Aging devices created healthy Q1 demand for smartphone upgrades, which, combined with a 5G push by Chinese vendors, drove a 24% shipment increase year on year, reported Strategy Analytics Monday. Top-five vendors took 76% share vs. 71% a year ago. Chip shortages and supply side constraints didn’t have an impact in Q1 among the top five brands but will be a concern for smaller vendors over the next few quarters, said analyst Linda Sui. Samsung shipped 77 million phones, up 32% on sales of affordable A series 4G and 5G phones and the flagship S21 series, it said. Apple shipped 57 million units, No. 2 with 17% share. No. 3. Xiaomi shipped 49 million, 15% share.
Sony began taking preorders Monday for some of the 2021 Bravia LED and OLED TVs it launched at CES and gave approximate preorder dates for others. All new Sony models run on the company’s new Cognitive Processor XR, which is designed to “replicate the way human brains think and respond,” said the company.
The $100 billion in capital expenditures that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. plans to make over the next three years to expand capacity to help relieve the global chips shortage (see 2104150034) will include $30 billion in spending for 2021 -- 74% more than in 2018, 2019 and 2020 combined, said a Form 20-F annual report for 2020 filed Friday with the SEC. TSMC CEO C.C. Wei, after announcing the $100 billion investment on Thursday's Q1 earnings call, also said he isn't worried about TSMC customer Intel’s recently announced plans to jump into the competitive foundry business in a big way.
IFA 2021 is planning a “full-scale and real-life return” Sept. 3-7 to the Messe Berlin exhibition halls and fairgrounds, after its “deliberately small-scale” physical-virtual hybrid version in 2020, said promoters Thursday. “With all our precautions to ensure everybody’s good health, we don’t expect IFA Berlin 2021 to set new records," said IFA Executive Director Jens Heithecker.
Amazon launched next-generation Echo Buds Wednesday, taking preorders for the wired version of the true wireless earphones for $99 in a limited-time offer before they go up to $119. A wireless charging option is $119 during the promotional period, increasing to $139. It’s sweetening the deal with six free months of Amazon Music Unlimited and Audible Plus for customers not currently part of an Audible free trial, it said. Customers who buy the Echo Buds by May 12 are eligible for the Audible Plus trial offer, which must be redeemed by July 12. The new Echo Buds, with Alexa built in, are 20% smaller than the previous set, said to have a more comfortable fit and have advanced active noise cancellation that cancels twice the amount of noise as the first generation buds, said Tom Taylor, Amazon Alexa senior vice president. Users can engage noise cancelation through Alexa or by pressing and holding either earbud.
Audi announced Sonos as the sound system provider for its Q4 e-tron electric vehicle, due in Europe in June at about $50,100, minus a $10,770 subsidy, its least expensive EV to date. In an Audi video announcing the Sonos sound system, its first for the automotive market, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence noted the relationship first acknowledged last month at a virtual investor meeting (see 2103100045) when an analyst asked about a Sonos logo that had appeared subtly in an Audi e-tron ad. “While we were born in the home, we really have an ambition to be the world’s leading sound experience company,” said Spence. That means giving customers the ability to listen to Sonos products “wherever they go,” he said in the video, against a backdrop of a tent showing customers taking the company’s portable Roam speaker, which began shipping this month, to the desert. Spence called Audi a “co-visionary” that “also values innovation and design.” Maxime Bouvat-Merlin, Sonos senior vice president-hardware and operations, said the two companies share “longevity and sustainability” as part of their design principles, developing product that “ages really well and keeps evolving over time.” Sonos’ Giles Martin, vice president-sound experience, described the e-tron sound system's “well-defined center and symmetric sound stage” with deep, clear bass “even at full output.” Sonos sound systems will also be offered in the Audi A1, Q2 and Q3 vehicles. Sonos didn’t respond to questions.
Sony included a variable telephoto lens paired with a dual pixel diode sensor in its latest flagship series 5G Xperia phones. The Xperia 1 III and Xperia 5 III, due in the U.S. this summer, have 70mm and 105mm focal lengths in the same periscope camera, Sony said Wednesday.
Mobile operators are struggling to create average revenue per user (ARPU) uplift from 5G network upgrades as mobile data revenue in Q4 fell below $1 per gigabyte for the first time, reported Strategy Analytics Tuesday. Cellular data traffic grew 35% year on year in Q4, but total mobile service revenue inched up just 0.6%, it said. Weak service revenue growth in strong 5G markets -- South Korea and China -- “paint a challenging picture for consumer 5G value creation across the globe in 2021,” said the researcher. Subscriptions used on 5G networks grew from 2.1% in September to 3% three months later; China had 80% of global totals, it said. Speed-based, tiered unlimited data plans in Finland helped lift ARPU by 17% over the past five years, compared with a 15% decline across Western Europe, noted SA. “Volume-based data pricing is going to cause a headache for many operators conditioned to utility-based revenue or cost per unit thinking,” said Phil Kendall, director-service provider group. With the capacity gains offered by 5G “diluting value per Gigabyte, operators need ‘more for more’ pricing that offers revenue uplift through better experiences and richer content rather than through more data,” he said. Carriers need to “educate users away from high-volume low-cost plans and the idea that 150GB is meaningfully better than 100GB,” said analyst Josie Sephton. Consumers are picking price plans that fit their budget first, data usage requirements second, she said: “We are in a data pricing merry-go-round that needs to be reset.”
Global semiconductor revenue grew 10.4% in 2020 to $466.2 billion, reported Gartner Monday. “Memory, GPUs and 5G chipsets led semiconductor growth, driven by hyperscale, PC, ultramobile and 5G handset end-market demand,” said analyst Andrew Norwood. “Automotive and industrial electronics suffered due to lower spending or a pause in spending owing to COVID-19.” Intel remained the world’s top semiconductor vendor by revenue with a 15.6% share; Samsung had 12.4% and SK hynix was a distant third at 5.5%, said Gartner.
Face masks will be required at all times at CEDIA Expo 2021, said a health and safety plan sent Monday to prospective CEDIA attendees by show owner Emerald Holding. Conferences are to begin Aug. 31, and the Expo is scheduled for Sept. 1-3 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Emerald, whose 2020 revenue plummeted 65% to $127.4 million due to the pandemic, is taking “extra precautions, beyond those mandated by government and local authorities, including temperature checks and face masks required of all persons entering the building, without exception,” it said. Daily temperature screens will be done as attendees enter the facility; anyone with a “high temperature” won’t be admitted, it said. Attendees will have to acknowledge and accept terms and conditions before entering the event, certifying they aren’t sick and don’t have signs or symptoms of COVID-19. They have to “make every effort to maintain" the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's hygiene guidelines, Emerald said: “CEDIA Expo has a no-contact policy in place.” The physical structure of the show was designed to allow social distancing and one-way entrances and exits, Emerald said. Attendees also agree to release Emerald and its affiliates from "all risks, claims, damages, losses, costs and expenses ... associated with, resulting from or arising in connection with my participation or presence at the CEDIA Expo event."