Crestron is launching HomeTime with Logitech and Zoom, to deliver what it calls a premier videoconferencing, home control and unified communications experience. It's meant to overcome challenges families are experiencing as they try to socialize, learn and work from home, said John Clancy, Crestron vice president-residential. “It’s time to end the awkward conversations. No more crowding around a laptop and talking over each other because you can’t follow who is speaking."

Increased demand for PCs and tablets during lockdown likely is "short lived,” said IDC Thursday. “Financial hardship” from COVID-19 will send global PC shipments plummeting 12.4% this year to 360.9 million units, the researcher forecast: The supply chain has “mostly returned to normal,” with logistics “a major hurdle.”

COVID-19 “macroeconomic and supply chain challenges” sent HP Q2 revenue down 11% to $12.5 billion, said CEO Enrique Lores on a Wednesday investor call. “While some areas performed very well as people shifted to work from home, others suffered, and we faced supply chain disruptions.” The quarter ended April 30. Though the Chinese production that was shut down after the Lunar New Year began to “ramp” in late February, “we also experienced disruptions to operations in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world as the pandemic spread,” said Lores. Production was “largely back to full capacity” by early May, he said. Higher PC demand, combined with supply chain disruptions, “resulted in an elevated backlog, which we expect to work down during Q3," he said. “Manufacturing disruptions” prevented the company from keeping pace with the spike in consumer orders for “hardware and ink supplies,” said Lores. Consumer revenue in the quarter declined 16%, said Chief Financial Officer Steve Fieler. The stock closed 12% lower Thursday at $15.01.

The increase in demand for Poly headsets induced by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders was “so strong” in March and April it “depleted” inventories, said interim CEO Bob Hagerty on a fiscal Q4 call Wednesday. The former Plantronics markets wired and Bluetooth headsets, plus videoconferencing solutions. Q4 ended March 28. The company expanded “dual sourcing” of high-volume headsets and “secured additional capacity at our contract manufacturers,” the CEO said. Poly still expects to exit Q1 late June “with an elevated backlog” of headset orders, he said. Supplies of some of the highest-volume headsets “may not be fully caught up” even through fiscal Q2, said Chief Financial Officer Chuck Boynton. The stock closed down Thursday 14% at $12.53.

An annual show billing itself as the largest cable telecom and tech event in the Americas was canceled due to the coronavirus, a spokesperson told us Wednesday night. The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers and International Society of Broadband Experts scheduled the event in Denver Oct. 13-16. "SCTE•ISBE has received official notification that Governor [Jared] Polis’ executive order designating the Colorado Convention Center as a temporary medical facility has been extended through the remainder of the year," wrote SCTE•ISBE CEO Mark Dzuban. It's "giving careful consideration to alternative arrangements," he added. Thursday, CEDIA Expo 2020 was canceled. The Sept. 8-12 event also was to have been at Denver's Colorado Convention Center. Executive Vice President Brian Pagel of show owner Emerald Holding cited "the current status of the Colorado Convention Center as a medical care facility for non-emergency cases related to COVID-19; the latest federal measures." He also mentioned "restrictions on congregating and large gatherings imposed by states and other government and public health authorities; and the various company-imposed travel restrictions on employees affecting attendees and participating companies.” Polis' office and the convention center didn't comment Thursday.

Odds are against Dish Network making the June 2023 deadline for buildout of cellsites covering 70% of the U.S. population, as stipulated in the T-Mobile/Sprint deal terms, due to COVID-19 supply chain issues, blogged CCG Consulting President Doug Dawson Wednesday. The FCC shouldn't fine the company if it meets "some decent percentage" of the plan, he said. Dish didn't comment.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Christopher Krebs suggested states give communications workers access and resources to keep Americans connected during COVID-19. GAO said Wednesday the IRS, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Social Security Administration and FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services need to improve coordination on cybersecurity requirements for state agencies exchanging data with federal agencies. States, territories and Washington, D.C., should declare many communications sector entities as essential services during the pandemic, including broadcasters and MVPDs, Pai and Krebs wrote governors and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. Other essential services should include telecom relay services, “businesses and personnel that provide communications support to medical and healthcare facilities, assisted care and living facilities, and people with disabilities,” public safety communications infrastructure, ISPs, mobile carriers, undersea cable operators, satellite providers and companies building communications infrastructure, GAO said. Pai and Krebs said to “consider prioritizing the distribution of personal protective equipment to communications personnel when availability permits” and “understand that communications retail customer service personnel at service center locations are critical for onboarding customers, distributing and repairing equipment, and addressing customer issues to support individuals’ remote emergency communications needs.” Pai and Krebs asked governors to “facilitate the maintenance, repair, and provisioning of communications infrastructure and services by providing online access to relevant government functions.”

Smart speakers can be a gateway to smart home adoption, blogged Parks Associates Wednesday, saying 16% of broadband households bought a voice-enabled speaker before buying a smart home device. Three-quarters of the 29% of U.S. broadband households that own both said the speaker motivated them to buy a smart home device. “By bundling smart speakers with smart plugs, smart light bulbs, or smart thermostats, companies can deliver a guided introduction to the smart home experience,” said analyst Brad Russell. The combination helps encourage self-installation, “which is becoming significantly more important following the COVID-19 outbreak.” With so much shopping now shifting online, self-install options are important to trigger sales, said Russell. Companies can deliver support via smart speakers through do-it-with-me or do-it-together services that use real-time chat, he said. Some 77% of networked camera owners self-installed the devices in 2019 vs. 68% in 2018.

Most studios probably won't release new content until all theaters have reopened, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Tuesday, predicting a 48% box office drop in North America this year to $5.9 billion. Citing a "fluid" situation, Pachter said it's unclear how quarantines and stay-at-home orders will affect consumer behavior long term: "People may be eager to visit the theatres once they feel safe doing so, but it is unlikely crowds will return to any semblance of normal before a vaccine is widely distributed." Theaters and studios have some incentive to release new content before a "return to normal," as a cinema could show one film on all screens to allow for social distancing, Pachter said. Streaming services will compete to bolster their offerings in an “extremely competitive environment," facing a dearth of content later this year after the halt of productions due to stay-at-home orders. Studios "have an opportunity to release films straight to streaming for a premium rental fee," he said. Some 68 films have been moved or pulled from the release slate, worth an estimated $7.5 billion; seven of those shifted to a streaming platform, worth an estimated $358 million at the box office. Pachter predicts 15 that haven’t been rescheduled -- worth $652 million at the box office -- will be moved to streaming platforms. At home, some 53% of adults ages 18 and above in U.S. TV households are spending more time watching TV per day since the COVID-19 pandemic, reported Leichtman Research Group Tuesday. Sixty-two percent of pay-TV premium subscribers, 62% of pay-TV DVR subs, and 59% of pay-TV on-demand users spend more time watching TV per day, it said, and 43% of connected TV users use their sets more often. Satisfaction levels were lower: 39% were more satisfied with their streaming video services, a third were more satisfied with their pay-TV service and 36% were more satisfied with their home internet service during the period.

Smartphone data consumption spiked during the first month of the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic, rising 75% in March from the same month on 2019, reported NPD Tuesday. Mobile hot spot usage rose 25%. As network capacity becomes “increasingly stretched,” more consumers use mobile hot spots for “additional connectivity,” it said. “Add into the mix that carriers have opened up more hotspot allowances, and we expect the numbers of people adopting hotspot usage on their devices to increase even more.” Video was 70% of traffic: Smartphone users with a screen size 5.5 inches or larger consume 53% more data on average than those with smaller screens.