B&H is taking preorders for Panasonic’s S1 and S1R cameras, the company’s first in the full-frame mirrorless market, said the retailer. The cameras differ by sensor: the S1 is optimized for video and photo, and the S1R is the high-resolution option with a 24-megapixel MOS sensor. The S1 is available as body only ($2,497) or as part of a kit with a 24-105mm lens ($3,397). The S1R is $3,697 stand-alone and $4,597 with lens. Expected availability is April 4. Panasonic also is delivering its first lenses fitting an L-Mount. The company formed the L-Mount Alliance with Leica and Sigma.

Broadcom joined the Semiconductor Industry Association, SIA said Thursday. It expects Broadcom Chief Legal Officer Mark Brazeal to be elected to the SIA board at the association’s next directors' meeting April 4.

GameStop shares plunged 27 percent Tuesday to $11.28 after it ended efforts to sell due to lack of financing terms acceptable to a prospective buyer. Its board began a review process with third parties in June. The retailer sold its Spring Mobile business this month for $735 million (see 1901160050), and it's evaluating how to use those funds, which could include reducing debt, funding share repurchases or reinvesting in videogame and collectibles businesses to drive growth, it said. GameStop "should be a primary beneficiary from the console refresh in 2020 or 2021," wrote Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter to investors Tuesday, saying the retailer "remains the dominant force in the video game industry’s pre-owned segment." Wedbush lowered its 12-month per-share target by $3 to $15.

Samsung Electronics North America CEO Tim Baxter will retire June 1, the company confirmed Tuesday. In a statement, a Samsung spokesperson emailed that YH Eom, "who co-led alongside Tim for the past two years, will be taking full leadership of the organization." The company has a "strong management team in place through the region and we will continue to grow our business," the spokesperson said. "Tim is an exceptional business leader who has helped define Samsung as an innovator in the consumer electronics industry. We wish him all the best and thank him for his many contributions to Samsung." Baxter was promoted to CEO in July 2017 (see 1707110023).

Crown Castle said it installed a record number of small cells in 2018 and expects to double that to 10,000-15,000 nodes in 2019. “We have a line of sight into meaningful small cell revenue growth beyond 2019,” CEO Jay Brown said Thursday on an earnings call. “Our customers continue to invest heavily in their 4G networks to keep pace with data demand growth from existing technologies, while the deployment of 5G is just getting started.” The scale of data growth is “staggering” with mobile data traffic in 2022 expected to be five times the volume of all internet traffic in the U.S. in 2005, Brown said. “I get even more excited when I consider how early we are in the digital transformation of the U.S. economy and the critical role mobile infrastructure will play. I think we’re just scratching the surface.” The tower owner reported earning $213 million for Q4, compared with $98 million in the year-ago quarter. Revenue rose 15 percent to $1.21 billion. The revised outlook for 2019 "reflects a consistent march toward small cell densification with a growing pipeline of ~25k nodes over the next 18-24 months," Macquarie Research analyst Amy Yong wrote investors Thursday. "Though municipality/FCC approvals can create a bottleneck, it appears to be easing. T-Mobile/Verizon-insourced small cells also present a threat." Crown Castle "continues to ramp small cell volumes and revenue, but again, higher costs ate into returns because colocation economics are much worse on small cells than on towers," wrote New Street Research's Spencer Kurn Wednesday night.

Though Comcast plans to launch its own video streaming service in the first half of 2020 (see 1901140030), it anticipates licensing content to other over-the-top players, depending on what prices it can command, executives said in a Q4 call. CEO Brian Roberts said Comcast's streaming aim is to better monetize online viewership by offering its content online "with a very light ad load." He said it should be scalable, taking it quickly to breakeven. Comcast said as it rolls out the offering internationally in some countries, it will launch subscription VOD only, without advertising, or employ other strategies. Consolidated revenue for the quarter, including Sky, was $27.9 billion, up 26 percent year over year. It's increasing the 2019 dividend by 10 percent to 84 cents a share. The operator ended 2018 with 25.1 million residential broadband customers, up from 23.9 million; 21 million residential video customers, down from 21.3 million; and 10.2 million voice customers, down from 10.3 million. Comcast closed on its Sky takeover in October (see 1810090028). Roberts said Comcast rolled out 1 GB to nearly all 58 million homes and businesses in its footprint in 2018. Many won't need those speeds, a panel heard later Wednesday (see 1901230053).

Garmin applied its GPS know-how to a $499 golf accessory that’s designed to monitor swing metrics. The Approach G80 combines GPS technology with launch monitor capability to allow golfers to analyze and fine-tune their performance -- at the driving range or during course play -- by tracking club head speed, smash factor, swing temp and estimated distance, said the company. The device, with the form factor of a smartphone, has a 3.5-inch color touch screen designed to be used outdoors. Golfers place the device in a slanted position on top of a golf ball across from the tee to record measurements. The device can be a game player, too, packing 41,000 preloaded courses around the world that players can call up to compete with friends, Garmin said.

Former CBS CEO Les Moonves told the company Wednesday he's exercising his option under his Sept. 9 separation agreement to demand binding arbitration to dispute the board firing him for cause and denying him $120 million in severance, said CBS in an 8-K SEC filing Thursday. Directors decided Dec. 17 that CBS had grounds to fire Moonves for cause for “willful and material misfeasance,” violating CBS policies and failing to cooperate with the company's independent investigation into sexual misconduct (see 1812170050). CBS doesn't plan to “comment further” until the “arbitration proceedings” are complete, it said.

Apple’s board is asking shareholders to reject a National Center for Public Policy Research proposal to disclose future board nominees’ “ideological perspectives,” along with their skills and experience, said a definitive proxy statement Tuesday at the SEC for Apple's March 1 annual meeting in Cupertino, California. The conservative think tank, which owns at least $2,000 worth of Apple stock, believes boards “that incorporate diverse perspectives can think more critically and oversee corporate managers more effectively,” said the proxy. There’s “ample evidence” that Apple, and the tech industry "generally," operate in "ideological hegemony that eschews conservative people, thoughts, and values,” it said. “This ideological echo chamber can result in groupthink that is the antithesis of diversity. This can be a major risk factor for shareholders.” Apple doesn’t “consider a nominee’s ideological perspectives to be relevant to the Board’s oversight role or the nominee’s ability to serve as an effective director," said the company in the proxy. Apple “considers a wide range of factors in assessing whether each nominee, and all nominees as a group, provides the background, experiences, and attributes necessary to effectively perform the Board’s oversight function,” it said.

Intelsat joined GSMA as it looks to help solidify the integration of satellite and terrestrial technologies and to push 5G deployment, the satellite operator said Tuesday.