Universal Electronics Inc. is positioned to benefit from TV OEMs’ shift from low-margin remote controls to higher-margin chips and embedded software in new products that broaden its addressable market, Colliers' Steven Frankel wrote to investors Monday. UEI reports Q2 Thursday. Colliers will be looking for an update on supply chain constraints, which management said on the Q1 call could have an impact on Q2 revenue. UEI “continues to face challenges and has been unable to deliver consistent year-over-year revenue growth,” said the analyst. The company has been “battling headwinds from the pandemic, a mix shift from finished remotes to higher margin software/chips and the de-emphasis of some lower margin products,” said Frankel. Colliers modeled UEI’s Q2 revenue at $157.9 million vs. the company’s guidance of $153 million-$163 million. Frankel cited some MVPDs’ strategy to push consumers toward apps rather than set-top boxes and referenced UEI’s Android and Apple TV solutions. He noted a Sky Brasil Android set-top box/voice remote combo and a Deutsche Telekom offering that pairs an Apple TV with UEI’s remote. Gross margin expansion is one of the hallmarks of UEI’s transition as it shifts from finished remotes to software and chips and ramps up licensing of additional software offerings such as those seen in 2021 LG TVs, he said.

Vizio’s board on July 29 raised the base salary of Chairman-CEO William Wang to $900,000 retroactively to Q1 and to $975,000 for the rest of 2021, said an 8-K filed Monday at the SEC. It also boosted the base pay of President-Chief Operating Officer Ben Wong to $900,000 for Q1 and to $925,000 for the rest of 2021. Vizio also hiked quarterly and yearly bonus targets for both executives. Wang and Wong each drew $425,000 base salaries in 2020 and 2019, said a March 16 registration statement filed days before Vizio went public. Vizio upgraded the appearance and functionality of its WatchFree+ free video streaming offering, adding an “intuitive” new program guide and expanded content “custom-curated” using “first-party viewership data” collected through its proprietary Inscape audience-measurement service, said a separate announcement Monday. The program guide supports voice navigation for new SmartCast TVs that come with the latest Vizio voice remote, introduced in June (see 2106020050), it said. Vizio reports Q2 results Wednesday after the markets close.

After setting a 52-week high of $7.06 midday Thursday (see 2107220027), Summit Wireless shares tumbled 15% in Friday trading to close at $3.91. The company announced Friday it signed a securities purchase agreement with several institutional investors for issuance and sale of 2.5 million shares of its common stock at a price of $4 per share, for proceeds of about $10 million in a registered direct offering.

Dolby.io is a “game changer” that expands Dolby's addressable market and creates a recurring revenue-based business, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Thursday to preview the company’s July 29 quarterly earnings report. The platform also expands Dolby’s reach to applications, moving beyond the traditional focus on devices. Dolby's virtuous cycle is driving broader adoption of Vision and Atmos, “leading to more content supporting these formats which, in turn, drives more device adoption,” Frankel said. The analyst cited “significant advancements” for Dolby with Apple’s May announcement that it was rolling out Atmos Music for no additional charge to Apple Music subscribers and said, “We expect Spotify to follow suit” in the fall. Spotify didn’t comment. Wider deployment of Atmos Music will spur further adoption of Atmos in smart speakers and headphones, he said. Dolby got another shot in the arm from Comcast’s announcement (see 210714003) that X1 customers can experience the Tokyo Olympics in 4K Vision and Atmos, the first North American delivery of live sports in the two formats: “We suspect the number of live sporting events available in Vision/Atmos is likely to grow.” Colliers’ model calls for Q3 FY 2021 revenue of $286.9 million vs. management’s $260 million-$290 million.

Vizio will release Q2 financial results Aug. 4 after the markets close, its second quarterly report since going public March 25 (see 2103250029), said the vendor Thursday. The once-reclusive Vizio made appearances at four investor conferences in May and June to trumpet its transition from a legacy device company toward an ad-monetization business based on its SmartCast connected TV platform. Yet Vizio drew nearly 90% of its Q1 revenue from device sales. The company reported a 28% year-over-year Q1 increase in smart TV shipments to 1.5 million sets, but it said volume would have been higher if not for bottlenecks at California ports that impeded product from reaching distribution hubs (see 2105120064). Investors will be watching to see if port delays began easing in Q2 as Vizio predicted they would. The challenge for retailers and supply chains “is keeping shelves stocked as port congestion and other supply chain disruptions continue to impact the industry and the economy more broadly,” reported the National Retail Federation Thursday (see 2107080047).

Energy technology startup Ion Energy raised $3.6 million in pre-series A funding from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Climate Capital, YourNest Venture Capital, Riso Capital, Venture Catalysts and other angel investors, Ion said Thursday. It’s the first investment in India for Amazon’s $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund. Ion’s primary technology is a smart battery management system (BMS) that uses proprietary algorithms to improve battery life and performance, blogged Amazon Thursday. The BMS is typically sold as a product or a technology license to OEMs that are developing lithium-ion batteries or electric vehicles, it said. The funds will be used to grow employment to 125 from 70, invest in product development and expand the software business in North America and Europe, it said.

Apple will open its 26th Los Angeles-area retail location downtown Thursday in the Tower Theatre, closed since 1988, it said Tuesday. The opening coincides with the launch of Today at Apple Creative Studios, where creatives can get hands-on experience and mentorship, Apple said. Today at Apple will offer public in-store sessions at Tower Theatre and virtual sessions hosted by Creative Studios, teaching artists including photographer and filmmaker Bethany Mollenkof, rapper and producer D Smoke, singer-songwriter Syd, and cellist and singer Kelsey Lu, it said.

Kepler Communications received $60 million in Series B financing, to be used toward building out its low earth orbit satellite communications and broadband network with the introduction of second-generation satellites, it said Wednesday: Tribe Capital led the fundraising round, which brings the total raised by Kepler to date to $90 million.

Google clarified its updated policy on high-quality Google Photos storage as it prepares for a June 1 changeover to new plans. It announced Google One in November, with 100 GB plans starting at $1.99 a month, to “keep pace with the growing demand for storage and build Google Photos for the future.” Google customers continue to get 15 GB of storage free. Their existing photos and videos are exempt from the change, and won’t count toward Google account storage, it said Monday. The company estimates more than 80% of customers should be able to store “three more years of memories in High quality” with the 15-GB allowance. Customers approaching the ceiling will be notified by email. Google began rolling out a tool in the Photos app to help customers manage their backed up photos and videos that count toward their storage quota. The storage management tool “surfaces photos or videos you might want to delete” such as blurry photos, screenshots and large videos,” it said.

ParshipMeet Group partnered with TikTok to let members of its MeetMe dating app add videos to their profiles in a TikTok Carousel, they said Thursday. TikTok’s Login Kit helps developers expand reach and boosts exposure for creators, said Isaac Bess, global head-distribution partnerships.