No “extraordinary circumstances exist” to deny Sonos’ motion to terminate the International Trade Commission’s Tariff Act Section 337 investigation against Alphabet (see 2008240002), said Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock's order (login required) Tuesday in docket 337-TA-1191 granting the termination. The probe continues into allegations that Google smart devices infringe five Sonos multiroom audio patents, but Sonos withdrew the allegations against the Google parent after it swore under oath it doesn’t import or sell the allegedly infringing products. Bullock agrees with Sonos that terminating the probe against Alphabet “will simplify the investigation without causing prejudice to Google,” he said.
Sennheiser will demonstrate a premium car audio system at its Berlin store Thursday featuring its Ambeo Mobility and Continental’s Ac2ated Sound, allowing full audio individualization for each seat. Personalized listening zones are created by specially designed headrests with integrated high-fidelity transducers to create personal near-field playback zones. A driver can make a call while a passenger listens to an e-book, said the company. Ambeo software analyzes and distills fundamental components of a native stereo music track and plays them back “immersively” through the appropriate loudspeaker or actuator, it said. Continental’s system creates a “concert-hall experience” with minimum hardware, it said.
Qualcomm, Casa Systems and Ericsson completed the first extended-range 5G new radio data call over a millimeter wave network in Victoria, Australia, June 20, they said Monday. Distance was 2.36 miles, showing suitability for fixed wireless access services and opportunities to use 5G infrastructure in urban, suburban and rural environments, said the companies: With the reach and performance to offer fixed wireless as a widespread “last mile” broadband option, network operators will be able to use existing mobile networks to deliver fixed wireless services and expand service to new areas at multi-gigabit speeds, with low latency.
President Donald Trump’s warning that he will remove all U.S. business from China in a second term got a sharp rebuke Friday from the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry. To threaten the “relocation of production capacity” as Trump did is “political manipulation that puts partisan and personal interests above U.S. national interests,” said a ministry spokesperson. “The perverse practice of going against the voluntary will of the vast business community, forcibly scrapping existing cooperation between countries, and coercing companies with regard to their normal investment and operation runs counter to the law of market economy and will eventually lead to self-harm.” China will "own our country” if Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is elected, Trump told the Republican National Convention Thursday evening.
Chipmaker Semtech is forecasting revenue of $145 million-$155 million for its fiscal Q3 ending late October. It assumes “no more direct shipments to Huawei” amid the further Commerce Department export restrictions on the Chinese tech company (see 2008170043), said Chief Financial Officer Emeka Chukwu on a quarterly earnings call Wednesday. Q3 revenue would rise about 10% from a year earlier at the high range of the guidance. “Despite the ongoing geopolitical challenges and the macroeconomic headwinds associated with COVID-19, we believe the underlying secular demand for our key growth platforms remains solid,” said Chukwu. Huawei is “an ongoing dynamic situation,” said CEO Mohan Maheswaran. “They used to be a $80 million to $100 million account for us, so it's much, much lower now.” Semtech went with the zero shipments assumption in the guidance because it wants to “eliminate any risk” for investors, he said. “It's not a question of us not wanting to ship them.” Commerce regulations “are changing quite frequently,” he said. “So we take the approach of let's be conservative and assume no shipments.”
Comments are due Oct. 26 on a Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security advance NPRM to decide if there are “specific foundational technologies” that warrant “more restrictive” export controls, says Thursday's Federal Register. “Foundational technologies essential to the national security are those that may warrant stricter controls if a present or potential application or capability of that technology poses a national security threat,” it says. Foundational technologies “could include items that are currently subject to control for military end use,” it says. “Many of these items, including semiconductor manufacturing equipment and associated software tools, lasers, sensors, and underwater systems, can be tied to indigenous military innovation efforts in China, Russia or Venezuela. Accordingly, they may pose a national security threat.” The ANPRM is in docket BIS-2020-0029 at Regulations.gov.
U.S. and Chinese trade officials reemphasized their commitment to the phase one trade agreement (see 2001160022) during a Monday call, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, USTR Robert Lighthizer and Vice Premier Liu He participated on the call, which was scheduled for earlier this month before President Donald Trump postponed it (see 2008190030). The call included a discussion on what China has done about intellectual property rights, forced technology transfer and the removal of “impediments to American companies” in the financial services and agricultural sectors, said USTR. The sides also discussed China’s “significant increases in purchases” of U.S. goods and more actions China needs to take to fulfill its phase one commitments. “Both sides see progress and are committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure the success of the agreement,” said USTR. China’s Commerce Ministry called the call a “constructive dialogue," in an unofficial translation. “Both sides agreed to create conditions and atmosphere to continue to promote the implementation" of the phase one deal, it said.
Last week's tightening of U.S. restrictions on Huawei (see 2008170043) took the semiconductor industry by surprise, and many in the sector worry about short-term supply chain disruptions due to the new measures, said industry officials and experts we canvassed. Many said they think the initial restrictions in May were sufficient, expressing frustration that the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security didn't seek industry feedback before imposing the new requirements. Though chipmakers are bracing for short-term complications, officials said they're also concerned about the long-term impacts of a U.S. national security policy that seems to continually target U.S. industry, even if indirectly. “We're now encouraging customers in China to move away from U.S. technology and semiconductors,” one semiconductor industry official said. “Why would they in the future use U.S. technology if they’ll be subject to all these rules?” The new rule expanded on a May policy that further restricted non-U.S. companies from selling chips using U.S. technology to Huawei. Officials said semiconductor supply chains will inevitably be impacted, but many remain unsure how broadly the impacts will be felt. The scope of the restrictions will depend on how strictly Commerce Department officials review license applications, which can range from case-by-case reviews to presumptions of denial. Much depends on whether Commerce "is serious about implementing this new rule literally,” said Alen Lin, a technology industry expert and analyst with Fitch Ratings. “If they do that, it does effectively cut off Huawei from any type of semiconductors.” Even though companies are still assessing the impact, industry officials expect many more chipmakers to be affected by the new restrictions than by the measures issued in May. Officials thought those requirements worked in targeting Huawei, which is why some said they were surprised when BIS issued more restrictions last week. “We were caught off guard,” one semiconductor industry official said. “We thought the original May rule was working. The objective seemed to have been achieved.” But Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Huawei was working with third parties to evade the restrictions, necessitating the tougher measures. The US-China Business Council said it's “deeply concerned” about the risk of “overly broad” restrictions resulting from the rule. It could lead to “unintended consequences … that deliver a bonanza of new business to our competitors while doing nothing to improve national security,” USCBC spokesperson Doug Barry said. He said more communication between government and industry would help: “The Trump administration needs to listen carefully to the industry perspective and learn more about their business models.”
A U.S. intelligence official urged companies to avoid supply chains involving Huawei and said there's a strong push within the administration to bolster domestic production of 5G technologies. Constance Taube, National Counterintelligence and Security Center deputy director, said U.S. companies should approach Huawei and other Chinese state-controlled companies with a high degree of skepticism, saying their supply chains will ultimately benefit from more trusted actors. “It's fair to say that supply chain risk can probably never be entirely eliminated,” Taube said, speaking during a Wednesday webinar hosted by the Intelligence and National Security Alliance. “But supply chain risk must be managed.” Taube said Huawei is “subject to the whims of an authoritarian government,” saying its strong links to the Chinese military should dissuade U.S. companies from trading with it. Recent U.S. restrictions, such as increased license requirements on exports to Huawei and Chinese military end-users, might cause industry pain in the short term, Taube said, but the U.S. will ultimately be better off. China heavily criticized the U.S. restrictions. Taube said the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the risks of doing business with China and stressed the importance of supply chain diversification. “What we have learned during the COVID crisis is that we are so deeply integrated in terms of supply chains on critical areas, that we may want to rethink and readjust to ensure that when we are in crisis periods, we are well positioned to get through the crisis without a reliance on partners that might not gain full trust.” Though Huawei is the world’s top telecommunication equipment maker, Taube said U.S. companies should turn to other sellers and buyers of 5G technology that are trusted. Taube also cautioned U.S. companies against doing business with other Chinese companies, saying they're subject to “different kinds of scrutiny and different requirements than companies that operate in environments that are democratically managed.” She said it's often unclear which companies are aiding the Chinese government. “Chinese government provides subsidies to their organizations that they feel are vital to their own national or economic security,” Taube said. “And I'm putting it bluntly: They don't necessarily always represent them as subsidies.”
China's COVID-19 response “can stand the test of time and history,” said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wednesday. “China's enormous sacrifice and contribution to the global fight against COVID-19 is there for all to see.” President Donald Trump postponed trade negotiations with China because he regards its handling of the pandemic as “not even thinkable,” he told reporters in Yuma, Arizona, Tuesday. “With what they did to this country and to the world, I don’t want to talk to China right now,” said Trump. Asked if he was going to pull out of the phase one trade deal, Trump responded: “We’ll see what happens.”