money to finance development in Africa and elsewhere is likely to go nowhere, since the Americans aren't interested. But it could help to soften his image abroad, after the widespread international condemnation he has faced for the highprofile expulsion of illegal Roma in France this summer. The Elysée clearly wants to draw a line under the affair, after the row hijacked last week's EU summit in Brussels, undermining the president’s standing just weeks before France takes over the presidency of the G20, in midNovember. Now the president’s wife has been recruited to the charm
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offensive too. In her CNN interview, which was conducted in English, she denied that Michelle Obama had told her that life in the White House is “hell, I can’t stand it.” This was the most diplomatically damaging of the various rumours published last week in Carla and the Ambitious, a book—unauthorised, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy added - by Michaël Darmon and Yves Derai, two French journalists. A spokeswoman for Mrs Obama had already denied the claim. In the midst of an outbreak of anti-sarkozysme in France, and concerns about the protection of journalists’ sources and the freedom of the press, Ms Bruni-Sarkozy made one other comment of particular note. “I live in France, and France is a free country where anyone can fantasise [about something] and print it,” she said. As a democrat, she went on, she believes that everybody should be free to say and write what they like. Which prompts a question: was she speaking just for herself, or on behalf of her husband too?
Organize a discussion in your group. While making a presentation you should keep in mind the following points:
in my opinion first of all
in general in the end my aim is
consequently as stated
as have already been mentioned to my mind
as mentioned above generally speaking
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Remember!
Good communicators:
-listen to people and take in what is said
-maintain eye contact and have a relaxed body language
-seldom interrupt and stop people talking
-if they want to clarify something the wait for a suitable opportunity
-good at given information
-do not confuse their listeners
-make their point clearly
-avoid technical terms, abbreviations or jargon
-give easy to understand examples
-not lose sight of their main message
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