Bang & Olufsen launched the WiSA Certified Beolab 28 stereo speakers Monday. Power rating is given as 1,250 watts; frequency range is 27 Hz-23,000 Hz, said the company. The speakers include Airplay 2, Chromecast, Bluetooth and Spotify Connect, and have integrated access to music services through Bang & Olufsen Radio. Prices start at $14,750 per pair. WiSA reports Q1 Wednesday.
The “unfortunate Covid situation was anything but” for connected TV and Roku, Pivotal Research Group's Jeffrey Wlodarczak wrote investors Friday after Q1 revenue rose 79% year on year to $574.2 million. The pandemic accelerated direct-to-consumer streaming video subscriptions “while simultaneously delaying the launch of competitive products to the point that this appears to be arguably a two horse race between Amazon and Roku,” the analyst said. Roku added 2.4 million incremental active accounts, reaching 53.6 million total. Streaming hours grew 1.4 billion to 18.3 billion. Roku expects 2021 streaming hours per account higher than in 2020, said Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden on a Thursday call. The stock closed Friday up 12% at $317.
Demand for Microchip Technology products is outpacing “capacity improvements we were able to implement, resulting in lead times continuing to extend out,” CEO Ganesh Moorthy on a fiscal Q4 Thursday call for the quarter ended March 31. “In my 40 years in the semiconductor industry, I cannot recall a time where the imbalance between the supply and demand has been more acute.” Others say similar (see 2105060050).
Ceva's RivieraWaves dual-mode Bluetooth 5.2 platform achieved Bluetooth SIG qualification for classic and Low Energy implementations. Licensees can use the platform for products including true wireless earbuds, smartwatches and smart speakers, said the company Thursday. The platform has the latest improvements to Bluetooth features, supporting isochronous channels for LE audio, direction-finding randomized advertising channel indexing, periodic advertising sync transfer and Generic Attribute Profile caching, it said.
IBM developed the world's first 2-nanometer semiconductor “breakthrough” technology, promising 45% higher performance and 75% lower energy consumption the 7-nm-node solutions, said the company Thursday. Quadrupling smartphone battery life and “drastically” speeding up laptop functionality are among “possible benefits,” said IBM. "We expect that the earliest devices based on this 2-nm technology could enter the market around 2024," said a spokesperson. "This timeline depends on a manufacturer’s road map." The 2-nm node is "a foundational advanced logic technology," which IBM Research built in its semiconductor lab in Albany, New York, she said. "We jointly developed the 2-nm technology with partners in our semiconductor innovation ecosystem. We'll work with our ecosystem partners for manufacturing options." Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., for context, is the world’s largest foundry, and is in the second year of volume production of 5-nm-node wafers. It expects to achieve 3-nm-node production at scale in 2022's second half, said top executives last month. TSMC hasn’t publicly discussed a 2-nm-node road map. TSMC representatives couldn't be reached by our deadline.
Nike shoes that include Bluetooth connectivity are classifiable as shoes, not Bluetooth wearables, said Customs and Border Protection in a Friday ruling. Nike had argued the shoes should be classified based on their Bluetooth transceivers, similar to smartwatches that rely on Bluetooth connectivity and are imported under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule's 8517.62 subheading. "Wearable 'smart' technology is a growing segment of the marketplace," CBP said. "Without a doubt, these types of goods will require individual, or case-by-case, analyses in order to determine their essential character." Jeffrey Whalen, a lawyer for Nike, requested the tariff classification ruling. Nike says the shoe's Bluetooth transceiving system "imparts its essential character" and makes "the article 'what it is' in the eyes of the consumer." The agency disagreed, saying the shoe's wireless capability “is a support function and not the essential character when viewing the electronic module on its own."
Smartphones “more than ever” are an “essential source of social connection and streaming services for entertainment, fitness, gaming and music,” and 5G consumer adoption “remains the main driver for smartphones growth,” said STMicroelectronics CEO Jean-Marc Chery on a Q1 call. ST also experienced persistently strong Q1 demand for other connected devices, including wearables, tablets, hearables, true wireless stereo headsets and game consoles, he said. A factor in the worldwide shortage of chips is the semiconductor “content increase related to digitalization and electrification, as well as higher content in traditional cars, driven by accessories,” he said.
It’s difficult to predict when semiconductor shortages might ease, Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors Wednesday (see fiscal Q2 materials here). Forecasts are challenging because most of the chip issues are with legacy nodes, and many different companies, including from other industries, are competing for supply, Cook said. Supply constraints will leave a $3 billion-$4 billion divot in fiscal Q3 revenue, said Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri. The iPhone reached supply-demand balance only during the March quarter, which will cause a steeper-than-usual sequential decline for fiscal Q3, he said. The iPhone is coming off a record quarter, with revenue surging 66% year on year to $47.9 billion on strong iPhone 12 sales. The 5G transition is still in “early days,” Cook said, noting that a lot of 5G upgrades are ahead, especially in markets outside China and the U.S. Revenue in the quarter ended March 27 set a fiscal Q2 record, rising 54% to $89.6 billion.
Sony sold 7.8 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the fiscal year ended March 31, slightly beating its 7.6-million-unit target. The PS5 debuted in November. PS5 supply “has not been able to keep up with the extremely strong demand,” Chief Financial Officer Hiroki Totoki told a quarterly webcast Wednesday. “Although constraints in the supply of components, especially semiconductors, are expected to continue this fiscal year, our planned target is to exceed the 14.8 million units we sold in the second year after the launch of the PlayStation 4.” Sony will “continue to work to secure components and strive to do our utmost to produce and sell more units above target,” he said. Many chipmakers and others are affected by surging demand for chips with not enough supply, spurred by pandemic consumer trends (see 2104230052).
Samsung highlighted 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and custom Bluetooth connectivity in the “next evolution of the PC” during its virtual event Wednesday. TM Roh, head of Samsung Electronics' mobile communications business, called this a “reinvention of the PC” -- laptops with the “mobile DNA of a Samsung Galaxy smartphone.” At the core was the question, “Why can’t laptops be more like smartphones?” said Roh, citing mobility, connectivity and “seamless integration” with other devices, along with instant-on operation and lightweight designs. Roh said there was “open collaboration” with Intel and Microsoft. The Galaxy Book Pro series is the first integration of Samsung's SmartThings smart home technology into PCs, it said.