Paul Gluckman

Ohio offered Intel $1.29 billion in “direct cash incentives” to invest $20 billion in building two semiconductor fabs on a 1,000-acre campus in Licking County (see 2201210085), Department of Development Director Lydia Mihalik told a virtual media briefing Friday. The project is expected to add $2.8 billion to Ohio’s annual “gross state product” when it’s fully operational in 2025, said Mihalik. State tax authorities “will obviously have say over the job creation tax credit,” said Mihalik. "In terms of the direct cash incentives, we’ll be working with our partners in the legislature to bring those to fruition.” The Ohio Tax Credit Authority (TCA) approves all applications for the JCTC program and customarily meets monthly on the last Monday of each month, said a Department of Development spokesperson. "When an JCTC application is submitted to the TCA for review and approval, it will appear on a meeting agenda" that's posted publicly on the Thursday before the meeting, he said.

The “continuous 5G migration in more regions” will be a big 2022 growth driver for MediaTek, the largest smartphone SoC maker, CEO Rick Tsai told a Q4 call Thursday. MediaTek expects global 5G smartphone penetration to exceed 50% of handsets this year, he said. The 5G penetration rate in China is the highest at 80%, and “we expect 5G unit growth to mainly come from other regions,” he said. With MediaTek’s “early readiness” of 5G modems for Wi-Fi 6E, “we have been able to penetrate the notebook market successfully,” said Tsai. Its partnerships with Intel and Advanced Micro Devices “helped us build a strong designing pipeline with all major global OEMs,” he said. MediaTek estimates more than 2 billion devices sold globally in 2021, including smartphones, smart TVs, notebooks and tablets, used MediaTek, said Tsai. It forecasts its total addressable market will grow to $140 billion in 2024 from $80 billion in 2021, he said.

Intel is “very excited” about Tuesday's introduction of HR-4521 (see 2201260062), House Democrats’ proposed companion to the Senate-passed U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260), said CEO Pat Gelsinger on a Q4 call Wednesday. President Joe Biden and members of his administration “have been clear on the importance of this transformational investment,” said Gelsinger. “It's encouraging to see the strong bipartisan and bicameral support as we continue to work together to address the long-term impacts of the semiconductor shortage, restore U.S. leadership in this critical industry and rebalance the global supply chain.” Gelsinger joined Biden last week to appeal for enactment (see 2201210085). The CEO spoke with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., “at length on this subject" Tuesday, he said. He expects HR-4521 “will be debated on the floor next week, and hopefully, following what we expect will be passage in the House, a reconciliation process” with S-1260. Unprecedented chip demand “continues to be tempered by supply chain constraints,” said Gelsinger: IoT and data centers were affected. Intel shares closed 7% lower Thursday at $48.05.

5G is "the fastest-scaling mobile technology we have seen" in Ericsson's history, "and deployments around the world have truly accelerated this past year," said CEO Borje Ekholm on a Q4 earnings call Tuesday. Ericsson has 109 live 5G networks globally, plus 170 agreements or contracts with customers on 5G networks yet to be deployed, he said. The strong 5G momentum continues in North America, “where we saw very good development” in the fourth quarter, said Ekholm. Revenue in the region increased 17% year over year to 22.3 billion Swedish kronor ($2.4 billion), “driven by strong demand for 5G,” he said. “It's worth remembering” that during 2021, Ericsson signed new 5G contracts with all tier 1 operators in the U.S., “representing the biggest contracts in our company's history,” he said. “We think we're still relatively early in the 5G rollouts if you look on the globe,” said Ekholm. The characteristics of 5G are “so different from any other mobile technology that, in reality, was only consumer-centric,” he said. “With 5G, we're opening up one completely new field or new segment, being enterprises. So I think we're underestimating the growth potential in 5G."

DOJ Antitrust Division Chief Jonathan Kanter worries that “merger remedies short of blocking a transaction too often miss the mark,” he told the New York State Bar Association virtually Monday. “Complex settlements, whether behavioral or structural, suffer from significant deficiencies.” When the Antitrust Division decides a deal is likely to lessen competition, “in most situations we should seek a simple injunction to block the transaction,” he said. “It is the surest way to preserve competition.” DOJ must give “full weight to the benefits of preserving competition that already exists in a market, rather than predicting whether a divestiture will actually serve to keep a market competitive,” said Kanter. “That will often mean that we cannot accept anything less than an injunction blocking the merger.” His division “will pursue remedies that are forward-looking in nature, especially in dynamic markets,” he said. “We will pursue remedies -- not settlements. We cannot compromise if there is a violation of the law.”

Netflix forecasts a 37% year-over-year decline in net paid additions to 2.5 million for Q1, it said, reporting Q4 adds below its forecast (see 2201200069). COVID-19 “has introduced so much noise” to such predictions, co-CEO Reed Hastings told investors Thursday. The “ability” of streaming competitors “to grow even as we've been growing” is a “really strong endorsement for the core idea that consumers around the world are willing to pay for great entertainment,” said Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters. “It encourages us to continue that investment and to try and deliver more entertainment value and earn more of that share.” The stock closed down 22% Friday at $397.50.

Though ATSC “is not directly involved in patent licensing, we are pleased to hear the announcement of the ATSC 3.0 patent pool” by MPEG LA (see 2201200058), emailed ATSC President Madeleine Noland Friday. “Recognizing that patent pools often add licensors over time, we are delighted to see this group of thirteen licensors working together to simplify and accelerate ATSC 3.0 adoption into an expanding line-up of NextGenTV products.”

President Joe Biden and Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger used Intel’s announcement Friday of its $20 billion investment to build two semiconductor fabs in central Ohio to appeal for passing the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act and USICA's authorization of federal funding under the Chips Act. In the U.S., “we barely produce 10%” of the world’s chips, “despite being the leader in chip design and research, and we don’t have the ability to make the most advanced chips,” Biden told a White House news briefing. As “historic” as Intel’s announcement is, enacting the USICA “is an important part of today’s message,” he said. USICA “includes a $52 billion incentive for more companies to build their manufacturing facilities” in the U.S., said Biden. “I want other cities and states to be able to make announcements like the one being made here today. That’s why I want to see Congress pass this bill right away and get it to my desk.” He vowed his administration “will use all the tools we have to reshore our supply chains, strengthen our economic resilience and make more in America.” Intel "can’t do it alone,” its chief said. Congress needs to “finish the job” by approving the Chips Act funding, said Gelsinger. “Our announcement today is motivated by the Chips Act.”

COVID-19 booster shots “were not available for most Americans in the US until November and globally their availability was spotty and only in certain countries,” emailed CTA President Gary Shapiro Friday on his association’s rationale for not requiring boosters at CES 2022 in Las Vegas earlier this month. “In December, we encouraged boosters and flu shots.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded eligibility for boosters to all U.S. adults Nov. 19. “CTA made major and precedent setting decisions” on health and safety measures, said Shapiro. “In the summer of 2021 we announced we would require vaccines. I am unaware of any large trade show that had taken that step. We required masking. We widened aisles and took other social distancing and hygienic measures. In December, we announced we would provide free tests."

Netflix finished Q4 with 8.28 million global paid net additions, nearly 3% short of its Oct. 19 projections, said the streaming company’s shareholder letter Thursday. “We slightly over-forecasted paid net adds in Q4,” it said. “As our membership base continues to grow, there will naturally be more volatility in our absolute paid net adds performance vs. forecast.” For the full year 2021, paid net adds of 18 million were roughly half those in 2020, it said. The service “continues to grow globally,” with more than 90% of paid net adds in 2021 coming from outside the U.S. and Canada, it said. The stronger U.S. dollar against most other currencies “translates” into an estimated 2-point “negative impact” in the company’s 2022 operating margin, it said: “Over the medium term we believe we can adjust our pricing and cost structure for a stronger US dollar world.” The stock fell 19% to $413.26 at 5:12 p.m. EST. The shareholder letter didn't mention price hikes announced last week across all tiers (see 2201140056).