Equifax agreed to buy Kount, a supplier of artificial intelligence-based fraud prevention and digital identity solutions, for $640 million. “Businesses require new ways to establish digital identity trust in real time to fight the growing problem of online fraud while reducing customer friction,” said Equifax Friday. This will expand its global “footprint” in fraud prevention and “identity trust,” it said. The transaction is expected to close this quarter.
Broadband and video subscribers of Charter Communications' Spectrum get an extended free trial of NBCUniversal's Peacock Premium streaming service, the companies said Thursday, announcing a multiyear distribution agreement. They said Charter is distributing the Peacock app via its Spectrum Guide platform.
LG Electronics is buying a majority interest in TV data and measurement specialist Alphonso, said LG Wednesday. It plans to use Alphonso software and services within its “broad range” of home entertainment products, especially smart TVs. LG is making the investment through its U.S.-based Zenith technology, and Alphonso will continue to operate as an independent business under its current brand and leadership.
Pandemic lifestyles enabled consumer tech to generate $14 billion in “additional revenue” in 2020 compared with 2019, said Stephen Baker, NPD vice president-industry adviser, technology, told the virtual Techfluence conference. Big 2020 winners were do-it-yourself PCs, monitors, gaming, PC headsets and home networking equipment, he said Wednesday. Smart home, headphones and wireless power underperformed, he said. “Tech was in the right place at the right time” for lockdown orders, said Baker. It's “a mostly recessionary-proof business.” NPD thinks the consumer tech industry “will continue to see strong volumes for the next three years, regardless of the economic conditions,” he said. NPD estimates the industry finished Q4 with a 14% increase over the 2019 quarter, somewhat of a “slowdown” from Q2 and Q3, when stay-at-home restrictions peaked, said Baker: But the $14 billion in additional industry revenue in 2020 meant “certainly a historic year.”
Connected cars are opportunities for OEMs, app developers, service providers and fleet operators to create new in-vehicle consumer experiences, Chief Marketing Officer Ralph Santana told Harman's virtual event Thursday. The Samsung unit touted extending headrests with built-in sound, in-cabin lighting, OLED and QLED displays, and tactile transducers. Santana referenced “elevated experiences,” or experiences per mile (EPM). Harman established an EPM advisory council of more than 30 companies. EPMs are designed to meet consumers' desire for their car to be a "third living space," where they can make downtime more productive, he said. Travel Channel personality Kellee Edwards, host of the event, said cloud-based games are accessible via 5G connection.
Harman, Continental and Bosch are market leaders in the connected vehicle infotainment systems segment that generated $32 billion in 2019 revenue, reported ABI Research Wednesday. ABI ranks Harman as “the clear leader,” with Continental a distant second and Bosch “a close third.” They collectively have about 30% of worldwide revenue, it said. Harman leads the ranking “because it has redefined its market positioning as a premium infotainment provider to develop global cockpit solutions with a scalable approach ranging from mass-market to premium OEMs,” said ABI.
With a full holiday shopping season wrap slated for Tuesday, Adobe Analytics reported the November-December period had a total online spend of $188.2 billion, up 32% over 2019, to a record. Cyber Week sales were slower compared with the overall season, with Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday growing 21% year on year, Adobe emailed Wednesday. For the first time, more than half of online spending came from smartphones Christmas Day. Average daily online revenue topped $3.1 billion during the season vs. $2.3 billion in 2019, and for the first time, every day of the two-month season exceeded $1 billion in sales. Fifty days had revenue over $2 billion, nine days passed $4 billion, and Thanksgiving Day sales exceeded $5 billion. Curbside pickup orders were up 36% overall but dropped to 26% in the seven days leading up to Christmas. Smartphones were 40% of the season’s e-commerce growth.
Roku reached 51.2 million active accounts Dec. 31, up about 14 million for the year, it said Wednesday. Users streamed about 17 billion hours in Q4, bringing the total to 58.7 billion in 2020, a 55% year-on-year jump. The company said a third of U.S. households have left traditional pay-TV services.
Amazon bought 11 Boeing 767-300 aircraft -- seven from Delta and four from WestJet -- that will join its leased air cargo network by 2022, it said Tuesday. The goal is to continue delivering goods to customers “in the way that they expect from Amazon, and purchasing our own aircraft is a natural next step,” said Sarah Rhoads, vice president-Amazon Global Air. The company will continue to rely on third-party carriers to operate its fleet, it said.
Cable One is rolling out an IP-based TV service, Sparklight TV, with cloud-based video programming starting in select markets early this year and across its footprint by year-end, it said Tuesday. It said the move from linear video to IPTV will free up network capacity to expand beyond its current gigabit broadband offering and open the door to 10 Gbps. It said Sparklight TV will include VOD, program restart and DVR capabilities.