Thanksgiving Day online sales were higher than expected, reported Adobe Digital Insights Friday. The analytics firm had projected a 1% dip in Thursday sales from Thanksgiving 2021 (see 2211230004), but Friday the analytics firm reported a 2.9% year-on-year uptick to $5.29 billion. Higher figures were driven largely by heavy discounting, emailed analyst Vivek Pandya Friday. Shoppers were enticed by big discounts in toys and electronics, he said. The “surprising” higher spend levels showed “resilient consumer demand,” he said.
The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology appears to be taking a relatively conservative approach to interference mitigation in the 6 GHz band as it works through issues raised in an April 2020 Further NPRM (see 2004230059), industry officials told us. Apple and Apple/Qualcomm met with OET in recent days on the Monte Carlo simulations the tech companies are relying on to justify very-low power (VLP) operations in 6 GHz at the 14 dBm power levels proposed in the FNPRM.
Masimo and its Cercacor Labs subsidiary moved Monday for a final judgment against former Chief Technology Officer Marcelo Lamego and a permanent injunction barring him from further misappropriating Masimo’s pulse oximetry trade secrets, said their proposed order (docket 8:18-cv-02001) in U.S. District Court for Central California in Santa Ana. U.S. District Judge James Selna’s “finding of facts” ruling Nov. 7 also said Lamego breached his fiduciary duty of loyalty to Cercacor and he violated his employment agreements by keeping confidential information and documents (see 2211170034).
U.S. consumers spent $64.59 billion online in the first three weeks of the November-December holiday season, up 0.1% from the Nov. 1-21 period last year, Adobe emailed Wednesday. “The minor uptick” shows consumers “still have a strong appetite for holiday shopping” despite inflation and rising interest rates, said the analytics firm.
The biggest change in the music industry in the past decade is streaming, but the biggest change at Warner Music Group was a change in “mindset,” said outgoing WMG CEO Steve Cooper on the company’s Q4 FY ‘22 earnings call Tuesday.
Computer and home theater categories led comparable sales declines in Q3 FY ’23 at Best Buy, said CEO Corie Barry on a Tuesday earnings call. Comp sales fell 10.4% year on year in the quarter ending Oct. 29 but were higher than guidance. Shares closed 12.8% higher Tuesday at $79.88.
Amazon’s Oct. 3 complaint alleging Washington state’s requirement to abate hazards in the workplace violates its 14th Amendment rights to due process is a lawsuit that “fails at the starting gate,” said the Washington Department of Labor & Industries in a motion to dismiss Friday (docket 2:22-cv-01404) in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle.
Heading into the pivotal week of the retail sales year, Amazon and other retailers pulled tentpole shopping events ahead by a few days to grab limited consumer dollars. At Amazon, some Black Friday sales kicked into gear Monday, with $100 off Fitbit smartwatches and up to 40% off laptops, plus high double-digit deals on its Fire TV, Echo and Ring devices.
Dolby Q4 FY 2022 revenue was below expectations, slipping 2% year on year to $278.2 million for the period ended Sept. 30 due to a “challenging environment,” said CEO Kevin Yeaman on a Thursday earnings call. “We’re planning for it to continue to be a tough environment in the near term,” he said. Dolby guided to revenue of $295 million-$325 million on its August earnings call.
An NAB request for the FCC to refresh the record on the state of the streaming industry could get some traction at the agency, but reviving the long-dormant proceeding on reclassifying streaming services as MVPDs and generating the same retransmission consent dollars that now come from cable companies would likely be a much heavier lift, said broadcasters and network executives. “You don’t need a commission vote to refresh the record,” said former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, now a partner at Cooley, which represents broadcast affiliate groups and broadcasters such as Gray Television. The big four TV networks aren’t interested in refreshing the record and believe the current system of compensating affiliates for streaming rights works, a network executive told us.