Michael Davidson has been a front runner in the industry since he started at Dion Stores in 1985 and has brought irreplaceable #knowledge and value to us in so many ways.
Since then Mike has been a stand out in the sector and we are so glad that Mike has been a part of the ISER/Expert Stores team for 18 fantastic years. He has seen many innovations over the years and was heavily involved in the launch of these products in South Africa retail – products that #revolutionised the consumer electronics industry! Mike has been the Buyer and Merchandise Exec for so many products from the start of their life cycle and even in some cases to the end of them too!
- TV was only launched in late 1975. The big brands were Barlow Vision, Telefunken, Sony, Blaupunkt Philips, and Salora TV
- VCRs only became massive in the late 70s and exploded in the 80s. Sony, JVC, Panasonic, Philips, Sharp, Mitsubishi were the brand leaders
- TV games- the first big one was Atari in the early 80s
- Home computers – Commodore 64amd the Spectrum ZX81 – in the early 80s
- MNET was launched in 1986 and promoted sales of big-screen TVs for the first time as they launched “Sport” like we never had before.
- IBM Compatible DOS PCs – the real start of Business PCs in SA in the late 80s
- Video Cameras in the late 80s – doubled the photographic business. Sony, Panasonic JVC, and Sanyo were the most popular
- CDs replaced 4T tape and LPs in the late 80s – the most exciting product to be the buyer for in those days
- Knock off Nintendo Games launched by Dion in the early 90s – the gaming market really took off
- Mobile launched in 1994 in SA, Nokia and Motorola were the first big brands
- Multi-Head VCRs with Hi-Fi Stereo and more gave us the first Home Theatre in the mid- 90s
- DSTV with Pace Satellite Receiver was launched in 1995 and saw the demand for TV grow even more
- DVD started in the late 90s and VCRs declined to nothing over the next few years
- 5.1 Home theatre systems started after that in a big way and exploded the audio market
- Play Station launched – among the very first retailers to launch them was Stax in early 1995
- Digital cameras launched in mid-90s but took off in the late 90s
- The Apple iPod and MP3 launched – the beginning of the end for the music industry in the early 2000s
- Panel TV – Invented in the late 90s, only took off in SA in about 2004/5 when LG launched Plasma Screens 42”
- Blu Ray launched in 2006 – first digital discs
- LCD TVs expand the TV market even more this time with Samsung leading the way from 2007 / 2008
- Tablets with brand leader Apple iPad launched in SA in late 2012
- Smartphones launched in 2008/9 but the market exploded with the launch of the iPhone 4 with a decent camera and iTunes in late 2010 in SA – started the acceleration of the demise of the music and Photo Industry
- Streaming launched and became mainstream with the advent of Smart TV launched in 2011 / 12 but really taken off in the last few years
You will always be remembered for your hard work throughout the years. We all are grateful to you for your guidance, support, and great leadership. We wish you a happy, healthy, and adventurous life after retirement. May this new chapter brings joy, laughter, and #triumph in your life.
Thank you for your dedication to the team. Enjoy your #retirement!
