Rebecca Day

Roku’s dispute with Google over what it calls unfair terms (see 2104260071) for YouTube TV “has nothing to do with an economic deal,” Roku Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden told investors: Roku is "not asking for any more money or any more value." The streaming platform company is asking Google "to be reasonable" by not manipulating search results on Roku, not making Roku divulge personally identifiable information in consumer data “that we don’t provide to anybody,” and not requiring things on the device side “that would increase our cost basis, erode our [bill of materials] cost advantage” from Google streaming products including Chromecast and Android TV, he said Monday. Google didn't comment Tuesday.

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.”

It's a “golden age of audio” where “everybody’s streaming,” whether it's music, podcasts or socially engaging with audio in new ways, said Sonos CEO Patrick Spence: There's also “the great reshuffling,” where the target audience is rethinking living and work situations as a result of work-from-home trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand combined with component constraints have resulted in significant product delays for installations, he noted, amid a chip crunch. The situation will exist for a while, he said Thursday. “We’ll just try to keep everybody apprised of what we’re seeing.” Demand has been “nonperishable,” Spence said.

Target shares hit a 52-week high at $218.50 Wednesday, after Q1 revenue jumped 23% to $24.2 billion from the year-ago period. Executives attributed gains to an omnichannel strategy, saying more than 95% of sales were fulfilled by stores. Digital comparable sales grew 50% and same-day services gained 90%, led by drive-up. Drive-up was 5% of digital sales two years ago, growing to 30%-plus in Q1, said CEO Brian Cornell. "Our stores and digital channels complement each other.” He said that "it’s not one vs. the other.” Shares closed up 6.1% at $219.01.

Quick pairing, virtual remote control and digital keys are among Android announcements at Google’s virtual I/O event this week through Thursday. It's working with carmakers to develop a digital car key in Android 12 for select Pixel and Samsung Galaxy smartphones to lock, unlock and start a car from their phones, blogged Android Vice President-Engineering Erik Kay Tuesday. It's also teaming with BMW and others. This operates over ultra wideband, Kay said. Cars with near-field communication can be unlocked with a tap, he noted. And Google is building TV remote-control features into Android smartphones. Google wants to create a sense of “being together” while far apart, blogged Clay Bavor, vice president-virtual and augmented reality. Video conferencing remains “a far cry from actually sitting down and talking face to face,” said Bavor: Project Starline is a “magic window” through which a user can see another person, “life-size and in three dimensions.” The company is doing demonstrations with healthcare and media companies and plans trial deployments this year.

Walmart U.S. e-commerce sales grew 37% in the quarter ended April 30 from the year-ago period, more than doubling over two years. At Sam’s Club, it gained 47% on curbside pickup, said Chief Financial Officer Brett Biggs. Walmart is focused on serving customers better by “diversifying the model,” said CEO Doug McMillon on a quarterly call Tuesday. He cited investments in pickup and delivery, Walmart+ memberships and other factors. Consumer electronics is one of the “pockets where we continue to chase demand,” said CEO Doug McMillon. “We’re monitoring things like delays into ports and other factors in the supply chain.”

Hi-res music costs will fall, with Amazon and Apple Monday announcements it will be available at the price of standard streaming music subscriptions. Apple Music is adding Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos to a basic subscription, said the company Monday. An individual monthly plan is $9.99, $14.99 for families. Apple Music will also make its catalog of more than 75 million songs available in lossless audio using the Apple Lossless Audio Codec. Amazon adds Amazon Music HD songs remixed in 3D audio formats such as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360RA. It's "key to remain competitive," Futuresource analyst Alexandre Jornod told us. "Apple offering the same features but without additional cost could involve Amazon Music HD subscribers switching to Apple Music if Amazon was not matching the price." Spotify plans a hi-res service in second-half 2021.

AT&T and Discovery combining WarnerMedia’s entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery's nonfiction, international entertainment and sports businesses is further validation the world is moving to streaming, said Roku Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden at a Monday investor conference. “Anything that provides further evidence that the other stakeholders in the ecosystem are doubling down on the streaming ecosystem, that’s good for us as the leading streaming platform.” Louden said Roku will continue to engage with the media companies and will be “one of the best distribution partners for the combined entity.”

After agreeing to pay $20 million to settle an FTC complaint it misused credit reports to help unqualified customers obtain financing, Vivint is “pleased to put this matter behind us,” said CEO Todd Pedersen on a Q1 call Thursday: It strengthened compliance policies and will continue to make it a priority. Sales staff stole personal information to approve others for loans, said Daniel Kaufman, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection acting director. Vivint uses door-to-door sales representatives working on a commission-only basis to sell home security devices and monitoring, said last month's complaint. Vivint added 60,127 subscribers in Q1, a 20% year-on-year increase, and revenue grew 13% to $343.3 million. It had over 1.7 million subscribers, up 10%, said Pedersen. The attrition rate was the lowest in the last nine quarters, he said. The stock closed 20% higher Friday at $14.01. The company maintained its 2021 outlook despite logistics challenges in the supply chain and hiring constraints, said Chief Financial Officer Dale Gerard. The provider is in “good shape” with cameras but higher adoption rates than expected -- or a disruption in chip manufacturing or getting cameras from ports -- could limit Q3 and Q4 selling, Gerard said: It’s also challenged by finding enough installers and service professionals.

Google is “disappointed that Sonos has made false claims about our partnership and technology,” said a Google spokesperson Thursday. Sonos Chief Legal Officer Eddie Lazarus told a quarterly call Wednesday that a German court granted Sonos a preliminary patent injunction. The patent enables and controls transfer of media from a smartphone or tablet to playback devices, said Lazarus, a former FCC official. Google appealed, said the spokesperson. “We will continue to work to ensure that our German customers continue to have the best experience.” The order prohibits selling Google's Cast technology in Germany, “some aspects of which implicate the Sonos patent at issue, and encompasses such products as the Pixel 4a smartphone, Nest Audio speakers and the YouTube Music app," Lazarus said. Thursday, he told us it's a “promising milestone in our ongoing effort to defend our innovations and stand up to the unfair practices of Big Tech." Sonos closed up 7.4% at $33.83.