Global smartphone shipments are expected to reach 1.38 billion handsets this year, rising 7.7% over 2020, reported IDC Wednesday. That trajectory is expected to continue into 2022, with 3.8% growth to 1.43 billion. “Markets worldwide continue to migrate toward 5G,” said IDC. “Within emerging markets, there is strong demand for mid-range and low-end 4G phones following last year's pandemic slowdown.” It projects a 3.7% compound annual growth rate in smartphone shipments through 2025. The chip shortage remains a concern for smartphone OEMs, but the impact has been far less than in other markets, said IDC. “Smartphones are seeing competition for consumer spending from adjacent markets like PCs, tablets, TVs and smart home devices, yet that hasn't slowed the market's path to recovery,” said analyst Ryan Reith. A strong “supply-side push” toward 5G continues, and prices of such handsets are dropping, said Reith. IDC expects average selling prices for 5G Android devices to drop 12% in 2021 to $456 and then below $400 in 2022: “With 5G shipments expected to grow nearly 130% in 2021, almost all regions outside of China will see triple-digit growth.”
The Commerce Department’s plan for implementing the pending U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) was one of the few tech and telecom policy matters that drew Senate Appropriations Commerce Subcommittee members’ attention during a Wednesday hearing on President Joe Biden’s proposed FY 2022 Commerce Department budget. The administration in April proposed Commerce get $11.4 billion, up almost 28% from FY 2021 (see 2104090041). The administration is expected to release its full budget proposal Friday. Commerce is “hard at work putting together” its plans for implementing S-1260 if it’s enacted, Raimondo told Senate Appropriations Commerce Chairwoman Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.: The measure would mean further expansion of Commerce’s scope on semiconductor and open radio access network matters, and the department has “expertise” in expanding to meet its mission. S-1260, previously known as the Endless Frontier Act, includes $52 billion to boost U.S. chipmaking and $1.5 billion to implement the Utilizing Strategic Allied Telecom Act. The semiconductor money includes $49.5 billion to implement the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act (see 2105210056). The Senate was expected to continue considering amendments to S-1260 into Thursday, before a potential final vote that day on the measure. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Wednesday “there’s no reason we can’t finish this bill by the end of the week. That’s my intention.” Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., noted his desire for S-1260 to direct Commerce to enter into a National Academies of Science contract to provide updates on emerging tech, saying the U.S. “got caught behind on 5G.” Senate Appropriations Commerce ranking member Jerry Moran, R-Kan., raised concerns about the department’s cybersecurity “shortcomings” given it was a federal agency affected by the Russia-linked SolarWinds hack (see 2012170050). He believes the budget needs to make the department’s “role in closing the digital divide” a priority given the increased importance of telework and remote learning during the pandemic. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., noted his concerns about the entire federal government’s “disjointed” cybersecurity apparatus.
National Cable Television Cooperative board taps Lou Borrelli, ex-Digicel, as CEO, succeeding Rich Fickle (see this section, April 2) ... Semiconductor Industry Association hires Meghan Biery, ex-Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security, as director-global technology and security policy ... O’Melveny adds Tim Fink, ex-Patent and Trademark Office, as partner, Intellectual Property and Technology practice and he leads PTO practice.
Valens Semiconductor, originator of HDBaseT high-speed connectivity technology for home theater and autonomous vehicles (see 1704140047), will combine with PTK, a “special purpose acquisition company,” and take itself public on the New York Stock Exchange, said the chipmaker Tuesday. Valens will use the proceeds from the initial public offering to speed development and commercialization of “next generation products and to fully fund the company through profitability,” it said. The stock will trade as VLN once its IPO is complete, it said. The merger transaction is expected to close in the fall and requires regulatory approvals, plus Valens and PTK shareholders' ratifications, said a spokesperson.
Utilities Technology Council CEO Sheryl Osiene-Riggs promotes General Counsel Brett Kilbourne to also be senior vice president-policy; Joann Howell to vice president-spectrum services; Rob Thormeyer to vice president-communications and advocacy; Daniel Thrasher to vice president-finance and operations; and Kevin Lynch to director-finance and operations ... Baker Donelson hires Erin Greten, ex-FirstNet, as of counsel and member, Disaster Recovery and Government Services Team.
The semiconductor industry typically goes through “cycles” of supply and demand imbalance, “but this one is different,” Advanced Micro Devices CEO Lisa Su told a J.P. Morgan virtual conference Monday. “The difference is you see every segment of the market having high demand.” Demand is “very, very high, and higher perhaps than any of us might have expected when we started the year,” she said. “The supply chain has actually been very, very focused on adding more capability. We saw sort of the beginnings of this late last year. We’ve been working very, very closely with our supply chain partners to continue to ramp up supply, adding additional capacity, doing all kinds of productivity improvements.” Su expects more capacity will come online “as we go through the next couple of quarters,” she said. “This will continue to be a key area of focus for the entire supply chain.” Amid the industry’s realization that demand is exceeding supply, “we have done a good job at prioritizing” existing capacity, said Su, “ensuring that we are giving our customers what they need to advance their product lines.” AMD deliberately is leaving some segments of the PC business “underserviced,” especially the “lower end of the PC market,” she said. “We have prioritized some of the higher-end commercial SKUs and gaming SKUs and those kinds of things.” With inventories so “very lean” throughout the semiconductor supply chain, no one is “ordering stuff to put it on the shelves,” but immediately dispatching product that “end customers want,” she said. Supply chain cooperation “is really unprecedented,” said Su.
Speakers questioned whether the U.S. can completely separate from Chinese suppliers, during a webinar sponsored by Huawei Monday. “Globalization is painful but efficient,” said telecom consultant Gary Wang: “Decoupling is painful, but inefficient.” Many companies can’t stop doing business with China, he said. “There just isn’t enough manufacturing and export capacity in the rest of the world." Politicians “need to listen a lot more to the experts,” said Andrew Williamson, Huawei Technologies vice president-global government affairs. “Collectively, we really need to press a reset button and come up with global standards for cybersecurity.” China is targeting U.S. companies, Williamson said. The Chinese smartphone industry is considering adopting the Harmony operating system as an alternative to Android, and “that would be disastrous for Google,” he said. Semiconductor supply issues are likely to continue for several years, said Glenn O'Donnell, Forrester Research vice president-research director. It takes at least two years and $10 billion to build a fabrication plant, he said. “Not everything is going to come from China or not everything is going to come from the U.S.” O’Donnell said the decline in the U.S. chip industry means the nation doesn’t have the experts it needs to rebuild. “If we’re going to build up more, we need to have the talent here,” which requires government support, he said. The chip crunch is getting some FCC attention (see 2105190001).
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.
President Joe Biden’s administration reduced its broadband spending ask to $65 billion Friday in a $1.7 trillion revised infrastructure proposal responding to Senate Republicans' counteroffer, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a news conference. The administration originally proposed $100 billion for broadband (see 2104220067), reflecting the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All Act (HR-1783/S-745) and Leading Infrastructure for Tomorrow's (Lift) America Act (HR-1848). “This is the art of seeking common ground,” Psaki told reporters. “This proposal exhibits a willingness to come down in size, giving on some areas that are important to the president ... while also staying firm in areas that are most vital to rebuilding our infrastructure and industries of the future.” This removed “investment in research and development to supply chain, manufacturing and small business,” shifting that money into “other efforts” like the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260), previously known as the Endless Frontier Act, Psaki said. A revised version of S-1260 under Senate consideration includes $49.5 billion to implement the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors for America Act and $1.5 billion for the Utilizing Strategic Allied Telecom Act.
FCC acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announces retirement of Deputy Chief, Office of Economics and Analytics Margaret Wiener, an auctions expert; Deena Shetler moves to acting OEA deputy chief, joining auctions team ... ASML chipmaking equipment manufacturer appoints Maryam Khan Cope, ex-Semiconductor Industry Association, as head-U.S. government affairs ... GeoLinks hires James Childs from Cambridge Broadband Networks as senior vice president-corporate development and spectrum strategy, new post.