COVID-19-induced delays in “accounting closing procedures” forced Sony to postpone release of its year-end financial results to May 13 from April 30, said the company Friday. Sony floated that possibility March 27 when it said the pandemic likely would negate the 5% upward revision in its February profit forecast (see 2003270028).
AARP wants the FCC and industry to ensure older Americans are connected during the pandemic, said a letter Friday in commission docket 20-89. It wants the commission to suspend broadband data caps and overage charges, encourage free or subsidized broadband to residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, increase the broadband minimum service standards for Lifeline wherever possible, and give Lifeline customers unlimited voice minutes and text messages. The group wants the FCC to extend the Keep Americans Connected Pledge.
Some 43% of U.S. homes will have used an online grocery service by the end of June -- and 49% by year-end -- and it’s likely to be a continuing trend, eMarketer reported Thursday. "As consumers stay home and governments increasingly push for consumers to avoid contact with others, online grocery services' near contactless nature will likely entice more consumers," said analyst Daniel Keyes. If the pandemic subsides in a few months, online grocery's rise will likely taper by the end of 2020. If it lasts longer -- and society needs a vaccine to resume regular life, or a second wave of the pandemic occurs -- online grocery usage penetration will continue to climb and 60%-plus of U.S. consumers could try it through 2022.
Display Week 2020 is rescheduled for Aug. 2-7 at the San Jose Convention Center “to allow time for business operations to return to more normal functioning,” said the Society for Information Display Thursday. The show “will have a strong digital programming component, increasing access and convenience for attendees from around the globe,” it said. Moving the June conference in San Francisco to August in San Jose was an open secret for weeks (see 2004070051).
Tech-assisted contact tracing apps pose privacy, civil rights and civil liberties risks, the American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday, outlining principles for government and industry (see 2004100037). The ACLU requested the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention release records concerning conversations with the “tech industry and plans for using location tracking technology to address the COVID-19 crisis.” The organization recommended apps be voluntary and that companies store data on “an individual’s device rather than in a centralized repository.” It backed use limitations, data minimization, data deletion and transparency, and opposed “mission creep,” meaning the tracking shouldn’t continue after COVID-19.
More than half of U.S. broadband households say they value technology more than before COVID-19, social distancing and stay-at-home orders, said Parks Associates Wednesday. Intention to buy consumer electronics in the next 12 months is 5% higher than a year ago, and 21% of households subscribed to at least one new over-the-top video service in the past three months. Some 70% of consumers report following social distancing rules, 30% are following shelter-in-place orders or “otherwise self-quarantining,” and 28% of heads of broadband households over 75 report self-quarantining. The survey was fielded March 8-April 3.
COVID-19 sent March retail sales at electronics and appliance stores plunging 15.1% from February and 16.2% from March 2019, reported the National Retail Federation Wednesday. It was part of a March report in which retail sales plummeted to their “biggest monthly drop on record,” said NRF. March “started out with many stores still open, but far more are closed now,” it said. Best Buy sales plunged 30% in the period since March 21 when it announced it was restricting in-person sales to curbside pickup (see 2004150036).
Verizon's Hans Vestberg said he was among CEOs and other executives who spoke with President Donald Trump Wednesday about how to restart the U.S. economy once the widespread shutdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ends. Vestberg is among six executives Trump named to a telecom-specific industry group advising the White House on reopening the U.S. economy (see personals section, this issue). The others are Liberty Media’s John Malone, Comcast’s Brian Roberts, Charter’s Thomas Rutledge, T-Mobile’s Mike Sievert and Altec’s Lee Styslinger. A separate tech sector group of 15 executives includes Apple’s Tim Cook, Qualcomm’s Steven Mollenkopf, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Google parent Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Broadcom’s Hock Tan and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. The call with Trump “was very useful,” Vestberg said in a statement. “Verizon and many other companies across the country are committed to finding ways of effectively doing business in the ‘new normal,’ and we're equally looking forward to doing our part to help bring back a strong and vibrant U.S. economy.”
The COVID-19 pandemic will send unit shipments of flat-panel displays plunging by 11.1% globally this year, reported Omdia Wednesday. That’s worse than the 8.8% decline during the 2008 financial crisis, it said. It predicted the market will recover in 2021 “as the impact of the coronavirus recedes.” Its forecast is for unit shipments to rise 9.1% next year.
The Home Technology Specialists of America suspended dealer member dues for Q2 -- a first for the group -- to help members adjust to the “dramatic financial impact on their cash flow” due to the economic shutdown arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. It also discussed types of relief vendors could provide during the period, established a member Reddit channel for “curated” information on COVID-19, launched a series of town hall meetings where members share concerns and suggestions, and expanded online education. In "just a few short weeks," it seemed to many dealers “the situation was spinning out of control,” said HTSA Executive Director Jon Robbins. The new systems and processes are designed to help dealers adapt to a “fundamentally changed operating environment.” HTSA will continue to monitor the situation and make further adjustments as necessary, he said: “Our main goal is to position ourselves for what will undoubtedly be a period of extraordinary growth on the other side of this COVID-19 event.”