A smiley is a stylized representation of a smiling humanoid face that is a part of popular culture worldwide. The classic form designed by Harvey Ball in 1963 comprises a yellow circle with two black dots representing eyes and a black arc representing the mouth On the Internet and in other plain text communication channels, the emoticon form has traditionally been most popular, typically employing a colon and a right parenthesis to form sequences such as :-), :), or (: that resemble a smiling face when viewed after rotation through 90 degrees. "Smiley" is also sometimes used as a generic term for any emoticon. The smiley has been referenced in nearly all areas of Western culture including music, movies, and art. The smiley has also been associated with late 1980s and early 1990s rave culture.
Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified business includes consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services. The company owns the largest music entertainment business in the world, the largest video game console business and one of the largest video game publishing businesses, and is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets, and a leading player in the film and television entertainment industry. Sony was ranked 97th on the 2018 Fortune Global 500 list.
Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores. Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, the company was founded by Sam Walton in 1962 and incorporated on October 31, 1969. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses. As of January 31, 2019, Walmart has 11,348 stores and clubs in 27 countries, operating under 55 different names. The company operates under the name Walmart in the United States and Canada, as Walmart de México y Centroamérica in Mexico and Central America, as Asda in the United Kingdom, as the Seiyu Group in Japan, and as Best Price in India. It has wholly owned operations in Argentina, Chile, Canada, and South Africa. Since August 2018, Walmart only holds a minority stake in Walmart Brasil, with 20% of the company's shares, and private equity firm Advent International holding 80% ownership of the company.
To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value than the real thing. Counterfeit products are fakes or unauthorized replicas of the real product. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product. The word counterfeit frequently describes both the forgeries of currency and documents, as well as the imitations of items such as clothing, handbags, shoes, pharmaceuticals, aviation and automobile parts, watches, electronics, software, works of art, toys, and movies.
Metro AG, otherwise known as Metro Group, is a German global diversified retail and wholesale/cash and carry group based in Düsseldorf. It was established in 1964 by Ernst Schmidt and Wilhelm Schmidt-Ruthenbeck. As of 2010, it was the fourth-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues.
Technicolor SA, formerly Thomson SARL and Thomson Multimedia, is a French multinational corporation that provides services and products for the communication, media and entertainment industries. Technicolor's headquarters are located in Paris, France. Other main office locations include Rennes (France), Los Angeles, Edegem (Belgium), London, Bangalore, Chennai (India) and Lawrenceville, Georgia (USA). Former US headquarters of Thomson Consumer Electronics in Carmel, Indiana (USA) was closed in 2017.
Pioneer Corporation commonly referred to as Pioneer, is a Japanese multinational corporation based in Tokyo, Japan, that specializes in digital entertainment products. The company was founded by Nozomu Matsumoto in 1938 in Tokyo as a radio and speaker repair shop, and its current president is Susumu Kotani.
Rakuten.co.uk is a website owned by Rakuten, that operates as an online marketplace. The website does not sell any products directly, but instead allows third party sellers to sell their products. The website replaced Play.com, which was originally established in Jersey as an online retailer of entertainment products including DVDs and music, which subsequently expanded its product offering.
TCL Corporation is a Chinese multinational electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells products including television sets, mobile phones, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators and small electrical appliances. In 2010 it was the world's 25th-largest consumer electronics producer. Since 2015, it remains the third-largest television manufacturer by market share.
Durabrand is a private label tradename of Walmart which was introduced in early 1999. It is nowadays available in the UK through ASDA, where it was previously known as Pacific.
Denon is a Japanese electronics company that was involved in the early stages of development of digital audio technology, while specializing in the manufacture of high-fidelity professional and consumer audio equipment. For many decades, Denon was a brand name of Nippon-Columbia, including the Nippon Columbia record label. The Denon brand came from a merger of Denki Onkyo and others in 1939. In 2001, Denon was spun off as a separate company with 98% held by Ripplewood Holdings and 2% by Hitachi. In 2002, Denon merged with Marantz to form D&M Holdings. On March 1, 2017, Sound United LLC completed the acquisition of D+M Holdings.
Media Play was a chain of retail stores founded in 1992 by Musicland that sold movies on video, DVDs, music, electronics, video games, books, and games in the United States. Each store essentially contained a book store, a movie store, a music store, and a video game store under one roof. At their height, they operated 72 stores in 19 states with 2,000 employees. The first store opened in Rockford, Illinois, in 1992. Hundreds of stores were slated to be opened, but only 89 ever were. Media Play opened stores from 1992 to 2000.
Orion Electric Co., Ltd. is a Japanese consumer electronics company which was established in 1958 at Osaka, Japan. It is based in the city of Echizen, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Original products manufactured were transistor radios, radio cassette recorders, car stereos, and music centers. One of the world's largest OEM television and video manufacturers that mostly supply to major-brand OEM customers today, Orion produces six million televisions and twelve million DVD players and TV combo units each year. Most products are usually manufactured in the factories of Thailand.
JB Hi-Fi is an Australian retailer of consumer goods, specialising in video games, Ultra HD Blu-rays, Blu-rays, DVDs, CDs, electronics/hardware, electrical home appliances, mobile phones and a number of Telstra services.
Harman International Industries, Inc., commonly known as Harman, is an American subsidiary of South Korea-based Samsung Electronics that produces, designs and engineers connected products for automakers, consumers and enterprises worldwide, including connected car systems; audio and visual products, enterprise automation; and connected services. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Harman maintains major operations in the Americas, Europe, as well as Asia and markets its products under several brands; such as AKG, AMX, Becker, Crown, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon, dbx, DigiTech, Mark Levinson, Martin, Revel, Soundcraft, Studer, Arcam, and BSS Audio.
Layaway is an agreement in which the seller reserves an item for a consumer until the consumer completes all the payments necessary to pay for that item.
Coby Electronics Corporation was an American manufacturer of consumer electronics products headquartered in Lake Success, New York, with offices and factories around the world. With the joint efforts of Coby Electronics Co. of Hong Kong and Coby Electronics Corp. of the United States, the products reached consumers in Asia, North America, South America and Europe; however, the company mostly sold in Europe and the United States. Coby also served as an OEM manufacturer for brands including Samsung, NEC, RadioShack's Presidian brand and Hyundai. Coby formerly provided OEM manufacturing for Daewoo before it became defunct. Although Coby closed down, its products are still widely spread and used today.
Vestel is a Turkish home and professional appliances manufacturing company consisting of 18 companies specialised in electronics, major appliances and information technology. Vestel's headquarters and production plant are located in Manisa, while the company's parent conglomerate is the Istanbul based Zorlu Holding.
Funai Electric Co., Ltd. is a Japanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Daitō, Osaka, Japan. Its United States-based subsidiary Funai Corporation, Inc., based in Torrance, California, markets Funai products in the US along with Funai-licensed brands including Magnavox, Emerson Radio, and Sanyo.
