The marketing point man for Experimax, a chain of independent repair shops, alleges Google Ads recently began pulling down his franchisees' local advertising as a possible “handshake” with consumer tech companies that oppose third-party repair. “While customers find us organically very often, Google Ads allow us to stay competitive with larger retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Apple,” commented Joshua Muir, Experimax brand development manager, in a post Friday in the FTC’s "Nixing the Fix" docket (FTC-2019-0013). The agency is probing whether manufacturer restrictions on third-party repair can undercut the consumer protections in the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. It had a July 16 workshop (see 1907160058) and is accepting comments in the docket through Sept. 16. “Limiting our ability to post ads with Google (which is, by and large, the biggest search company) is a hindrance to our growth,” said Muir, who supervises the advertising of 85 franchised Experimax locations in 29 states: “This seems more of a handshake between Google and electronics manufacture(s) than protecting the general population from scams, etc.” Experimax stores are “trusted, local, retail locations” that specialize in repairing computers, phones and tablets, said Muir. “Whether through my stores, a competitor, or by their own means, people should have the right to repair their products without needing approval from or being restricted by the manufacturer. I am not required to go to a branded car dealership to get an oil change, so why must anyone be required to go to the original manufacturer to get a battery or screen replaced in their electronics?” Google didn’t reply to emails. "No comment," emailed an FTC spokesperson Saturday after we asked if the agency will look into Muir’s allegations.

Q2 smartphone shipments declined 2.3 percent globally on “continued challenges” across most major world regions, said IDC Wednesday. Vendors shipped 333.2 million smartphones, a 6.5 percent sequential increase from Q1, it said. China and the U.S. had the sharpest quarterly declines, though the declines in China in the first half were “less severe” than those in the back half of 2018, “suggesting some recovery is underway in the world's largest single market,” it said. Apple had the worst Q2 decline, with iPhone unit shipments down 18.2 percent from Q2 a year earlier, said IDC. Apple CEO Tim Cook said on a fiscal Q3 earnings call Tuesday that iPhone sustained another double-digit revenue decline in the quarter, but the rate of erosion was less severe than in earlier quarters (see 1907310030). Apple maintained the No. 3 global position, but its 10.1 percent share was only 0.4 percentage points higher than that of fourth-place Xiaomi, it said. Samsung held firmly onto the No. 1 position with 22.7 percent share, said IDC.

Energous received FCC certification for a gallium-nitride-based near-field wireless charging transmitter for fast-charging earbuds, smartwatches, headsets and smart glasses, it said Tuesday. The WattUp NF330 transmitter underwent “rigorous testing” by Underwriters Laboratory and was determined to be compliant with regulatory requirements for RF, RF safety and electromagnetic compatibility, the company said. The transmitter delivers five times more charging power and nearly doubles system efficiency compared with Energous’ CMOS-based transmitter, said CEO Stephen Rizzone.

Summit Wireless is positioning its technology as a mainstream immersive sound option for consumers, available for as little as $1 as an embedded chip in smart TVs. Company engineers are taking IP from its chips, “enhancing it, and making it a licensable version” that can be designed into smartphones and smart TVs, “taking it to the broad market vs. the premium or performance market,” said CEO Brett Moyer Thursday. The Wireless Speaker and Audio technology is suited to gaming and esports, due to its 5 millisecond latency rate, he told the company's Thursday webcast. WiSA's latency is lower than Bluetooth, he noted. Moyer compared the WiSA Association to HDMI.org and Bluetooth Special Interest Group, with a charter to “make sure that all manufacturers know what to build so there’s interoperability” -- that a WiSA product from Harman will work with a WiSA-compatible LG product, for instance. The WiSA membership agreement has design interoperability requirements and marketing logo requirements so consumers "know what they are buying,” the CEO said.

Motorola launched the moto e6 smartphone Thursday for Verizon, starting at $149. The phone has a 5.5-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio, a 13-megapixel camera with portrait mode, headphone jack and 3000 mAh removable battery. Users can watch movies or play games for more than eight hours or listen to songs offline for 109 hours, said the company. The Android phone will also be available via T-Mobile, Metro by T-Mobile, Boost Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Consumer Cellular and Xfinity Mobile, and unlocked on Amazon.com and at Best Buy, B&H Photo and Walmart, it said.

Silicon Labs second quarter revenue rose 10 percent to $206.7 million despite “macro headwinds” affecting the semiconductor industry, while IoT grew to 60 percent of the revenue mix, management said on a Wednesday earnings call. Infrastructure revenue was $44 million, 21 percent of Q2 revenue, Chief Financial Officer John Hollister said, down 4 percent sequentially, with China trade issues “negatively impacting” timing product sales. Responding to a question on Silicon Labs’ relationship with Huawei and whether it will be able to restart shipments to the Chinese electronics manufacturer, Hollister called it a “complex issue” with different products having different types of export control designations. Silicon Labs has been working with the Semiconductor Industry Association and external counsel “to understand the landscape,” and it resumed some shipments, “where possible, with Huawei,” CEO Tyson Tuttle said. Hollister viewed the Q3 guidance it gave Wednesday -- $213 million-$223 million with a decline in infrastructure -- as reflecting “more of a normalized level of business with Huawei.” The China ecosystem remains important to the company, Hollister said, and it continues to “gain traction out of the market with Xiaomi and others.” IoT ecosystems are gaining strong traction with Alarm.com, Amazon, Comcast, Google Home, Signify, Samsung SmartThings, Tuya, Xiaomi and others, he said.

Intel holds its Q2 earnings call Thursday, and CEO Bob Swan is sure to face questions about reports Intel is in advanced talks to sell its 5G modems business to Apple. Swan reported on a late-April call that Intel was still deciding what to do with the rest of its 5G modems business (see 1904260005), after announcing earlier it was dropping 5G smartphone modems for lack of profit potential (see 1904170004). Evaluating Intel’s future in 5G modems for PCs and IoT devices, including what to do with the company’s “wonderful” patent portfolio, was a "work in progress," said Swan then. Neither Apple nor Intel commented Tuesday on the reports.

Laser-scanning display developer MicroVision raised $2 million by selling 3.04 million shares of common stock to Toronto real-estate developer Shmuel Farhi, said the company Tuesday. MicroVision will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, it said. Farhi’s purchase price was just over 65 cents a share. The stock closed trading Tuesday unchanged at 70 cents. MicroVision faces a renewed delisting risk under a Nasdaq “delinquency notice” received June 13 after shares sold for under $1 for 30 straight trading days (see 1907190013). MicroVision had $4.6 million cash on hand at the end of Q2, said the company last week.

Global semiconductor revenue will decline 9.6 percent this year to $429 billion, said Gartner Monday. A weaker pricing environment for memory chips types, plus fallout from the U.S.-China trade dispute and sluggishness in smartphone, servers and PC sales “is driving the global semiconductor market to its lowest growth since 2009,” said Gartner. The U.S.-China trade war “is causing uncertainty over trade rates,” it said. U.S.-imposed restrictions on sales to Huawei “will have a longer-term impact on semiconductor supply and demand,” it said. “We expect that high smartphone inventory and sluggish solid-state array demand will last for a few more quarters,” said Gartner.

Amid sluggish category sales hampered by steep prices, longer ownership cycles and 4G market saturation, smartphones were discounted during sales events last week. Promotions extended beyond the Amazon Prime 48-hour sales event when smartphones led electronics with 20 percent discounts, per Adobe Analytics. T-Mobile touted a Friday promotion for a free phone over 2 years with service. Customers could get four new phones and four lines for $40 monthly per line. Models included are the Samsung Galaxy A10e and LG Q7+ and LG K30. AT&T is giving away an iPhone 8 to customers over 30 months with an unlimited plan. There's also a buy one, get one free promo for current-generation iPhones. Sprint is hoping to steal customers from the other major carriers, offering new customers up to $650 for switching costs.