Global smartphone shipments rose in recent quarters though “the supply chain situation hasn't drastically improved,” reported IDC. It forecast 7.4% growth to 1.37 billion in 2021 and 3.4% growth in 2022. Those were slight downgrades from a May 26 forecast. Monday, IDC attributed this year’s anticipated increase to “healthy 13.8% growth from iOS devices combined with 6.2% growth from Android.” U.S importers sourced 89.23 million smartphones from all countries in 2021's first half, up 17% from the 2020 period and down 9.7% from 2019's first six months, per Census Bureau data we accessed through the International Trade Commission.
The financial performance of “nearly every company” in the semiconductor and display sectors “continues to improve,” and that bodes well for long-term photomask demand, said Photronics CEO Peter Kirlin on an earnings call Wednesday for fiscal Q3 ended Aug. 1. Photronics supplies photomasks to panel makers in China, South Korea and Taiwan. Few can “ignore” the “growing nationalism that is spurring capacity buildup in multiple regions,” including the U.S. and Europe, said Kirlin. Leading business indicators “point to a boost in capital equipment spending by chip and panel makers that will require photomasks once installed,” he said. “All signs point to a prolonged period of market strength. This is truly a very positive period for the industry, for photomask demand and for Photronics.” Q3 was the second straight quarter of record revenue for Photronics, and “we expect another record quarter in Q4,” Kirlin said. Photronics is “encouraged by the macro trends driving robust design activity across the semiconductor industry,” said Chief Financial Officer John Gordon. The company is optimistic that current trends “will continue into 2022 and potentially beyond,” he said.
The Biden administration "stands ready" to enable Cubans to have “safe and secure access to the free flow of information on the Internet,” it announced Wednesday. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), the state's Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez (R) and other Republicans urged President Joe Biden to enable U.S. businesses to provide internet service to Cubans (see 2107160065). Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a joint fact sheet Wednesday detailing the actions. OFAC and BIS “stand ready to engage” with stakeholders to provide “guidance and respond to applications for specific licenses” under relevant regulations which help support Cuban internet access, said the fact sheet. It encourages interested parties to take advantage of general license exemptions for software and services for Cuban internet users and BIS license exemptions for the export and re-export of commodities, software and technology. The Senate’s 50-49 approval Wednesday of Senate Concurrent Resolution 14, the blueprint for a coming $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation measure (see 2108100062), followed voice passage Tuesday of an amendment from Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; and Rick Scott, R-Fla., aimed at pressing Biden administration facilitation of internet access to Cuba. The nonbinding Rubio-led amendment would create a Deficit Neutral Reserve Fund in the next reconciliation bill that would be used to develop and deploy tech to facilitate internet access to Cuba. Senators frequently propose DNRFs amid a budget reconciliation process to make a statement about myriad issues. “My colleagues sent a clear, bipartisan message that the United States is committed to getting uncensored and unrestricted internet access to the people of Cuba,” Rubio said.
Sonos announced its first sports partnership Tuesday with the U.K.’s Liverpool Football Club to “heighten the sonic experience” at the soccer team’s Anfield stadium. As part of the multiyear agreement, Sonos will create “immersive sound experiences” with its home theater products in the stadium’s lounges and player areas, plus the club’s training center, said the company.
Universal Electronics Inc. got a favorable initial determination in an International Trade Commission patent infringement case against Roku. UEI CEO Paul Arling said the ITC judge recommended issuing a limited exclusion and cease and desist order. The finding is under review by commissioners, with a final determination, “including the issuance of the limited exclusion and cease and desist orders,” expected by Nov. 10, he told investors Thursday. See Q2 materials here and here and our report 2108060033. Roku didn't comment Friday. Arling said LG, Microsoft and Samsung license UEI’s IP. The patents involve QuickSet, he said. UEI stock closed up 7.4 Friday at $48.03.
June's launch of EchoStar's S-band nanosatellite is "an important step in perfecting" the company’s global S-band non-geostationary satellite spectrum rights for mobile satellite service, Chief Strategy Officer Anders Johnson told analysts during a call this week as the company announced Q2. He said the company is focused on “full integration” of S-band satellite services into 5G networks and the 2022 standards release by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project will include non-terrestrial networks and address satellite’s role in 5G. EchoStar said HughesNet lost 20,000 U.S. subscribers, a trend that will continue near term as HughesNet is capacity constrained. Hughes Network Systems President Pradman Kaul said the hybrid network architecture it’s exploring with OneWeb should let it offer a viable product that makes it eligible for federal broadband subsidies. SES CEO Steve Collar said the company is "fully on track" to complete phase 1 of the U.S. C-band clearing this year, and it expects to start receiving reimbursement compensation in coming months, on a call Wednesday as it released results. He said cruise ship and aviation connectivity is picking up and SES' video revenue improved its trajectory for the first half of the year. SES said video revenue of $622.7 million for H1 was down 3.9% from H1 2020, vs. an 8% decline a year ago. Collar said SES expects to be "flattening the curve" in the medium term with its video distribution business. Also reporting in-flight connectivity improvements, Intelsat said Tuesday in-flight helped drive network services growth, which was $221 million, up 25% year over year. It said video revenue was $184.2 million, down 9% due to a service migration by a customer from Intelsat's network to its own network assets.
Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications OK'd Iridium Certus broadband, Iridium controller-pilot data link communications and other aeronautical services for aviation, and Iridium's global maritime distress and safety system service, Iridium said Monday.
Amazon threw its weight into Section 301 litigation inundating the U.S. Court of International Trade, alleging in a complaint Monday that the Lists 3 and 4A tariffs are unlawful under the 1974 Trade Act. It said they violate Administrative Procedure Act rules against sloppy rulemakings and are unconstitutional because only Congress, not the executive branch, can levy taxes. Amazon reported 2020 revenue of $386.1 billion and is believed now to be the second largest Section 301 plaintiff behind Walmart, which sued March 8. Walmart reported $559.2 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ended Jan. 31. Both companies are the relatively few among the roughly 6,500 importer plaintiffs to challenge the tariffs on constitutional grounds. Crowell & Moring is representing Amazon. Walmart’s attorneys are from Hogan Lovells. Both law firms sit on the 15-member plaintiffs’ steering committee formed in March to help manage the litigation.
The International Space Station will hosta demo of SpaceLink's high-capacity communications network between space and the ground, the company said Monday. It said this will validate use of a 10 Gbps optical terminal for voice, video and data exchange among ISS crew, onboard systems, experiments and terrestrial users. SpaceLink CEO David Bettinger said the demo's funding by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, which manages the ISS U.S. National Laboratory, "marks an important milestone in SpaceLink’s roadmap to providing massive bandwidth for organizations that need real-time connectivity between space and the ground.”
Samsung’s “mild growth” in smartphone shipments in Q2, growing 5.6% to 57.3 million, was due to supply constraints of key components and reduced operations at production facilities due to the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 in India and Vietnam, said Omdia Thursday. The global smartphone market grew 6.9% year on year to 299.1 million units, said the research firm. First-half shipments were up 17.4% to 651.8 million vs. the first six months of 2020, it said. Xiaomi took No. 2 for the first time, shipping 49.9 million units, a 73% bump, for 17% share. Samsung held No. 1 with 19% share; Apple, with 42.9 million shipments, had 16%, it said, followed by oppo and vivo, each with 11%. In Q3, global smartphone shipments are expected to turn to negative growth vs. the 2020 quarter due to continued supply shortages and reduced demand, said analyst Jusy Hong.