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Chairman and CEO of Mitek Corporation
The electronics industry has been in a recession for over six months. There's going to be great opportunity in our industry today, but there's going to be two kinds of businesses this year and next year: the quick and the dead. If you're not totally involved in your business, I'm recommending you get out quick.
[Higher prices] have been hitting, but [U.S.] retailers have refused to accept the price increase, so distributors and manufacturers are being squeezed out. The large big boxes are continuing to dig in their heels, saying, 'We do not to accept price increases.' They're squeezing their vendors to the point of collapse. I expect to see severe implosion in our industry, and all the small companies will disappear. You will see this in mobile audio during January CES. In the North Hall, you will see an incredible amount of open space.
The next thing China will deal with is incredible inflation. The price of copper is going up 400 percent in China. Labor costs are outrageous and they are increasing. They're talking about cutting power during the Olympics [and] shutting down factories for four months in order to clean the air. Because of the Olympics and the factory closings [in...