Computer makers “have a long way to go to close this digital divide,” HP CEO Enrique Lores told investors. “We have a big opportunity to be part of the solution.” Though education market sales doubled in the past year due to remote learning, PCs per 100 students are “in the single digits,” he said about quarterly results. Executives at Dell and HP indicated Thursday that year-on-year growth likely would have been higher if not for the global chips shortage and other supply-chain disruptions that impeded order fulfillment. Lores expects “supply constraints to continue at least through the end of 2021.” Dell expects more PCs per household, shorter replacement cycles and a “higher notebook mix,” said Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke after results. Supply “has not kept up with the demand environment as we think about the need for semiconductors,” said Chief Financial Officer Tom Sweet. That’s “clearly an issue that the technology industry is dealing with,” he said: Component costs likely will be “inflationary in the second half” as shortages persist, especially in laptop displays and memory chips. HP closed 8.9% lower Friday at $29.23.
The “big deals” with Amazon buying MGM and with WarnerMedia/Discovery are a “resounding affirmation” of streaming and “about the value of content” and of brands, said Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer on a quarterly call Thursday. Lionsgate/Starz won’t play in streaming mergers and acquisitions because “we've got a benefit in terms of lack of disruption here at the company,” he said: “The key thing that we're going to do is keep our head down, and just keep executing on our plan.” Starz grew subscribers by 23% year over year, finishing fiscal Q4 ended March 31 with 29.5 million global accounts, said Feltheimer. Starz growth for the year took Lionsgate “past the digital inflection point of more over-the-top than linear subscribers,” he said. Lionsgate surpassed the “milestone” of 10 million U.S. streaming subs, he said. Lionsgate sees the streaming industry as “unfolding” into separate “broad-based” advertising-supported VOD and premium VOD tiers of services, said Starz CEO Jeff Hirsch. “The second tier is where we sit, which is in that premium service as a very edgy, non-ad-supported, really tailored service.”
The sustained role of technology and pandemic shifts caused Best Buy same-store sales gains for fiscal Q1 ended May 2, said CEO Corie Barry on a Thursday call. They grew 37% from a year earlier. But product availability constraints continued for computing, gaming and other categories, said Barry. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Best Buy has had “at least some spotty inventory shortages,” said Barry. “Pockets” of shortages should persist through the year, she said. She cited factors including chip shortages, which Qualcomm also is experiencing (see 2105270007). Barry called the move to hybrid work and learning models “permanent structural shifts,” along with streaming entertainment and a “sustained focus on the home.”
Amazon Prime Day will be June 21-22, reported Bloomberg, after COVID-19 challenges pushed the company's signature sales event to October last year from its typical July slot. Amazon notified employees of the scheduling and asked them to keep it confidential, said the Wednesday report. Prime Day 2020, held Oct. 13-14, was seen as the unofficial start to the holiday sales season in an atypical year for retail. Amazon confirmed the June timing in its last earnings call (see 2104300039), but it didn’t respond to questions Thursday.
Seven in 10 U.S. and European companies will shift to hybrid work post-pandemic, with work-from-anywhere protocols in place for at least two days a week, predicted Forrester Wednesday. Companies that succeed here will benefit from employee experience, higher retention and recruitment advantages, it said: Some 55% of U.S. employees hope to work from home more often post-pandemic, while some executives view this with skepticism, but it's “imperative for higher-value talent.”
Google clarified its updated policy on high-quality Google Photos storage as it prepares for a June 1 changeover to new plans. It announced Google One in November, with 100 GB plans starting at $1.99 a month, to “keep pace with the growing demand for storage and build Google Photos for the future.” Google customers continue to get 15 GB of storage free. Their existing photos and videos are exempt from the change, and won’t count toward Google account storage, it said Monday. The company estimates more than 80% of customers should be able to store “three more years of memories in High quality” with the 15-GB allowance. Customers approaching the ceiling will be notified by email. Google began rolling out a tool in the Photos app to help customers manage their backed up photos and videos that count toward their storage quota. The storage management tool “surfaces photos or videos you might want to delete” such as blurry photos, screenshots and large videos,” it said.
Valens Semiconductor, originator of HDBaseT high-speed connectivity technology for home theater and autonomous vehicles (see 1704140047), will combine with PTK, a “special purpose acquisition company,” and take itself public on the New York Stock Exchange, said the chipmaker Tuesday. Valens will use the proceeds from the initial public offering to speed development and commercialization of “next generation products and to fully fund the company through profitability,” it said. The stock will trade as VLN once its IPO is complete, it said. The merger transaction is expected to close in the fall and requires regulatory approvals, plus Valens and PTK shareholders' ratifications, said a spokesperson.
The COVID-19 pandemic set new smart home expectations and behavior, said Parks Associates analyst Jennifer Kent, opening the virtual Connections conference Tuesday. Familiarity with and positive consumer attitudes toward technology rose since March 2020, Kent said. Some 34% of consumers own a core smart home device, she said. New households are getting smart home devices, and existing ones are building out their collections, she said. Kent cited service and subscription price declines over the past couple of years as “absolutely necessary to attract a more mainstream buyer.” Telehealth benefited as consumers have new concerns of health and wellness, and they’re becoming more comfortable connecting virtually with healthcare professionals, said Kent. Fragmentation, though, slowed smart home adoption, said Kent. Rebranding Project Connected Home over IP as Matter (see 2105110076) could help. With support from Amazon, Google, Apple and Samsung, broadband leader Comcast and IoT companies, she said, “this particular alliance may have the backing” and marketing to “achieve that ever-elusive promise of interoperability.”
Sling TV beta-launched an app Tuesday for Amazon Fire TV devices to ease content search and discovery, said the streaming company. It will continue rolling it out on compatible Sling devices this year, including Roku summer availability, it said: Sling’s engineering team developed the app “after a year of talking to customers,” it said.