science

Pixmania

Pixmania is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pixmania rather than just read about it. In short: Pixmania (styled PIXmania), once known as Fotovista, was a French-based e-commerce website, founded in 2000. It promoted a variety of products, including consumer electronics and baby products, with turnover of over €300million in 2013.

Key takeaways

Pixmania belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pixmania to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pixmania from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pixmania (styled PIXmania), once known as Fotovista, was a French-based e-commerce website, founded in 2000. It promoted a variety of products, including consumer electronics and baby products, with turnover of over €300million in 2013. It operated a website and until 2013 ran brick-and-mortar retail stores in Europe. It was active in 14 European countries. Pixmania was majority owned (77%) by the British Dixons Retail plc (formerly DSG International plc) from 2006, selling it on to German-based holding company Mutares in 2013.

History The Pixmania group has its roots in the Rosenblum family business (particularly the brothers Pierre and Jean-Claude); Les Laboratoires parisiens. Originally the group consisted of school photography Studio National, and a media distribution service, Press Labo Service. In 2001 the torch was handed over to Steve and Jean-Emile Rosenblum (Jean-Claude's sons) with the help of investment funds supplied mainly by the LMBO group, a French venture capital firm. They purchased the LLP Group. Pixmania became an online retailer selling camera and photography equipment. As the business expanded the company was renamed Fotovista and then Pixmania Group in 2009. Pixmania sales grew from €70million in 2001 to €898million in 2011-2012 when Steve and Jean-Emile Rosenblum sold their remaining 20% shares in the company. In 2006, Steve and Jean-Emile Rosenblum sold a significant part of their shares to DSG International PLC. On 12 April 2006, DSG International plc gained a 75% interest by acquiring LMBO Group's controlling stake in the company and shares from the Rosenblum family and a handful of managers, for €266 million (approximately £185 million)[1]. Under the deal agreed DSGi has an option to buy out the remaining 25 per cent from the family and management over the following three to five years. The acquisition was subject to approval by the European Union Competition Authority. After receiving approval the company completed the acquisition of 77% of the Fotovista Group for €261 million (approximately £184 million). In 2009, the group reverted to its former name, Pixmania. In September 2013, Dixons Retail, the parent company of PC World and Currys, made a strategic move by selling off the underperforming Pixmania to the German company Mutares AG for €69 million. Pixmania had incurred significant losses of £31 million during the financial year ending on 30 April 2013, and had been adversely affecting its parent company's financial performance, despite Dixons Retail's efforts to reorganize the business. Fast forward to 2021, and Pixmania resumed its business operations in France. As of February 2024, the Pixmania group is actively conducting business in the French and Spanish markets, with its offices situated in Île-de-France. The company is in a phase of rapid expansion and is actively recruiting new personnel to support its growth.

References

External links mutares holding company Fotovista Corporate website DSG International plc Corporate website Pixmania website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pixmania

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pixmania claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pixmania before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pixmania ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pixmania

In research: Pixmania appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pixmania in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pixmania is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Consumer electronics retailers, Currys plc, Internet properties established in 2000, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pixmania outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pixmania in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pixmania means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pixmania out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pixmania in simple terms?

Why does Pixmania matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pixmania?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pixmania.