Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.trends From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: trends Tue, May 26 1992 Date: Tue, 26 May 92 05:20:39 EDT Message-ID: 05-26 0000 DECISIONLINE: Trends & Marketing USA TODAY Update May 26, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network CIGAR SMOKERS LIGHT UP: A small but growing group of upscale puffers is emerging who feel that now is the time for all good cigar smokers to come out from behind the barn and return to the well-appointed parlors of America. They want to clear the air. Stub out the stigma. They're buying top-end Davidoffs and Macanudos and enjoying them with a cognac or two at some of the USA's top restaurants and hotels. (For more, see special Cigars package below.) CIRCULATION DROPS: Of the largest 50 newspapers, 34 lost circulation from the same six months a year earlier, many suffering by comparisons with increased readership last year during the gulf war, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Also hurting circulation: The recession, which has cut into sales, and the lingering effects of increases in home-delivery and newsstand prices at many newspapers. CELLULAR SEEN AS WAVE OF FUTURE: By the year 2005, cellular devices will be more important than phones or computers, predicts Craig McCaw, CEO of McCaw Cellular Communications Inc. He says cellular devices will be as integral as the telephone is today. He spoke last week at the Telephony magazine conference in Chicago. He says integrating networks is one of the most important challenges facing the industry. HIGH-TECH COMPANIES BLOSSOM: Companies that make computers, semiconductors and other high-technology gadgetry say they're seeing customers return after a long hiatus. For people who watch the industry, that's a clear indication the economy is improving. "There are all the obvious signs," says Robert Herwick, managing director of technical research at brokerage Hambrecht & Quist. IT'S A GOOD INVESTMENT: When times are tough, consumers and companies put off spending in many areas, including high-tech equipment. Last year, the recession and the gulf war hurt many high-tech companies. Now some pent-up demand is getting released. "When business is getting better at smaller companies," technology spending is a way to save on labor costs, says economist Stuart Hoffman of PNC Financial. PC PRICES DIVE: Personal-computer prices are diving almost daily. In fact, this might be a good time to pick up the best PC bargains, experts say. The supply of PCs from an army of PC makers is plentiful now, but demand may catch up as the recovery keeps churning. The average price for a PC powered by Intel's 386 microprocessor has dropped 50% from a year ago to about $1,500. GENETIC COMBO FOODS: Foods that contain genes from other life forms may be a step closer to the market. Vice President Dan Quayle, Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday announce new FDA guidelines on genetically engineered foods. The guidelines fail to treat the foods as products containing additives, says consumer advocate Jeremy Rifkin in protesting the move. BANKS TRY TO REBOUND: U.S. banks were aggressively restructuring last year, according to a USA TODAY study. The analysis of the USA's 12,296 commercial and savings banks at the end of 1991 suggests the industry may have put the worst behind it. "It's hard to deny the improvement," says William Taylor, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The number of banks listed as troubled dropped to 375 from 464 a year ago. ECONOMY FORECAST IS MEDIUM WELL: Now that Memorial Day is past, people want to know whether the economy this year will sizzle - or fizzle. Most experts expect the economy to be like a burger that's been pushed to the edge of the barbecue grill: Just keeping warm. "I don't think it's going to sizzle," says economist James Coons of Huntington National Bank in Columbus, Ohio. "It will stay warm, maybe even roast a bit." SPECIAL PACKAGE ON CIGARS: `NEW SOPHISTICATED AUDIENCE': A small but growing group of upscale puffers is emerging who feel that now is the time for cigar smokers to clear the air of the stigma associated with the action. That pleases Marvin Shanken to no end. In September, he'll launch the quarterly Cigar Aficionado for the "new sophisticated audience that smokes one or two a day and pays ... $10 a cigar." He anticipates 100,000 readers. MOST SMOKERS ARE MEN: The new wave of upscale cigar smoker is a man (99%) who spends $25.90 a week on the habit and has an average net worth of $1.54 million, according to research on potential readers commissioned by Shanken. Median age is 46, and they spend $3.12 on each cigar. Retail tobacconists report that a number of smokers in their 20s and early 30s are buying cigars. TOP BRANDS STAY AFLOAT: Cigar smoking has been declining for more than 20 years, but the more expensive brands have resisted this trend. Sales of cigars costing more than $1 (about 4% of all cigars) have doubled since 1974, to 100 million last year, Sharp says. Among these premium smokes, the most popular in the USA are the hand-rolled products from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Jamaica. (End of package.) Trends & Marketing Editor: Beth Mann. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM