Samsung’s LSI and credit card businesses agreed with Mastercard to develop a “biometric” card with built-in fingerprint scanner to authorize transactions securely at in-store payment terminals, they said Thursday. The card’s biometric authentication capability will enable safer transactions with “reduced physical contact points” by eliminating the need to enter a PIN on a keypad, they said. “It also adds an extra layer of security to currently available credit cards by verifying the cardholder’s identity via a unique fingerprint.” The card will be rolled out in South Korea later this year in a “gradual process, starting from corporate credit cards that have more frequent international transactions,” it said. The companies didn’t respond to questions about U.S. plans.
Imax Q4 revenue was $56 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, down 55% from the 2019 quarter, said the company Thursday. It installed 33 systems and signed 11 agreements in the quarter, ending the year with 527 systems in backlog. CEO Richard Gelfond said the company is “encouraged to see that audiences are eager to return to the movies where the virus is under control, and they feel safe." For 2021, he cited strong demand in Imax theaters in Asia, a "promising pipeline" of Hollywood movies and the accelerating pace of COVID-19 vaccinations in North America: “We remain confident and optimistic that the global film industry is poised for a strong and sustainable recovery in the second half of 2021."
T-Mobile unveiled a suite of offerings Thursday targeting business customers as part of the carrier's "WFX" work from anywhere platform. The offering includes unlimited 5G, home broadband and T-Mobile Collaborate, “a suite of mobile-first, cloud-based tools for business calling, messaging and conferencing from virtually any device, anywhere.” The pandemic “pushed the fast forward button on the future of work, giving us a decade’s worth of progress in a year’s time. And it’s clear that work will never be the same,” said CEO Mike Sievert.
Top U.S. cable and telco providers gained 4.9 million net broadband subscribers last year, compared with a pro forma gain of 2.6 million in 2019, for the most additions since 2008, said Leichtman Research Group Wednesday. Cable companies ended the year with 72.8 million such subscribers (69% share); phone companies, 33 million (31%). Charter’s 2.2 million broadband adds were more than any company had since 2006; telcos had positive net annual broadband adds for the first year since 2014, said principal Bruce Leichtman, citing impact from the pandemic.
Comments are due March 29 on a proposal by Copyright Royalty Board judges to clarify that CRB hearings can be held in person at the Library of Congress, at an alternative location or virtually, at judges' discretion, said Friday's Federal Register, which CRB noted Wednesday. During the COVID-19 pandemic, hearings have been held virtually, and it's unknown when LOC might again be open to the public, it said.
Comcast's peak downstream internet traffic grew 38% last year from 2019 levels, while peak upstream traffic jumped 56%, said the company Tuesday. In the four months spanning lockdowns, Comcast's network had almost two years of traffic growth, it said. Despite a rise in videoconferencing, entertainment dominated network traffic, with video streaming generating 71% of downstream traffic, 70% higher than 2019 levels. Online gaming and related software downloads (10%) and web browsing (8%) were primary drivers of downstream traffic, vs. 5% for videoconferencing. Comcast customers generated more than 1 trillion internet requests daily last year, it said.
Slightly more than half of U.S. consumers are willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as they're able to, and 19% more are eager to get inoculated a few months after it becomes available, reported Gartner Wednesday. It canvassed 450 consumers November through January, finding most will be hesitant to resume “normal activities” even after receiving a full dose of the vaccine. “The willingness of consumers to accept a COVID-19 vaccine and return to normal life comes with scrutiny,” said Gartner analyst Tim Barlow. “This creates a delicate balance for brands and marketers trying to gauge buying behaviors and plan activities and campaigns for the year ahead. Marketers will need to be prepared to invest further in proactive, trust-building communication and resource building.”
COVID-19 will continue its hold on the retail industry in 2021, remaining “the largest uncertainty and the biggest risk the economy faces,” said National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz Wednesday. NRF expects to reach its $1.14 trillion-$1.19 trillion spending forecast in 2021 regardless of whether Congress passes the $1.9 trillion stimulus package being considered, but the measure “could provide an additional boost to consumer spending as seen with other relief efforts over the past year,” Kleinhenz said. The pace of growth could be “patchy” across the country, given differences in demographics, industrial base, and state and local government policies, but Kleinhenz sees a “return to normalcy” beginning in Q2. “There is no doubt the economy is positioned for growth in 2021,” but how much growth will depend on “a single non-economic force -- the coronavirus,” he said. Macroeconomic conditions should improve as more vaccines are distributed and COVID-19 infections decline, “yet the road is never straight, and we have challenges ahead,” Kleinhenz warned. The economist noted pent-up demand that can be “accelerants for growth,” including shored-up savings accounts, high stock values, increased home prices, enhanced government support and "record-low interest rates despite the pandemic,” while employment and wages are growing, and consumers have “plenty of purchasing power.” The pandemic has fortified online shopping growth, which increased 21.9% last year and is expected to grow 18%-23% in 2021 as many consumers new to e-commerce last year “are likely to continue shopping online.” 2020 had a shift toward spending on goods rather than services, which normally make up 70% of consumer spending, he said. NRF expects retail to continue to benefit from that shift, but Kleinhenz said some pre-COVID-19 services spending will return, “particularly among affluent households, who spend more on services and are likely to resume those activities once it is safe to do so.”
The pandemic revealed that a remotely connected digital workplace "is a viable solution for companies to keep operating, and a feasible alternative to the traditional office space, at least in the short term,” reported Deloitte Wednesday. The COVID-19 global health crisis likely will have “a lasting impact on businesses and employees," it said. A U.S. census study in June found a third of workers expect to "never return" to daily commutes, it said. A Deloitte survey in the financial sector found 77% expect to work from home “regularly” post-pandemic. Connectivity is the “unsung hero of the future of work,” said Deloitte. The mass shift to "distributed working" during the pandemic "has proven the agility of existing networks and IT infrastructures to deal with increased demand.” But connectivity platforms “need to improve, and many employees still lack the digital skills to work effectively remotely," it said. Deloitte and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found 90% of respondents “believe yearly upskilling is required to enable employees to keep up,” it said. “Access to technology is unequally distributed across geographies, economic classes and education levels,” said Deloitte. “The high-speed, low-latency connectivity required to support a hybrid work environment simply isn’t available to many communities.”
Zoom revenue grew 369% to $882 million in fiscal Q4 ended Jan. 31 “due to strong sales and marketing execution in online, direct and channel businesses as well as lower-than-expected churn,” said Chief Financial Officer Kelly Steckelberg on a quarterly webinar Monday. “Demand was widespread.” The increase in customers generated about 80% of the “incremental revenue,” up from 59% in Q4 a year earlier, she said. “We continue to add customers of all sizes and across industries that we anticipate will provide future upsell opportunities.” Zoom continued to benefit from significant growth in customers with 10 or fewer employees, she said. Customers in that segment generated 37% of revenue, nearly double that of Q4 a year earlier, she said. For the full year of fiscal 2022 ending in late January, Zoom expects revenue to be $3.76 billion to $3.78 billion, which would be 42-43% year-over-year growth, she said: “Although we remain optimistic on Zoom’s outlook, please note the impact and extent of the COVID-19 pandemic and people returning to in-person contact still remains largely unknown.” The stock closed down 9% Tuesday at $372.79.