Ukraine's information technology sector is functioning normally despite the war, said panelists Tuesday on a DigitalEurope webinar. It may be the only expert sector in the country that continues to work, said IT Ukraine Association Executive Director Konstantin Vasyuk. Internet coverage is generally good, he said. About 2% of IT workers, those with military experience, have joined in defending against the Russian invasion, and companies respect that choice and are holding their jobs open. Others are staying put, and companies have moved them to safe locations in European countries, Ukraine or the U.S. Women, who make up 26% of the IT workforce, can transfer to Europe, while men must remain in-country. Vasyuk urged clients to support the sector by maintaining their contracts and considering new ones. Asked where the IT industry might be in 10 years, he said if Ukraine survives, its existing IT work in the global market will continue. Ukraine Avenga Managing Director Marta Romaniak said the war didn't catch her company unprepared: It transferred data and infrastructure to safe places such as the U.S. and relocated 300 female staffers and spouses of male IT workers. The firm's human resources department calls employees daily to check on them and ask if they need help. Avenga hasn't lost any clients. Grid Dynamics has moved 95%-97% of its workers to western parts of Ukraine and is shifting women and families to its offices in Poland, Moldova, Serbia, the Netherlands, Germany and elsewhere, said Senior Director Igor Tkach. In addition to continuing business support from clients, the sector needs informational support: He urged everyone to spread the word about what's really happening in Ukraine. Asked how the country's telecom network is holding up, Digital Europe Director-General Cecilia Bonefeld-Dahl told us it's still up and running, but infrastructure in battle zones is suffering. DigitalEurope is trying to bring components from Europe needed to keep the networks open, and is also helping with ICT and humanitarian initiatives. In February, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law establishing the National Commission for State Regulation of Electronic Communications, Radio Frequency Spectrum and Provision of Postal Services. Earlier this month, mobile operators Kyivstar, Vodafone Ukraine and lifecell, plus the newly created telecom regulator, government, state information protection services and the Ukrainian Association of Telecom Operators, reportedly launched a national roaming pilot to ensure continuity of communications services.

U.S. importers sourced 3.15 million TV sets from all countries in all screen sizes in January, 8.2% fewer than in January 2021, but flat compared with December, according to Census data accessed Sunday through the International Trade Commission’s DataWeb portal. The average January TV import had $336.94 in customs value, up 28.5% from January 2021 but down 1.6% from December. Average TV customs values peaked at $363.90 with October imports of finished sets still embedded with panels that soared to record-high pricing in midsummer before prices began falling rapidly in August and September. Average TV import values have since declined by about 7.4% from the October peak.

A clear majority (60%) of U.S. consumers think brands should “reconsider” doing business in Russia or partnering with Russian companies, in response to the Ukraine invasion, reported Gartner Friday. Gartner canvassed 281 consumers Feb. 25-March 1 (Russia invaded Feb. 24), finding nearly three-quarters are worried or extremely worried about the Ukraine crisis and see “several potential actions for companies that operate in the U.S. to take,” it said. Consumers by a 55% majority think a top priority is for brands to ensure the safety of their employees in the war zone, while 46% want them to work to minimize disruptions that would produce shortages or price increases at home, said Gartner. Consumers identified fuel or energy prices going up as their top concern (60%), followed by the safety and well-being of people outside the U.S. (56%) and cyberattacks against U.S. entities (56%), it said. The findings are a “signal” that chief marketing officers “must consider consumer expectations for corporate response,” said Gartner analyst Kate Muhl. “Our findings also show that while U.S. consumers want businesses to take concrete action, they’re not eager to hear about it directly from those businesses yet. Marketers should focus first on developing a compelling storyline about company activities, so teams are ready to take action when consumers do become more open to hearing from brands about actions they’ve taken.”

Small and mid-size business (SMB) owners, squeezed by inflation, expect to raise prices in the next six months, but are counting on supply chain disruptions soon to ease, a PNC survey found. The bank said it canvassed 500 SMB owners Jan. 4 to Feb. 3, finding that among the 51% expecting to increase their prices, nearly two-thirds (63%) will do so to try to keep pace with rising non-labor costs, a “significant increase” compared with 33% who cited that factor for hiking prices in PNC’s previous survey in the fall. The "all items" consumer price index rose 7.9% for the 12 months ending February, the largest increase since the 12-month period ended January 1982, reported the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Thursday. About a third (34%) of SMB owners who rely on a supply chain said the timeliness of parts and finished-product procured had worsened in the previous six months, said PNC. More than a quarter (28%) that rely on inventory “are faced with the challenge of not having enough supply to meet expected demand,” it said. But nearly six in 10 (57%) said they expect “the timeliness of their supply chain issues to improve in the next six months,” it said.

Pay-TV providers controlling 93% of the market lost about 4.7 million net video subscribers last year vs. a pro forma net loss of about 4.9 million in 2020, reported Leichtman Research Group Tuesday. The loss of 2.7 million cable video subscribers in 2021 compared with an exodus of 1.9 million in the prior year, it said. Comcast shed 1.7 million subscribers to end 2021 with 18.2 million; Charter dropped 367,000 to end at 15.8 million, it said. Other traditional pay-TV services lost 2.9 million subs vs. a loss of 3.8 million in 2020. DirecTV lost 1.9 million to end with 14.6 million customers; Dish TV lost 595,000 to 8.2 million, and 282,000 left Verizon Fios, bringing its subscriber count to 3.6 million. Top vMVPDs added 895,000 subs last year vs. a gain of 915,000 in 2020, led by fuboTV, which added 581,000 subscribers to end the year with 1.1 million. Hulu+ Live TV remains the leading vMVPD, adding 300,000 subs for a total 4.3 million; Sling TV added 12,000 accounts for a total 2.5 million. The top seven cable companies have 41.3 million video subscribers; other traditional pay-TV services have 26.8 million and the top publicly reported vMVPD services have 7.9 million, it said.

Though inflation is at a 40-year high, it’s not hitting everybody the same, said National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz Monday. “Headline inflation numbers may mask what is being faced by different consumers since spending patterns vary widely and lead to significantly different inflation experiences,” Kleinhenz said. “What a person buys can have a tremendous effect on how severely the pain of inflation is felt.” Older households spend more on health and medical services than younger households, which spend more on education and tech and streaming services, he said. “Some spending that drives inflation consists of infrequent big-ticket purchases” like a car or a new home, he said. New vehicle pricing was up 12% in January, while used cars were up 41%, he said.

NPD pegs Q4 industry TV sales as having declined 26% from the same 2020 quarter, emailed Stephen Baker, vice president-industry adviser, technology and mobile. So Vizio’s near-32% decline in its TV sales for the holiday quarter (see 2203040033) “was right in line with the overall market,” said Baker Monday. Vizio returned to “aggressive promotions” last month after shipping 700,000 fewer TVs in Q4 than a year earlier, said the vendor last week.

Despite a 24% dropoff in Q4, U.S. PC shipments eked out a 1% gain in 2021, said Canalys Wednesday. Notebook shipments fell 28% year on year to 17.5 million, led by a 73% Chromebook decline due to saturation in the education market, it said. Tablet shipments dropped 31% to 12.7 million on slower consumer demand. Desktops were the best performing category, growing 9% year on year to 3.6 million units, fueled by the commercial segment. The PC market is well-positioned for “impressive performance” in 2022, amid strong business demand, said analyst Brian Lynch. The commercial segment was the only area to maintain shipment volume levels from Q4 2020; revenue rose 13% to over $9 billion, Lynch said. The U.S. was a prioritized market in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but many firms still struggled to acquire specific models and features, “leading to ongoing pent-up demand,” he said. Firms will step up efforts first-half 2022 to outfit employees with PCs for their “elevated needs.” Though demand for PCs tailed off in the consumer segment, shipments are expected to remain higher than before the pandemic, Lynch said.

The volume of digital ad spending lost to fraud is expected to top $68 billion globally in 2022, a 15% increase from 2021, reported Juniper Research Monday. The U.S. is the market that’s most vulnerable to digital ad fraud, expected to have 35% of global losses in 2022, followed by Japan, China, South Korea and the U.K., said Juniper. “With the U.S. representing such a significant market in terms of advertising spend, campaigns in North America will undoubtedly attract the attention of fraudulent players,” it said. “This will lead to unprecedented innovation in fraud tactics within the U.S., with advertisers demonstrating a greater requirement for fraud detection and mitigation services.”

NPD estimates a 4% reduction in the number of Americans and Canadians who played mobile games in 2021, compared with 2020, but the 228.7 million active mobile gamers across the two countries was a 6% increase from 2019, reported the company Tuesday. Despite the year-over-year reduction, active players were more engaged in mobile gaming “than ever before,” with overall average weekly play time increasing 27%, and players contributing 16% more revenue than in 2020, said NPD. “COVID-19 drove explosive growth in 2020 as U.S. and Canadian consumers sought more options to entertain themselves at home,” it said. “The overall reduction in the total number of active gamers in 2021 was primarily driven by those who had previously not been active players reverting to their pre-pandemic habits."