China's Hisense, taking advantage of its tariff-immune manufacturing in Mexico, will sled into the holiday season mid-December with a pair of advanced Roku TVs, it announced Monday. The products will sell online only at Amazon and Walmart. “December is not the time retailers want to do a reset on their floor,” Chris Porter, director-product management, told us in New York. Sets will move into stores in Q1. Other TV brands have been asking the company to manufacture their product, said Jim Ninesling, head-marketing. The TVs' Hi-View chipset controls hardware and software and adds artificial intelligence to the user experience.
Sprint previewed holiday deals it’s planning for Monday, led by a freebie for the iPhone 11 for customers switching to the carrier and trading in an iPhone 6s or newer. Also free is an iPad 7 with 24-month contract, Sprint said. Switchers can get a Samsung Galaxy S10 free with a Flex contract. LG is rewarding G8X ThinQ buyers with a free 49-inch 4K smart TV if they buy a model with a dual screen for $15 monthly or the 5G version for $19 a month with a new line and 18-month contract. Customers who buy a Harman Kardon Onyx Studio 6 Bluetooth speaker for $199 get a $100 airline voucher.
Moving to 5G is “ramping faster than previous wireless generations,” Canaccord Genuity emailed Friday. It counts about 40 smartphone OEMs and 40 wireless operators “launching or announcing 5G products and commercial service.” 5G technologies likely create "compelling new business opportunities,” including virtual and augmented reality, autonomous driving, industrial IoT and smart cities, it told investors.
An eBay shopping guide released Wednesday shows iPhone 11, Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy S10 smartphone, Apple AirPods and Bose SoundSport Free true wireless headphones as the top tech products eBay customers are looking for this holiday season. Shoppers are opting for the 11 Pro model, which is outselling the standard model by 138 percent, said the e-commerce marketplace.
Alternative shopping methods are increasingly resonating with consumers, said Adobe Tuesday. Some 35 percent of all e-commerce sales since Nov. 1 were made on a smartphone, up 15 percent over the 2018 period. The buy online, pickup in store option generated 26 percent more sales, it said. “All signs point to strong sales growth this year, with consumers buying almost 50% more than last year just through their phones," said analyst Taylor Schreiner.
CES 2020 is expecting 4,500 exhibitors, including 1,200 startups, a CTA event in New York Thursday was told. CES Executive Vice President Karen Chupka highlighted trends for the Jan. 7-10 show including privacy, the 5G ecosystem, artificial intelligence and digital health. She referenced growth areas of smart cities and resilience that influence policy, transportation, municipalities, industry "and the planet." The association is piloting facial recognition for the upcoming show, Chupka said. Attendees can look at a camera and then have their badges printed at badge pickup locations, she said. The program is optional. The group also is working through which exhibitors will set up in the new hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center that’s expected to debut at CES 2021, Chupka told us.
Energous closed down 18 percent Friday to $2.32 after more disappointing results. “We are not where we expected to be from a revenue standpoint,” said CEO Stephen Rizzone on a Thursday call, citing lack of regulatory approvals in Asia as the cause of product delays for its wireless charging technology. The company, which received FCC approval for its WattUp midfield transmitter in 2017, posted Q3 revenue of $40,500, down from $228,000 in the year-ago quarter. Rizzone said it's possible a certification in China, Japan or Korea could open opportunities to some tier 1 global requirements that have been “put on hold” until certification. The company is now targeting medical sensors, smart glasses and wearables.
Target is joining the holiday rush for smartphone deals. It's dealing on select Apple products on Black Friday weekend, giving away a $200 store gift card with the purchase and activation of iPhone 11 and X series phones on AT&T or Verizon beginning Friday at 7 a.m. Samsung mobile deals include a $400 Target gift card with the purchase of a Galaxy S10, S10 Plus or Note10 Plus with qualified activation from Thanksgiving through the following Sunday, said Target's advertisement. The Samsung Galaxy smartwatch is a Black Friday doorbuster at $80 off to $249. Google smartphones will be a Target deal from Thanksgiving when doors open at 5 p.m. through Sunday, netting customers who buy the Pixel 4 or 4 XL smartphones a $300 gift card with activation; they can get a $550 Target gift card buying the Pixel 3 or 3 XL. Carriers are getting into the mix. Sprint is leveraging its monthly phone plans to amortize the cost of an Apple Watch, taking the sting out of the $499 sticker price. The wireless carrier is rolling in the cost of a Series 5 Apple Watch for as little as $10.42 monthly on a 24-month contract, knocking half off the overall price. Samsung pitched customers by email Monday with the subject line: “Early holiday deals are almost here.” Customers were encouraged to “let us know what you're looking for this season” so they will be among the first to know when holiday deals drop. Within minutes of replying, we had an email from Samsung pitching free Galaxy Buds and a Galaxy Fit tracker with the purchase of a 512 GB Galaxy S10 smartphone. We could get $100 in Samsung credit, along with four months free of a YouTube Premium subscription by buying a Galaxy Tab S6 tablet. We were offered $600 on a Note10 or S10 with an eligible trade-in of an iPhone, Galaxy or Pixel smartphone. The iPhone XS Max and Galaxy S10 plus showed highest trade-in value, $600, for a limited time, at the Samsung website.
Underwriters Labs seeks industry participation on a “technical panel” for augmented-, virtual- and mixed-reality devices. A safety standard will address “areas of key concern,” including neck strain, optical radiation, eye heat exposure and headset “motion-to-photon latency,” it said Monday: Developing UL 8400 “is concurrent with and in response to predicted AR/VR/MR market growth.” Advances including in 5G and Wi-Fi 6 have “made this area ripe for growth,” it said. Forecasts are consumers will use more than 100 million AR/VR/MR headsets and smart glasses by 2023.
It would “make sense” for Google to buy Fitbit “rather than create its own devices and collect years of data,” Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter wrote investors Tuesday. Their partnership, announced in April 2018 (see 1804300010), lets them compete with Apple in health, said Pachter: “If Google wants to expand in MedTech and go head-to-head with Apple, it would make eminent sense to purchase Fitbit," said the analyst. It's taking Fitbit longer than expected to expand services that could return the company to profitability, while device sales “are stagnating as both the novelty wears off and competition increases,” said Pachter. The companies didn't comment Monday (see 1910280043). Fitbit shares closed up a second day, gaining 7.3 percent Tuesday to $6.05.