Rebecca Day

The push of big tech companies into the automotive space will create a customer ownership conflict, said participants on an Xperi connected car webinar last week. “Is someone a supplier to Ford, or is someone ultimately competing with Ford for ownership of the customer?” said Jeff Jury, general manager, Xperi’s Connected Car unit. “Whose product is it?”

Weather and geographical conditions, plus states’ willingness to work with drone deliveries, are among the factors determining where Walmart offers delivery by partner DroneUp, a company spokesperson emailed Wednesday. Walmart announced Tuesday it was expanding drone deliveries to customers in Arkansas, Texas, Florida, Arizona, Virginia and Utah this year, bringing the number of U.S. customers with access to drone deliveries to 4 million across six states.

Dolby needs to move beyond Foundational Audio for growth, said Rosenblatt Securities analyst Steven Frankel, citing risk factors in a Monday research note initiating coverage of Dolby at a “buy” rating after his departure from Colliers. “The company’s ability to consistently grow revenue is tied to its ability to convince device makers to adopt its newer technologies like Atmos and Vision, which allow the company to receive higher royalties per device,” Frankel said.

Specialty CE retailer Audio Advice reimagined its Music Matters consumer event as Audio Advice Live for 2022 to accommodate more attendees and brands, CEO Scott Newnam emailed us Wednesday. Music Matters events over the past decades “have been packed,” Newnam said; the organizer expects over a thousand participants at this year’s Aug. 19-21 event that's geared to audio and home theater enthusiasts.

A falloff in home theater and computer sales drove an 8% year-on-year slide in comparable sales at Best Buy for Q1 FY ’23 ended May 1, said CEO Corie Barry on a Tuesday earnings call. Domestic revenue fell 8.7% vs. Q1 a year ago on an 8.5% comp sales decline, as customers continue to shift discretionary spending to experiences from stay-at-home activities, she said. Shares closed 1.2% higher Tuesday at $73.47.

TVs, which enjoyed a resurgence and a rare average selling price bump due to supply chain and COVID-19 interruptions, are retreating to more familiar promotional levels as TV makers turn to 2022 product lines, a recent spate of promotions shows.

Vizio wants to be seen as a platform business “that happens to sell hardware,” said Chief Financial Officer Adam Townsend on a virtual investor webcast last week.

Consumer spending intentions ticked down slightly in April, Cowen reported Thursday, saying an April survey of 2,500 U.S consumers showed “inflationary pressure worsened,” with 70% of respondents indicating prices for daily goods were up year on year vs. 60% in a March survey. About 27% said prices were up “significantly,” vs. 19% in March, the report said. In response to higher prices, 42% of respondents were cutting or expected to cut spending, “up sharply” from 34% in March, Cowen said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Wednesday the state's Division of Human Rights filed a complaint against Amazon, alleging the company discriminates against pregnant workers and employees with disabilities by denying them reasonable accommodations. Amazon has policies that force pregnant workers and those with disabilities to take an unpaid leave of absence rather than allowing them to work with a reasonable accommodation, the complaint said.

Walmart+ membership may have declined in the quarter ended April 30, emailed Consumer Intelligence Research Partners Wednesday, saying growth “slowed considerably” after the holiday quarter ending in January. The $98 annual membership grew quickly in its first months, reaching nearly 8 million U.S. members at the end of January 2021, said CIRP, saying the premium service generated a “significant share” of Walmart revenue growth in 2020 and the first fiscal quarter of 2021. At the end of April, the research firm estimated Walmart+ had 24% of Walmart.com customers, or 11 million members, down from 11.5 million in the January quarter, with CIRP attributing strong membership numbers to Walmart.com customers using a free trial or monthly membership ($12.95) to take advantage of free shipping and other member benefits for holiday shopping; some members then let a trial lapse or didn't renew a monthly membership, it said. Walmart+ performance depends in part on the retailer’s e-commerce performance, including online traffic and shopping patterns, and as customers began returning to stores post-COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, “Walmart.com slowed down considerably thereafter,” CIRP said. An Amazon spokesperson emailed Wednesday: "We’re not going to share numbers with Walmart+ but we’re excited about the momentum we have and the future ahead of us."