Challenger Technologies

[dreamybear]

While Challenger continues to make good money, its competitor Newstead is driven to liquidation.

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/Challeng...eID=543740

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/de...iquidators

Both operate in the same space of retailing computer/IT peripherals, with similar products and cost structures. Only the people managing the business are different. If this is indeed the case, then what has Challenger's management been doing that is different from their competitors? To the effect that the former soared while the latter sunk?

From a customer service perspective, does Newstead perform poorer compared to Challenger? Perhaps frequent shoppers of these two establishments may share their experiences.

On a more general business analysis perspective, how do we identify management that will deliver superior results?

This stock has baffled me for a long time - the performance of the stock has been pretty good(at least imo) despite .....

No offence to investors of this stock, but personally, for me, I can rarely find any reason to shop in Challenger even in the past, maybe to buy MS product licence and that's about all. I do not find any of their products unique nor prices cheap. I do not know of anyone who shops there regularly, and also noticed most of the customers in the shop are merely browsing rather than making purchases. Even their own brand valore products do not seem value-for-money despite it being touted to be. During the past few years, I have been buying IT products regularly from Qoo10 where the prices are much cheaper.

Based simply on observations, I think we can sort of predict it is only a matter of time for IT retailers(e.g. Newstead, Epicentre) to decline, given that they are acting as mere middleman without any revolutionary change in business strategy or in the working world, we say its insufficient to just value add, we need to value create nowadays. Furthermore, there are many IT retailers as competitiors, rental and manpower costs are very high in SG, yet margins for IT products are low.

As a sidetrack, I am also surprised that the organizers of IT exhibitions(e.g. Comex, IT show, PC show) are still continuing in their old business strategies, despite the unstoppable trend towards online shopping.

No, I do not have the answer to Challenger's magic formula(my best guess wld be corporate sales, IT services or membership). Challenger seems to be doing something very right indeed despite all the challenges, and I am also very keen to know the answer !