Savant pulled out of next month's CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis as an in-person exhibitor due to COVID-19, it said in a Tuesday email to the CEDIA community. “To best protect our employees, our customers and all industry associates from the impact of COVID-19 and the unpredictable Delta variant, Savant will not be exhibiting in person at the 2021 CEDIA Expo,” said CEO Robert Madonna. Instead, Savant, which attended the ProSource summer meeting in San Antonio last week, is preparing “engaging virtual sessions” so it can share product news and informative content “to best support your businesses through these challenging times,” Madonna said.
Exhibit space is available for the Florida Audio Expo, scheduled for Feb. 18-20 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa-Airport Westshore hotel, said Operations Manager Bart Andeer on Monday. Early registration exhibit room price is $3,995 through Sept. 1, $4,500 through Dec. 5 and $4,900 through Jan. 5. “If we find it necessary to cancel the show due to as-yet-unforeseen CDC [Centers for Disease Control] or government restrictions, we will be able to refund 85% of the exhibit fee,” Andeer said. The remaining 15% will be “nonrefundable and nontransferable, to help cover the costs of such contractual obligations as marketing, printing, and contractor expenses,” he said. FAE has commitments for a third of the rooms, Andeer emailed. An exhibitor list wasn’t available on the website, which is being revamped. In 2020, the show had 66 exhibit rooms, up from 41 in 2019, he said. New for 2022, FAE will charge admission, with discounts for first responders and military personnel. Students and spouses of ticketholders get free admission.
Cloud services and 5G connectivity are key to enabling local healthcare providers to benefit from remote teleconsultation technologies, reported Juniper Research Monday. The number of telehealth consultations performed globally is forecast to reach 422 million this year, 765 million in 2025, including interactions via healthcare portals, apps and consumer video calling platforms. For teleconsultation services to become an integral element of healthcare, platforms have to develop solutions that cater to differing capacities of regional healthcare sectors, Juniper said.
Comscore will provide de-duplicated connected TV measurement for YouTube and YouTube TV in its Comscore Campaign Ratings cross-platform service, it said Monday. The arrangement allows advertisers to measure their video investments across all screens, for an "accurate view" of how audiences are consuming content on YouTube and YouTube TV across desktop, mobile and connected TV, it said. "People are choosing to watch their favorite YouTube content on connected TVs with others, and the inclusion of co-viewing in this new integration will allow advertisers to understand the full scale of the audience they're able to reach through YouTube" connected TV campaigns, said Debbie Weinstein, YouTube vice president-global solutions.
EBay is extending its “Up & Running” grants program for another year to help small-business sellers on its platform thrive online, said the company Friday. The mentorship program will expose an additional 50 U.S. small business sellers to $10,000 grant packages including cash, premium access to guided online learning content and coaching from expert sellers.
Universal Electronics Inc. is the latest tech company hit by the chip crunch, affecting order fulfillment of Nevo Butler, UEI’s white-label, voice-enabled smart home and entertainment control hub. Shortages affected shipments for a major European telco, CEO Paul Arling told investors Thursday. Q2 revenue was $150.5 million, vs. $153.1 million in the 2020 quarter. Guidance for Q3 is a year-over-year rise. Meanwhile, platforms like Apple TV Video Partner Program are the future for all types of MVPDs, which “now understand that the consumer wants that combination of everything they want to watch,” Arling said. Subscribers want local sports, reality TV programing and to binge-watch a favorite show streamed on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Hulu -- “or name your favorite service.” Larger MVPDs can build platforms, he said, citing Comcast’s X1, which Cox adopted. Medium- to smaller-sized MVPDs “probably will find it better to borrow one of the other industry platforms,” he said, naming Android and TiVo in addition to Apple. Broadband operators are increasingly introducing IP-only or streaming set-top boxes, Arling said, citing Comcast Flex, DirecTV Stream and TiVo Stream. See Q2 materials here and here and our report on the company's Roku patent fight 2108060032. UEI stock closed up 7.4 Friday at $48.03.
Qualcomm wants to outbid Magna International and buy Veoneer for $37 a share in an all-cash $4.6 billion transaction that would bring a “competitive and open” combined advanced driver assistance systems platform to automakers and tier 1 suppliers “at scale,” said Qualcomm Thursday. Magna and Veoneer announced a definitive agreement July 22 for Magna to buy Veoneer for $31.25 a share in a $3.8 billion cash deal. Qualcomm “continues to see traction in automotive, with a revenue-design win pipeline of approximately $10 billion,” it said now. Qualcomm’s board unanimously ratified the Veoneer offer, but Qualcomm shareholder approval won’t be required, it said. Veoneer and Magna didn’t respond to queries Thursday.
Roku Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden set expectations for “tough” year-on-year comparisons in second-half 2021, on the company's quarterly call Wednesday, after COVID-19 pandemic-driven “outperformance” in 2020. Q2 revenue increased 81% year on year to $645 million, it reported, crediting “exceptional performance in platform monetization.” (See Q2 materials). Player unit sales were little changed after the 2020 demand spike. Tight component supplies and shipping constraints increased costs faster than expected across consumer electronics, executives said, saying the company “insulated consumers” from higher player unit costs. Higher costs are an industrywide issue affecting smart TVs, too, Louden said. Management said higher out-of-home entertainment engagement was competition, as consumers "sought increased out-of-home entertainment activities" after being pent up in Q2 2020 during lockdowns. That led to a decline in viewing hours, it said. The stock closed down 4% to $403.48 Thursday.
Rebounding in-flight connectivity helped Viasat grow, though the company is "still well below pre-pandemic business levels," CEO Rick Baldridge told analysts Thursday on results for fiscal Q1 ended June 30. Satellite services revenue was $274 million, up 36% year over year, with commercial air activity picking up, it said. It expects revenue growth for the rest of the fiscal year due in part to passenger traffic trends. Overall revenue was $665 million, up $135 million. The stock closed 8.5% higher at $52.16.
Though cost concerns drove many from traditional pay TV, cord-cutters spend an average $85 monthly for online pay-TV or stand-alone over-the-top services, reported Parks Associates Thursday. OTT services “are delivering on the promise that they can offer desired video content at a considerably lower price,” said President Elizabeth Parks, “but we find 47% of cord-cutters subscribe to four or more OTT services.” Consumers are creating their own video bundles by stacking OTT services, she said. Cord-cutters spend nearly double monthly on OTT services as cord-nevers, which Parks pegs as a 6 million audience. Cord-nevers are less likely to own streaming video products such as smart TVs and streaming media players, while 58% of cord-cutters own a smart TV, equivalent to the national average.