Personal data flows to the U.K. should be permitted because its privacy laws are essentially equivalent to the EU's, the European Commission said. It published draft "adequacy" decisions under the general data protection regulation and the law enforcement directive for review by the European Data Protection Board and EU governments. The EU "has shaped the UK's data protection regime for decades," but adequacy findings must be future-proof after Brexit, the EC said. The decisions would be valid for four years and renewable. Data flows between the European economic area and U.K. continue under an interim regime that expires June 30. The decision is good news because the U.K. "remains an important trade partner of the EU," said the Computer & Communications Industry Association.
Rather than consumers, many customers for SpaceX's Starlink broadband service in lower-income countries will likely be community organizations, clinics, schools and businesses, California State University-Dominguez Hills information systems professor Larry Press blogged Saturday. "Of necessity, low-income nations have a long history of shared Internet resources." The price of Starlink service is the same everywhere, but that could change if it has excess capacity after more satellites are launched, he said. SpaceX didn't comment Tuesday.
TCL’s North American smartphone subsidiary became one of the largest importers to join the massive Section 301 litigation when it filed a complaint (in Pacer) Friday in the U.S. Court of International Trade. Like the roughly 3,500 other lawsuits inundating the court, TCT Mobile (US) seeks to get the List 3 and 4A tariffs on Chinese goods vacated and the duties refunded with interest. TCT's claims “accrued with each and every entry of products” with List 3 or 4A tariff exposure, said the company. The action was filed within two years of the date that TCT paid the duties, it said, satisfying the court’s statute of limitations requirement on the timeliness of complaints. “With a mobile handset product portfolio that includes TCL and Alcatel devices,” TCT is “the fourth largest handset manufacturer in North America,” it said. The complaint lists two dozen import categories for which TCT has List 3 or 4A tariff exposure. Most are for capital goods, packaging materials or components, including lithium-ion batteries. Finished smartphones that TCT imports from China under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s 8517.12.00 subheading are on List 4B. The Trump administration postponed indefinitely the 15% tariffs on List 4B goods from taking effect in December 2019 after reaching the phase one trade deal with China (see 1912130042).
NPD pegged 2020 as a year of “historic growth” for the Canadian consumer tech industry, with sales up 18% from a year earlier, said the point-of-sale reporting service Thursday. NPD expects 4% consumer tech sales growth in Q1 compared with the 2020 quarter, but tough comparisons with the monumental growth in the final three quarters of 2020 will result in a 10% decline in 2021, it said. It’s forecasting additional 1% declines in 2022 and 2023. The consumer tech space will see a slowdown from 2020 but will surpass 2019 levels, said NPD. “Pull forward purchases of high ticket items such as notebooks and TVs will impact sales opportunities in 2021 and 2022,” it said. “The 2020 pandemic drove the technology space in Canada to its highest ever dollar sales levels,” said NPD analyst Chris Brugman. “Consumer spend on higher ticket items for in-home work, learning and entertainment was an unexpected windfall for the industry.”
LG named SpotX its primary supply-side platform for programmatic video advertising in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and the Middle East and Africa said the companies Thursday. SpotX is also providing LG with demand facilitation services to connect media buyers with premium over-the-top video inventory available on LG smart TVs. Buyers will be able to purchase inventory programmatically through its platform or a demand-side platform they choose. TV makers are "recognizing the power of owning the glass to not only manage content distribution and access but also aggregate unique audience data," said Mike Laband, SpotX senior vice president-platform. LG had more than 300% growth last year in streaming hours on its channels, said Matt Durgin, senior director-North America smart TV partnerships.
The U.S. should follow Australia’s example and require tech platforms to share revenue with local, independent news organizations, Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote Thursday. The company endorsed the Australian proposal last week after Google said it would end search services in the country if the Australian Parliament approved the proposal. The U.S. “should not object to a creative Australian proposal that strengthens democracy by requiring tech companies to support a free press,” Smith said now. “It should copy it instead.”
Viasat, Russian telco TMC and Russian satellite operator Gazprom Space Systems partnered to provide aeronautical connectivity to Russian and international airlines when flying into and over Russian space, Viasat said Wednesday: This starts with Viasat procuring Ku-band capacity on Gazprom's Yamal-401.
IFA 2021 promoters barely waited for the promotional hype to subside for the rival CES before trumpeting their Sept. 3-7 Berlin event as “the world's most significant trade show for consumer tech and home electronics.” Organizers are “overwhelmed by the extremely strong commitment” of the show’s exhibitors, said IFA Executive Director Jens Heithecker Tuesday. “This demonstrates the high interest of the industry in presenting their innovations to IFA's global media community live in Berlin. Together with our international retail partners, we want to prepare the recovery and rebound for the time after the lockdown.” Tuesday’s announcement featured testimonials from 17 companies that signed on as IFA 2021 exhibitors.
Smartphone imports to the U.S. declined 15% in 2020 to 181.69 million under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule’s 8517.12.00 subheading, show Census Bureau data we accessed through the International Trade Commission. It's the first time since Census began keeping such records in 2007 that shipments fell below 200 million.
U.S. importers sourced record quantities of laptops, tablets and TVs in 2020 to meet high demand for connectivity and home entertainment gear during lockdowns, said Census Bureau data we accessed Sunday through the International Trade Commission. The 125.68 million laptops and tablets under Harmonized Tariff Schedule 8471.30.01 was a 23% increase from 2019 and the most in any year since Census began reporting that HTS category in 2007. Q4 shipments of 43.44 million laptops was the highest quarterly volume recorded, rising 40%.