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Dublin: 10 °C Monday 20 May, 2013

In photos: 8 brands you won’t see after 2012

See which names made it into 24/7 Wall St’s list of brands it expects to disappear over the next 18 months.

Image: AP Photo/Frank Augstein

NOKIA, SAAB, MySpace and Sony Ericsson: four of the brands that are likely to disappear in the coming year and a half, according to the business news site 24/7 Wall St.

Some of the brands, like American Apparel, are suffering from falling sales, liquidity issues and the rising cost of raw materials.

The site says it made its selection on the basis of parent company disclosures about the likelihood of shutting down operations, a downturn in profits, bankruptcy, and rising operating costs.

Car manufacturer Saab admitted this week that it does not have enough money to pay its employees. The company said it is struggling to secure short-term funding to enable it to issue the pay cheques, but says it’s “not giving up”. Saab sold just 30,000 cars last year, when it needs to offload an estimated 120,000 of them to break even.

Meanwhile, Nokia announced recently that it would be cutting 4,000 jobs worldwide by the end of next year as it works to cut costs and counter competition from its rivals. Its CEO Stephen Elop issued an internal memo earlier this year outlining the company’s plummeting performance and its struggles across each of the high-, mid- and low-end product ranges.

In photos: 8 of the brands listed by 24/7 Wall St:

In photos: 8 brands you won’t see after 2012
1 / 8
  • Nokia

    (Photo: Andrew Matthews/EMPICS Sport)
  • Kellogg's Corn Pops

    (Photo: AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
  • American Apparel

    (Photo: Katie Collins/PA)
  • Sears

    (Photo: The Canadian Press/Geoff Howe)
  • MySpace

    (Photo: Martin Keene/PA Wire)
  • Saab

    (Photo: AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
  • Sony Ericsson

    (Photo: AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)
  • Sony Pictures

    (Image: www.sonypictures.com)

Read more about these and other troubled brands on 24/7 Wall St >

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Comments (13 Comments)

  • I have to say whoever thinks that Nokia is going to disappear in the next 18 months needs an absolute kick in the nads. They’ve about 150,000 employees around the world and sell billions worth of phones each year. They’ll be around, maybe not as dominant but they’ll be around for a long time.

    Reply
    • I don’t think the wording in the original Wall St article is great. A company and a brand aren’t the same thing.

      For instance, MINI as a brand is still around, but the original company (and pretty much everything to do with it) are no more. The rights to the SAAB brand could be sold again, while the company itself goes bust. On the flip side, Nokia could come out with a new brand for their phones.

      Reply
    • oops – didn’t mean to reply to that Stephen’s particular post; it was a general observation

      Reply
  • Nokia going away?
    /facepalm
    From the 2% of the market that is the smartphone market, *maybe*.
    But for the other 98%, particularly in the emerging nations markets, Nokia has over 50% of the market share. They’re not going anywhere anytime soon.

    Reply
  • Reading the report in detail from WALL STREET, of course these companies could fail as investors worry/panic and sell their stakes, leading to competitors buying them up, all I can make out is that a lot of monopolies would be created if all came true, surely that is against the principal of competition/capitalism?

    Honestly, should Wall Street be allowed publish reports like this? Does this not undermine the core of competition, I mean, it’s not the same as a celebs best/worst dressed list if you get my drift…

    Reply
  • Folks, a gentle reminder – it’s BRANDS, not companies. I think one might surmise that ‘Nokia’ might disappear because the phone business may end up being wholly subsumed by Microsoft.

    Reply
  • Oh no not Corn pops…

    Reply
  • I disagree with the Sony Ericsson part, they’re really starting to gain some traction in the Smartphone market and churning out some fantastic handset, like the Xperia Arc.

    Reply
  • Good interjection Gavan!
    Nokia have dropped from 80% of irish Market share to below 50%, and are moving to MS platform.. But they’ll continue to lose Market share.
    It looks like there’ll be a convergence towards OS, Android and prob MS, so any phone ‘brand’ not compatible will be in trouble…

    Reply
  • Should I start to worry about this news? Will there be counseling and/or group support offered?

    Reply
  • Oh please let SE go bump :D

    Reply
  • No problem they simply need a marketing makeover from the master bill Cullen eg

    “Saab , sierra alpha alpha bollocks”

    Nokia ring tone
    “Doodle oo doodle doo doo splat”

    “myspace? My arse”

    “Sony , old rope has never cost so much”

    That should do it

    Reply

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