New Business Strengthens NPD's Portfolio of Information Services
PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, May 3, 2007 - Expanding its leadership in the sales and marketing information industry, The NPD Group has acquired the consumer electronics, imaging, and computer business sectors of Current Analysis, Inc. The new entity will be called Current Analysis West and will continue to provide causal information including competitive pricing, promotions and share of shelf; analytical expertise; and competitive response solutions.
Current Analysis West will be an autonomous business under the NPD umbrella. Its portfolio of services will complement NPD's robust sell-through information on national and local markets and the supply chain information available through DisplaySearch, also an NPD Group company. Current Analysis West will remain based in San Diego, which will also become NPD's west coast headquarters.
The leadership team will be headed by Rupert Walters, Group President for NPD. Current Analysis veterans Rich Alires, Executive Vice President, and Patrik Schmidle, Vice President Operations and Product Management, will take the helm for Current Analysis West in San Diego, reporting to Walters. Amadeo Rodriguez, NPD Director, will serve as chief liaison between NPD and Current Analysis West and will work closely with Walters on the development of overall business strategy and product strategy for the combined enterprise.
"Our vision is to capitalize on our respective strengths in order to provide a higher level of information and solutions, initially to the consumer technology industry and, ultimately, for other industries," said Walters. "Current Analysis West offers a unique combination of causal data, tools, and analysis that we believe will enhance our business and lead to long-term growth opportunities."
"We believe our clients and retailer partners will benefit from this transaction and from NPD's commitment to continuing to raise the bar on market information," said Raymond Keneipp, President and COO of Current Analysis. "We are working with NPD and the Current Analysis West team to ensure a smooth transition of the business with no disruption in the delivery of information. The remaining Current Analysis team will continue to deliver world-class competitive response services to its customers in the telecommunications, networking, and business software industries."
About The NPD Group, Inc.
The NPD Group is the leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Today, more than 1,600 manufacturers, retailers, and service companies rely on NPD to help them drive critical business decisions at the global, national, and local market levels. NPD helps its clients to identify new business opportunities and guide product development, marketing, sales, merchandising, and other functions.
Information is available for the following industry sectors: automotive, beauty, commercial technology, consumer technology, entertainment, fashion, food and beverage, foodservice, home, office supplies, software, sports, toys, and wireless. For more information, visit http://www.npd.com.
About Current Analysis West
Current Analysis West, an NPD Group company, offers businesses in the consumer electronics, imaging, and computer sectors a unique combination of data, tools, and analysis in formats that are tailored to facilitate competitive response. Information available through Current Analysis West includes competitive pricing, promotions, and share of shelf, linked to retail sales tracking data. Their analysts offer insight, interpretation, and recommendations that enable clients to address a wide range of business issues. Clients receive all of this information in a timely manner through the Current Analysis West online delivery platform. For more information, visit http://www.currentanalysiswest.com.
About Current Analysis
Current Analysis has been helping leading technology companies improve their competitive responsiveness since 1997. Sales teams, product managers, and marketing professionals rely on Current Analysis for the latest competitive analysis and tactical advice. Current Analysis' structured, rapid competitive response solutions help companies improve their business performance and create a repeatable process advantage over competitors. The company serves more than 40,000 users at over 200 enterprise clients across the telecommunications, networking, and business software industries. For more information, visit Current Analysis at http://www.currentanalysis.com.
