The Society for Information Display canceled plans to hold Display Week 2020 as a physical event, less than a month after postponing the June show to early August and moving it to San Jose from San Francisco (see 2004070051). SID decided to “move the entire conference to an online format” for the "health and well-being" of attendees, said President Helge Seetzen in a video posted Tuesday.
Consumer retail spending for the week ended April 25 increased 7% from a week earlier and was the fourth straight week of improvement, reported NPD Tuesday. Spending growth was flat compared with the same 2019 week, and was the first time sales didn’t decline since early March, before the COVID-19 pandemic began, it said: “As promising as these spending indicators may seem, there are many challenges to overcome before there is actual retail recovery.” There’s “much uncertainty still looming” over consumer buying behavior, and that likely will continue “for the foreseeable future.” NPD’s weekly retail tracking data showed tech spending in the week ended April 25 jumped 20% over the same 2019 week, it said. “Checkout receipt-based data shows that the week of April 19 through 25 was the first week since the COVID-19 crisis began that total retail purchasing traffic showed improvement from the prior week, driven by both online and at physical store locations still open for business.”
Disney estimates it took a $1.4 billion hit from COVID-19 in Q2 ended March 28 through the closure of its theme parks, cruise lines, retail stores and studio operations, plus the lack of live sports on ESPN, said senior executives on a Tuesday call. The pandemic’s “widespread disruptions” sent earnings plunging to 60 cents a share from $1.61 in Q2 a year earlier, said CEO Bob Chapek, his first call since being named in February to succeed Bob Iger. The response to Disney+ “has exceeded even our highest expectations,” said Chapek. Disney+ had 33.5 million subscribers, 26% more than the 26.5 million it had at the Dec. 28 close of Q1. The service launched in mid-November and passed 50 million subscribers in early April after the launch of the service in Western Europe and India. Disney+ surpassed 54.5 million subscribers through the close of business Monday, said Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy. Disney’s direct-to-consumer business had an $812 million operating loss on revenue of $4.1 billion, including Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu. The segment had a $385 million operating loss Q2 a year earlier. Chapek and McCarthy sidestepped questions about whether the faster-than-expected growth of Disney+ means the service can achieve profitability sooner than previously planned.
The FCC COVID-19 telehealth program will take applications only through its portal and isn't accepting emailed applications, said a public notice in Monday's Daily Digest.
President Donald Trump sidestepped questions during a Fox News virtual town hall interview Sunday night about whether he’s seriously considering new tariffs on China as a punishment for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “It’s the ultimate punishment, I will tell you that,” said Trump of possible new tariffs. The U.S. and China are “playing a very complicated game of chess or poker,” he said. Tariffs, “at a minimum, are the greatest negotiating tool that we have ever devised that were never used for negotiation,” he said. Though Trump still has “a very good relationship” with Chinese President Xi Jinping, "this should never have happened," he said of the pandemic. "This virus should not have spread all over the world. They should have put it out. They should have let us and other people in other countries go in and put it out, because people knew it was happening.”
Weekly Netflix streaming usage in the COVID-19 epicenter of metropolitan New York City jumped 37% after stay-at-home orders were issued March 21, reported NPD Monday. That was 10 points higher than the rest of the U.S. DVD and Blu-ray unit sales increased the highest in less densely populated regions with relatively few COVID-19 cases and less stringent lockdowns, said NPD. Weekly average unit sales of physical discs increased 11% in the Mountain and West South Central states in the month ended April 18, compared with the two-month period ended Feb. 29, it said. Physical-disc sales declined 2% in the Mid-Atlantic region and 3% in New England, it said.
Global information technology spending is now expected to decline 5.1% this year to $2.25 trillion, “as the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to drive down some categories of tech spending and short-term business investments,” said IDC Monday. Its February forecast before the pandemic hit was for IT spending to increase 4.3%. “Inevitably a major economic recession, in Q2 especially, will translate into some big short-term reductions in IT spending by those companies and industries that are directly impacted," said IDC.
Videoconferencing services should store only the data needed to “deliver the service,” Consumer Reports recommended Friday (see 2004090019). This would mean limiting how data is shared with third parties and restricting data storage to what's used for improving products, the organization said. CR recommended companies turn on by default the “most secure settings” for users. It said Zoom isn't the only such service with privacy issues. CR also examined privacy policies of Cisco’s Webex, Microsoft’s Skype and Teams and Google’s Meet, Duo and Hangouts.
PS Audio is running a sale and donation program on its Stellar PowerPlant 3, which was cut from $2,199 to $1,499, it said Friday. The company will donate $100 from each sale in May to MusiCares' COVID-19 Relief Fund. Spotify is matching 100% of donations to the fund for a limited time.
CEDIA Expo is pushing ahead with plans for its annual trade show, scheduled for Sept. 8-12 at the Colorado Convention Center, said show sponsor Emerald Wednesday. It's also launching a “virtual component” to run concurrently with the live event that will “accommodate those who may be restricted from attending the show this year.” The trade show company is “trying our best to navigate and adapt to doing business during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis,” said Executive Vice President Brian Pagel, saying it's following guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local officials. Emerald said it's working with the Colorado Convention Center, closed until May 11 after it was designated in March as a temporary hospital to treat COVID-19 patients. "Until we receive some notice on mass gatherings" from government and health authorities, "I’m hesitant to name any events as the 'first'" that will return to the convention center once it reopens for regular trade show business, emailed Rich Carollo, the convention center's sales and marketing director. Emerald hopes to implement in September enhanced cleaning measures, sanitation stations and ways to reduce crowding and maintain social distancing in lobbies, classrooms and on the show floor, it said. Emerald didn't respond to questions.