Rebecca Day

The Home Technology Specialists of America buying group plans a three-day dealer educational event Feb. 22-24 on lighting integration, it said Wednesday. The event will include eight hours of lighting fundamentals training, 16 hours of lighting design workshops, eight hours of panels and “nearly 24 hours” of manufacturer training sessions, said HTSA Director-Technology Initiatives Tom Doherty.

Demand continues to “significantly outpace our supply,” said Silicon Labs CEO Matt Johnson, leading his first earnings call since Tyson Tuttle's retirement in December. Design wins in 2021 grew by nearly 45%, and the company’s sales funnel entering 2022 is about $14 billion, more than it was before the divestiture of the Infrastructure and Automotive business last spring, he said.

SiriusXM’s buy of AudioID, announced Monday, is expected to simplify ad buys for satellite radio, streaming music and podcasts, said SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz on the company’s Tuesday Q4 earnings call, commenting on the AdsWizz solution's "listener identity solution."

Sound United announced to staff a reorganization Monday, with Classe Audio and Marantz President Joel Sietsema assuming all general management responsibilities that had been under Brand Director Dave Nauber. Nauber had been Classe president when Bowers & Wilkins owned the brand; Sound United bought the Classe Audio line in 2018 from B&W and Nauber headed the brand under the director title.

Spotify shares jumped 13.5% Monday to close at $196.26 after Spotify CEO Daniel Ek addressed in a Sunday blog post the controversy about podcast host Joe Rogan’s misinformation about COVID-19, which led musician Neil Young to pull his content from the Spotify platform last week (see 2201280056). Spotify shares hit a 52-week low last week amid the hubbub, and reports circled over the weekend about a $2 billion loss in market value over the week.

Defying supply chain shortages plaguing the tech industry, Apple posted its strongest December quarter on record, with revenue growth in all categories but iPad, said CEO Tim Cook on an earnings call for fiscal Q1 ended Dec. 25. Revenue in the quarter jumped 11% year on year to $123.9 billion.

A 2022 outlook from CEDIA Expo owner Emerald Holding said businesses now deem virtual and digital offerings as “core and essential components” to augment in-person trade events. Digital offerings seen as complementary and optional before the COVID-19 pandemic are now considered necessary for “customer-centricity,” said the Thursday report.

Spotify shares touched a 52-week low Friday before bouncing back to close marginally higher at $172.98 amid a cancel campaign spurred by Spotify's showdown with Neil Young over the singer-songwriter’s ultimatum that the service choose between him and podcast host Joe Rogan over COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.

E-commerce sales growth slowed in 2021 to 16% from 57% in 2020, said Caila Schwartz, Salesforce senior manager-consumer strategy and insights, retail and consumer goods, on a Wednesday Retail TouchPoints virtual retail trends webinar. Higher prices factored into slower sales growth, with inflation given as consumers’ top concern heading into the holiday season. Digital sales grew 9% year on year for November and December to $257 billion. Salesforce estimates U.S. consumers paid 25% more online year on year for goods going into the holiday season. Higher prices fed interest in installment payments: orders using buy now, pay later options grew 8% year on year in 2021; orders processed using Apple Pay increased from 2% to 4%, while credit card usage declined more aggressively in 2021. When installment payment plans were introduced, the average order value was $300 or more; average value has fallen to $130, and Salesforce expects that to continue as consumers look to installment plans as credit card alternatives, Schwartz said. Online demand didn’t have the usual spikes associated with tentpole sales event days during the holidays. The global average discount rate during Cyber Week dropped from 26% in 2020 to 24% in 2021, said Salesforce. Sales were up 16% year on year in the first two weeks of the holiday sales season; in the last two weeks, store fulfillment doubled sales for customers using buy online, pickup in store. BOPIS is driving a “fully integrated physical and digital” retail experience, said Schwartz, saying there’s room to improve BOPIS, curbside pickup and other “creative fulfillment options to keep shoppers engaged.” Though mobile is driving most online traffic, “it’s still lagging behind in orders,” Schwartz said. Reducing friction in the checkout process is key to improving growth in the e-commerce channel. Streamlining the buying process to “as few taps as possible” is a good start to improving the customer experience, she said.

Top CE industry trends to watch in 2022 include the growing importance of smart TVs as the center of the connected home lifestyle; the shift toward high-quality, lossless and spatial audio; growing use of immersive audio in vehicles; advances in headphones and wearables; a move to virtual meeting spaces; and renewed interest in augmented reality and virtual reality, said a January Futuresource report.