Expert Witness Blog

In Understanding Toyota Sudden Acceleration, materials engineering expert witness Joel S. Hirschhorn writes:

When products fail due to a systemic design, materials or manufacturing flaw, large and statistically significant levels of problems emerge fairly rapidly. This is definitely not the case with the Toyota problem. With many millions of Toyota models on which even more millions of miles have been driven, if there had been an inherent materials or manufacturing design defect, then we would have seen untold thousands of cases of sudden acceleration. It literally would have been virtually a daily event happening all over the country in many Toyota models. But, in fact, little more than 1,000 Toyota and Lexus owners have reported since 2001 that their vehicles suddenly accelerated on their own. This is a tiny, minuscule percentage of Toyotas….

In my professional opinion, the likely scenario is a defect in a semiconductor chip used in the electronic control system. A defect that was caused by some infrequent flaw in a raw material or manufacturing process that would not show up in routine quality control testing of raw materials or components. That so many different Toyota models over many years have been found defective signifies the likelihood of a particular problem component made in a specific factory that has been used for quite a while. Moreover, the defect obviously does not ordinarily impair vehicle performance but only manifests itself under some infrequent conditions, as yet undetermined.

In Four Billion Cell Users : Computing Power Anytime, Anyplace, technology expert witness Ron Maltiel of RMG Associates writes:

We are on the verge of the next computing technology wave – a merging of cell phones, laptop computers, internet, gaming controllers, and navigation devices. The new products do everything a laptop can do and are small enough to fit in a pocket, are always at our fingertips, connect to the internet everywhere, all the time and lend themselves to merging the physical and cyber worlds. There will be ten times the number of mobile internet users versus desktop internet users. The potential for this market is much larger than any of the previous computing technology waves.

Since semiconductors are the major building block of these electronic devices, this growth wave will be the key driver of semiconductor chip growth. After all, integrated circuits (IC) make up half of the manufacturing cost for the Google Nexus , Apple iPhone, Motorola Droid, Palm Pre, and Toshiba TG01. Best estimates indicate an annual growth rate of 30% for semiconductor companies over the next year.

In Tough Question Requires Equally Tough Answers franchising expert witness Steven Belmonte, President and C.E.O., Hospitality Solutions LLC, asks the questions: “Are product upgrades and renovations really needed during hard economic times?”

I believe most of the major franchise companies have, to a degree (and some more than others), backed off from mandating expensive upgrades until the economy is on a strong upswing. Franchisors are realizing that in today’s economic environment, such a mandate is onerous simply because their franchisees simply can’t afford, or perhaps don’t need, certain upgrades. I applaud this mandate-backoff by the franchise giants-it makes good business sense. However, this backoff policy should be rescinded once it is obvious that the recovery is a sure thing.

It’s hard to crystal-ball such a thing, but now that things may be looking better on Wall Street-if not on Main Street-perhaps it is time to at least begin thinking about upgrades and renovations. The earlier they can be done, the sooner owners and operators will be able to reap the benefit of higher levels of customer satisfaction, repeat business and renewed customer loyalty.