Last week on Pro: the fall of Fisker and death in Texas

This week, there’s a familiar name on GigaOM Pro: Katie Fehrenbacher takes her in-depth expertise of the electric vehicle market (as seen in coverage like “A look under the hood: why electric car startup Fisker crashed and burned”) over to our research service. Her analysis of the Fisker situation, based on responses from a recent GigaOM survey, was one of the most well-read pieces of research over the past seven days. Other popular research content includes an analysis of how retailers can both fight and embrace showrooming, and an analyst’s take on the downfall of Dell and BMC.

Note: GigaOM Pro is a subscription-based research service offering in-depth, timely analysis of developing trends and technologies. Visit pro.gigaom.com to learn more about it.

Cleantech: Flash analysis: the Fisker debacle and its implications on investing, innovation, and government incentives
Katie Fehrenbacher

Is Fisker the next Solyndra? The former poster child for the electric vehicle (EV) industry has allegedly lost nearly $ 200 million in government loans, and has been called to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. What repercussions will this hold for the car company, for the EV market, and for cleantech investments at large? GigaOM senior writer Katie Fehrenbacher analyzes the responses of a recent GigaOM survey on the potential impact that the fall of Fisker could have across all aspects of the cleantech industry, and what other EV companies and investors can learn from this latest incident.

Cloud: Will the last person to leave BMC and Dell please turn out the lights
Jo Maitland

Analyst Jo Maitland writes an elegy of sorts for Dell and BMC Software, two giants that originally grew out of the Texas tech boom in the 1980s, and who stagnated and went private this year in the face of crippling losses. Maitland looks at the two companies as dinosaurs of a past era: companies too big and too slow to adapt to developments like cloud computing and the rise of mobile devices in the workplace. While BMC has issued statements that spin its decision to revert to a private company as a strategic decision, Maitland is skeptical as to how effective or feasible this turnaround will be for the former software giant.

Mobile: Why retailers should forget showrooming and turn to in-store Wi-Fi
Laurie Lamberth

The future of retail continues to be a popular topic on GigaOM Pro. In her latest research report, analyst Laurie Lamberth focuses on the showrooming phenomenon, and how it’s impacting sales at major retailers like Best Buy and Target. She takes a quick look at various tactics that the industry has employed to combat showrooming, from price-matching guarantees to charging refundable “browsing fees.” However, rather than fighting it, Lamberth advises retailer to embrace showrooming, using the mobile experience and in-store Wi-Fi to engage and retain customers, serve revenue-boosting mobile ads, and gather valuable business intelligence on shopper behavior. Noting the fact that chains such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Sam’s Club have already started offering free in-store Wi-Fi, Lamberth provides a few case studies of in-store implementation, and offers a list of best practices for enabling a rich mobile data experience for shoppers.