Rebecca Day

The Wireless Speaker and Audio Association’s focus shift last year from the technical standard to a consumer-facing organization is paying off, said Summit Wireless CEO Brett Moyer on the company’s Tuesday Q2 earnings call. Visitors to the WiSA website have grown from 26,000 to 360,000, to what it expects to be 2 million visitors by year-end.

TCL, the No. 1 Roku TV brand globally, turned to Google TV for the smart TV operating system in its latest 5- and 6-series TVs, which went on preorder Tuesday. “We are not pivoting from Roku to Google," emailed Chris Larson, senior vice president-TCL North America, saying TCL is also the largest Android TV brand globally. TCL's “deep engagement with both companies provides us a leadership position with the suppliers we see as most likely to win the battle of consolidation in smart TV operating systems,” Larson told us.

Savant pulled out of next month's CEDIA Expo as an in-person exhibitor due to COVID-19, it said in a Tuesday email to the CEDIA community. “To best protect our employees, our customers and all industry associates from the impact of COVID-19 and the unpredictable Delta variant, Savant will not be exhibiting in person at the 2021 CEDIA Expo,” said CEO Robert Madonna.

Exhibit space is available for the Florida Audio Expo, scheduled for Feb. 18-20 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa-Airport Westshore hotel, said Operations Manager Bart Andeer on Monday. Early registration exhibit room price is $3,995 through Sept. 1, $4,500 through Dec. 5 and $4,900 through Jan. 5. “If we find it necessary to cancel the show due to as-yet-unforeseen CDC [Centers for Disease Control] or government restrictions, we will be able to refund 85% of the exhibit fee,” Andeer said. The remaining 15% will be “nonrefundable and nontransferable, to help cover the costs of such contractual obligations as marketing, printing, and contractor expenses,” he said. FAE has commitments for a third of the rooms, Andeer emailed. An exhibitor list wasn’t available on the website, which is being revamped. In 2020, the show had 66 exhibit rooms, up from 41 in 2019, he said. New for 2022, FAE will charge admission, with discounts for first responders and military personnel. Students and spouses of ticketholders get free admission.

SAN ANTONIO -- Unknowns about the COVID-19 delta variant are making some dealers take a wait-and-see attitude toward CES and even the September CEDIA Expo shows, ProSource members told us at their summer event last week.

The Suicide Squad, shot entirely with IMAX cameras, opened to a “disappointing” $26.5 million box office last weekend, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Monday. It’s unclear if the lower than expected turnout was due to “franchise burnout,” the film's availability on HBO Max for no extra charge, an “R” rating or “rising COVID-19 cases,” said the analyst. Jungle Cruise, available on premium VOD for $30 through Disney+, “held up better than expected,” reporting a 55% decline to $15.7 million since its July 30 release in theaters, “despite PVOD availability," said Frankel.

SAN ANTONIO -- A labor shortage is limiting potential growth for ProSource dealers, CEO Dave Workman said in a media briefing last week at the buying group’s summer meeting. A 15-20% bump for custom installation dealers “is about the most you can increase your business because of labor,” Workman said: “If you could expand your labor force, you could grow much more than that.” By comparison, ProSource dealers’ retail receipts were up 45-50% last year on a COVID-19-led second-half surge for all things electronics.

Universal Electronics Inc. is “gaining traction” with its Apple TV remote for MVPDs, said CEO Paul Arling on the company’s Thursday Q2 earnings call, naming for the first time Deutsche Telekom as one of its initial customers. It’s shipping to more customers he couldn’t name publicly, and the company is preparing for additional launches this year and in 2022. UEI is in discussions with “dozens” of customers about the product as the TV viewing landscape continues to shift, Arling said.

Roku Chief Financial Officer Steve Louden set expectations for “tough” year-on-year comparisons in second-half 2021 on the company's Q2 call Wednesday, after pandemic-driven “outperformance” in 2020. Q3 guidance is for revenue growth of 51% at the midpoint to $680 million. Q2 revenue increased 81% year on year to $645 million, said the company shareholder letter, crediting “exceptional performance in platform monetization.”

SAN ANTONIO -- Product shortages are “day to day, product by product,” ProSource CEO Dave Workman told a press briefing Wednesday during group’s summer show. He ticked off supply chain challenges facing manufacturers, saying, “You can’t get it out of China. If you get it out of China, it sits in the dock in Long Beach [California] or wherever; you can’t get it offloaded.”