The Best One Yet - 👾 “Donkey Kong’s gray hairs” — Nintendo’s Switch sitch. Best Buy’s skincare search. Tesla’s China challenge.

Episode Date: May 11, 2022

Mario’s mustache is going gray because Nintendo’s iconic Switch console is aging fast. Best Buy’s newest product is… skincare and patio furniture (because the search bar is corporate truth serum). And if you want to know how bad the lockdown situation is in China, just look at Tesla: April sales in China plummeted 98%.$NTDOY $TSLA $BBYFollow us on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nice denim shirt, by the way. You like it? Because I felt like it was jeans from my upper body. And no one knows the difference. Three, two. This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, May 11th, and today's pod is the best one yet, Jack.

Besties versus Yeties. What's the poll update? Okay, pull update. Jack, slight edge for Yeties over on Twitter. But slight edge for Besties on Instagram. CNN says it's so too close to call. Jack, one sec, one sec. I'm getting an update.

I'm getting an update. Yeti's pulling ahead on YouTube. Yet he's pulling ahead on YouTube. TVOI for our first story, Nintendo, just announced earnings, but we have to ask, is the Switch console growing some gray hair? New console. New era. For our second story, Best Buy, the electronics retailer is adding furniture.

Yeah, skincare and patio furniture. That's what Best Buy does. For our third and final story, you want to know how bad the lockdown situation in China is right now? Look at Tesla's results. Tesla's China sales? down 98%. But before we hit that wonderful mix, Nick, a fantastic mix for a Wednesday check.

Tom Brady's already defied the laws of aging multiple times. Tom Brady, he doesn't drink cool blue gatorade. He drinks from the fountain of youth. But now Tom is defying the laws of careering. What Tom Brady just pulled off is going to break LinkedIn. Tom Brady just got a job for retirement. Even though Tom Brady hasn't yet retired. He's playing in the NFL this season for what, the Miami Dolphins?

But he also, who knows, but he also just signed a deal to become a TV commentator once he's done Cuban. Okay, so get this. He is going to make more money talking about football on TV than he does playing about football right now. Jack, ipso facto, Tom Brady is more valuable off the field than it is on the field. We jumped in T-boy style. Right now, Tom Brady's making about $25 million a year to avoid getting sacked by a defense event. Well, on Fox, he's going to make $35 million a year to critique other QB. for getting sacked.

By that defense event. Exactly. So he's paid more to chat about his old job than to do his old job. What we're trying to say here is LinkedIn. You should add a future job section, probably now. Right now, Nick and I are co-hosts of this podcast. But Jack, when we're done, we could be hosting a podcast talking about other people's podcasts. Yeah, that's our Tom Tyerman plan right there.

Jack and I aren't career advisors, but everyone needs a Tom Tyerman plan. Let's Tom Tyra on three stars. These met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the 50% that's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more.

So just start the show. Start the show. For our first story, Jack, grab a mushroom. Nintendo's earnings just revealed that the Nintendo switch, it's aging. It's past its peak. Which means it's time for a new era at Nintendo. All right, you want to whip up the trivia that you've been teasing me all day about? is the only country in the world with two cities of a million people or more, and those two cities

are anagrams of each other. Jack, you underestimate me. Here it is. You ready? Yeah. Princess Peaches Castle and Browser's Castle. False. Japan has Tokyo and Kyoto, which is the headquarters of Nintendo.

Boom, it all comes full circle. Besties, Yeties. The icon of Japanese tech and business industry is Nintendo. Donkey Kong. The Mario Brothers, Zelda, they are the Mickey, Mini, and Goofy of Japanese entertainment. Well, funny thing, all those wonderful characters depend on the latest Nintendo gaming console to survive. That's right. Our world is Pikachu's Metaverse.

Now it really comes full circle. Well, at the moment, Nintendo has the iPhone of gaming consoles. The Switch. They're Blockbuster Profit Puppy that's in 100 million homes. But here's the problem Jack and I just picked up on, Nintendo just kind of confirmed what we've been fearing. Nintendo Switch sales are slower. Jack, in 2020, Nintendo sold 29 million Nintendo Switch consoles.

Last year, Nintendo sold 23 million. This year, Nintendo's only expected to sell 21 million Switch consoles. That's the news, which means this championship-winning video game consoles looking less Tom Brady. Yeah. More Drew Bloods up. Exactly. Well, it's actually easy to see why, because the Switch is getting old.

And all you have to do is look at the competition. The Switch's competition is right across the island. Sony, Japanese gaming company, they make the PlayStation. And Sony has been whipping up a new PlayStation every six to seven years since 1994. Great year. It's like clockwork. They've never had a PlayStation older than six or seven years. But the Switch console from Nintendo, it came out in March 2017.

And Jack, I don't have the birth certificate on me, but how old are we talking on this thing? It's going on six years now. I think I see some gray buttons on that control. It's kind of cracking over there. We're seeing the Switch slipping on banana peels more than it used to. Jack, that Nintendo Switch, it's not shooting the red shells like it used to. And because the Switch is getting old, you get the purchase problem. Oh, the purchase problem.

Jack, are you going to drop $300 bucks on a Nintendo Switch under these circumstances? Probably not, because you could just wait a little bit longer for a not yet announced, but almost definitely coming next big thing. So, Jack, what to ease the takeaway for our buddies over on Nintendo? with the Mario. Hardware? It's like star athletes. It defines an era. So the way Jack and I see Nintendo, its eras are defined by one key player just like a sports team. The Pistons had the Isaiah Thomas era. The Heat had the LeBron era. The Rangers. Lundquist and the goal. Classic. Well, Apple, it had the iPhone era, the star product that has determined if it wins or loses. For Nintendo,

its latest gaming console is that star player. Exactly. If it's a hit, it leads to two years of bright success. If it's a bust, it leads to an era of darkness. So, Jack, does that mean during the GameCube era, Nintendo shareholders were experiencing what Mets fans feel? I don't know, always? The GameCube era was a tough time for Nintendo shareholders. Besties, Yiddies, the pressure is on for Nintendo's next console because the hardware defines the era. For our second story, Best Buy is pivoting from a tech store into a home store. And it's all because of the search Bar. Best Buy.

Great for Dongles. Terrible for anniversary gifts. Yeah. A little pro tip here. Don't give your significant other something that you have to plug in. Yeah. Just get that for them on a Tuesday.

Don't get it on an anniversary. Not that we've made that mistake. Maybe we have made that mistake. We've made that mistake. Oh, a projection screen. And it works with PowerPoint. Thank you. Besties and Yetis.

Best Buy. Just warned us that sales over at the electronics chain are expected to decline up to 4% this year. Yeah, because compared to last year, you're simply spending less on electronics this year. Yeah, Jack, because you're like, are you going to get another big screen TV or are you going to go on your first real vacation in two years? That's bad for Best Buy, but they have a plan. They're going to go from vertical to horizontal from just tech to the whole home. Okay, fascinating transition Jack and I have been seeing with Best Buy. They are quietly transforming from an electronic center into an entire home center. We saw the first first. We saw the first

change when they got involved with your morning skin care routine. They started selling dozens of electronic beauty products. Jack, they're selling a facial steamer and they're selling a tool for microderm abrasion. Microderm abrasion? It sounds painful. It sounds like something that pokes your skin. Beauty is pain. And then in June, they started selling Weber Grills.

But then Best Buy wasn't done. In August, Best Buy started selling bikes, mopeds, and scooters. I think of Best Buy as a place to buy like, a PlayStation 2, but they're selling connected fitness products like Nordic track now. Exactly. My mom never been more excited, the institution fitness of the 1990s. And then in November, Best Buy acquired a company called Yardberg. Okay, Yardberg. Jack, what does Yardberg do? Could it be a TV company? No. They sell outdoor patio furniture. So to repeat, Best Buy just acquired an outdoor patio company.

So why is this consumer electronics big box retailer adding furniture? Workout equipment? Grills. Best Buy is doing this because you told Best Buy you wanted these things. Jack, what is the takeaway for our buddies over at Best Buy? The search bar. The search bar is corporate truth series. Get this.

Best Buy just revealed that they're moving into patio furniture because you searched for it on Best Buy.com. Apparently enough people went to Best Buy.com and searched outdoor sofa and got no results that Best Buy decided they should get some outdoor sofans. Because people just bought a pair of speakers over at Best Buy, so they're wondering, I don't know, what umbrella is going to work with these outdoor speakers? Through search data on Best Buy.com,

they realized people want outdoor furniture for their outdoor TVs. And when you search for something, you're telling that search bar exactly what you want. Search data is you telling Best Buy what you want. There was no surveys, no interviews, or no consumer research required. So retailers can get a dose of truth if they pay attention to what you're searching for. And the truth in this case, outdoor umbrella for my outdoor speakers.

And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. Nick, you got introduced to the Robin Hood app the old-fashioned way, right? Yeah, I did. My girlfriend now wife's older brother, who was that guy who worked in tech and knew about the next iPhone before Apple did. He told you about the Robin Hood app. You told me about the Robin Hood app. All right. So you signed up because you wanted to buy a stock. Because like it was hard to figure out how to buy a stock when you're talking.

25 and it's 2014. Yeah, back then you had to find a broker, call a broker on the phone. Call them. Pay a commission to that broker. Instead of calling suddenly there's his app, you just swipe and you could buy the stock. Robin Hood's interface felt as easy as ordering an Uber or snagging a sandwich on Seamus. And it still is. So if you're not a Robin Hood user yet and you want to get started, you can go to Robinhood.com slash T-boy and you can choose, get this, a free stock. That's robinode.com slash T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply and all investments involve for it. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Robinhood, by the way, no longer affiliated with us or the podcast.

For our third and final story, Tesla has got a lot of problems right now, but the people's republic is the biggest one. Because China's priority has shifted from production to power. Okay, Jack and I have been wanting to cover a story on China's lockdowns for weeks now, but we've been looking for like the right, like the right business angle to do it. If you want to get a sense of China's COVID lockdowns, look at Tesla. Get this, Tesla sales in China in the month of April,

plummeted 98% according to Chinese government data. The rest of the world has decided that COVID-19 is endemic. It's something we have to avoid and deal with just like the flu. But China is going in the opposite direction. They are fighting the virus because they want to get to zero COVID infections. They don't have zero COVID yet. So they've decided that Beijing, Shenzhen, and Shanghai, Huge cities should all be under intense, strict lockdown.

Well, it just so happens that Tesla has a gigafactory in the Chinese city of Shanghai, a city of 26 million humans. That city, which is as big as four New York cities. Four New Yorks. Has been on lockdown for six weeks. So Tesla's factory has been closed in Shanghai for 22 days. But even if it were open, consumers in China aren't splurgeon on a Model X right now. No, they're not.

Because here is what's so important to understand about China's situation. Their lockdowns aren't like our lockdowns. Their lockdowns are more like war lockdowns. Let's go back two years ago to early pandemic during the lockdowns. You could still walk outside. You could hit up your favorite restaurant for takeout. You could go to a socially distanced dog park and like introduce your adopted puppy to another adopted puppy. Adopted puppies became friends.

That part wasn't that bad. Oh, and millions of us were zooming into work, type in a way like, We always were. We didn't miss a professional beat. But in China, back then and right now, you are staying at home. And if you go out for non-essentials, be prepared to suffer some serious consequences. Right now, during China's lockdown, food delivery is forbidden. And subways are completely shut down because you're not going anywhere. And then Jack and I learned this from the AP.

To force people to stay at home, authorities are even taking their keys when they have to be quarantined if they happen to be sick. That's how dedicated China is to having... zero COVID infections. They're willing to take your house keys. And what's that mean for Tesla? Well, Tesla workers, they can't build a Model X SUV from their house. And that's why sales plummet at 98% too.

And this is hitting the profits of Starbucks, Adidas, Under Armour, and many more companies. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies who are everyone who consume stuff from China? China's priority has shifted from production to power. From production to power. Since 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization, It has become the world's factory. There are hundreds of cities that became production hubs in China, producing more, consistently, and cheaper. Well, back then, China's priority was producing.

But today, under President Xi Jinping, the focus for China is power. And what she wants, she gets. So like last year, instead of embracing a growing tech industry, China decided to punish the tech industry. And today, instead of dependably producing goods for the rest of the world, China is dedicated to zero COVID. Jack, can you share that wild stat from Nomura Bank? Yeah, they estimated last week that 327 million people in China were actively under lockdown. So that's a population, the size of the United States, that's not able to produce goods like they always have. And it must be incredibly tough being stuck in your apartment for weeks at a time without seeing people.

Because China's priority, it shifted from production to power. Jack, can you and that trivia loving T-boy smile whip up the takeaways for us over there. Nintendo Switch appears past its peak. Hardware is like a star player. They define the era. For our second story, Best Buy is adding outdoor furniture and other stuff that you've searched for on Best Buy. The search bar. It is corporate truth serum.

The third and final story is Tesla. Sales in China were basically zero in April. Because China's priority has shifted from production to power. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Will Shane in Rotterdam of the Netherlands. This guy loves trivia, Nick. He does. This guy loves trivia, too. What terrestrial animal is the fastest in the world?

On two feet. On two feet, that's the key. Right, because four legs, everyone knows it's the cheetah. But on two feet, the fastest animal in the world is the ostrich. I think they're two legs because I think an ostrich has like claws, not feet. That's a fair clarification. In the meantime, the ostriches can run at speed. of 40 to 50 miles per hour.

And get this, they can sustain those speeds for over half an hour. That means if an ostrich was motivated enough, they could run a marathon in 40 minutes. Exactly. That would smash the human record, which is two hours and one minute. And here's the best part. An ostrich is never going to smugly brag to you that it ran a marathon. There's no bumper to put that sticker off. No ostrich is putting that on a resume.

Jack, you look fantastic. Tea boys, tea girls, betties and yesties, you'll look fantastic, Tim. Even those of you who've run a marathon, you look incredible. You look the best. Jack and I will see you tomorrow. And before we go, happy birthday to Aditya Bella Godo over in Bangalore India. And happy birthday to Alyssa Newbauer, who's celebrating in North Dakota. Roman Ventura, turn in 11 in Los Gadas, California.

Happy 12th birthday to Reed Dubang in Richmond, Virginia. And Faima, Syed is turning 28. in Newark, California. Happy 30th to Heather Rogers in Baytown, Texas. And Joe Gills, enjoy a Pat's Cheesesteak over in Philadelphia. And this one's sweet because after years of spooning, Alana and Ryan have gotten engaged in Scottsdale, Arizona. And David and Annie Buck, happy 35th anniversary in Colorado Springs. And just a personal thank you to Stephen and Sarah Holshouser, who got married and sent us some lovely pictures of that outdoor ceremony. We loved that ceremony. Congratulations. And Jake,

Jacob Perry is on a roll. Keep selling more houses over in the buggy down Bronx. Okay. And congrats to Oro Rubio, who just moved to Ireland for a new gig with Google. And Clark Blodgett got a new job in Missouri. And congrats to Odin Kramer, who got a new job just loving data down in Salt Lake City. This is Jack. Nick owned stock of Apple and we both own stock of Robin Hood. And now a word from our sponsor, Robin Hood. The first time I tried to buy a stock, I got burned badly. Is this when you wanted to buy a share of Ford because you like like the chassis over in Detroit?

Yes, I had $200, so I bought $200 of Ford stock. I didn't get $200 of Ford stock, though. I got $192. Oh, the commission fees. By the time the stock climbed back to $200, I sold it, but again, I didn't get $200. I got $192 again. Another commission fee. The stock rose 8%, but I was down on my investment.

Because commission fees made small money investing impossible. So Robin Hood came in and killed commission fees. And commissions are still dead in stock and crypto trading, thanks to our sponsor. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to robinode.com slash t-boy and choose a free stock. That's Robinhood.com slash T-B-O-Y. Certain limitations apply for a list of other fees. View their fee schedule at RBNh.c.co slash fees. All investments involve risk. Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Oh, and by the way, Robin Hood is no longer affiliated with us or the podcast.

And the stocks Jack just said are for illustrated purposes only and are not recommendations. Look, check this out. Local Vermont newspaper. Yeah, what is that? Oh, dude, it's blurry. What does it say? You can't see it? Oh, it's clear on my side, but that must be different for me.

Something on the Y? Dude, it's an advertisement saying you belong at the YMCA. And there's a picture of a father holding his son swimming. And it's wilder in me. You're kidding. You're in the ad? I'm in the ad. Did you know that?

I didn't see a buck of these royalties. That's insane, actually. Oh, my God. That's so funny. I know. Now, I do remember there was a photographer that day, and they're like, do you mind if we take a picture? I'm like, no, but do I mind if you commercialize my name, image, image, and like this?

Oh, my God. They're like, should we pay for the models? Nah! Get that guy. That is so funny. Dude, that's really cool. I love that.