Radio Shack

[Ali]

> I seem to recall reading within the last month or three, somebody's
> opinion where they took the total number of Arduinos reported to have
> ever been sold, estimated the total revenue of all of them, contrasted
> that against the vastly larger annual revenue of the ailing Radio
> Shack, and concluded that the maker movement just isn't large enough to
> have made a difference in Radio Shack's survival even if Radio Shack
> was the movement's sole supplier. As much as many of us (including me!)
> lament the passing of the old local source for electronic components,
> I've seen plausible arguments that component sales have never been a
> large percentage of the revenue that kept Radio Shack store doors open.

Mark,

I don't know about everyone else but what I had been talking about was a
shift from selling cell phones and "beats" head phones which you can buy
ANYWHERE (i.e. Mall, Mail Order, Best Buy, Staples) to stuff you can't find
everywhere. Hobbyist kits, specialty batteries, cheap cables (think
monoprice not monster), weird converters, connectors, electronic parts
(caps, resistors, ribbon cable, bread boards), etc. RS was not going to be
saved by one single product nor by competing in the super crowded space of
cell phones. They would also have to cut revenue expectations and costs. 

This may have saved the company and maybe not. So why didn't management go
this route? More than likely because it was far more profitable for them to
declare bankruptcy, take their golden parachutes, and run. 

Survival is a big deal for mom and pop businesses in big corporations just
hanging on is never the top priority.