Rebecca Day

A Dual-Cell ULED TV and 8K Roku TV highlighted Hisense’s 2021 TV launch Wednesday. The flagship U9DG, which uses quantum dot technology, is the first Dual-Cell TV in the U.S., giving 40 times the contrast of a conventional LED TV, said a spokesperson. The design layers a luminance control panel behind a 4K panel to manage grayscale and color more precisely, said the company.

As movie theaters begin to reopen after a year of being shuttered for COVID-19, the box office is skewing more heavily toward premium experiences, said Dolby CEO Kevin Yeaman on the company’s fiscal Q2 earnings call Tuesday: “We continue to believe that when people do go back to the movies," they will want to experience theaters "in the best possible way,” he said.

The music entertainment industry will “emerge from the pandemic with a renewed spirit of inventiveness and collaboration,” said Warner Music Group CEO Steve Cooper on a Tuesday earnings call. WMG fiscal Q2 revenue grew 17% on double-digit growth in its Recorded Music and Music Publishing units and “impressive growth” in emerging streaming platforms, said Chief Financial Officer Eric Levin.

IRobot raised 2021 guidance from $1.67 billion to $1.71 billion Tuesday, but CEO Colin Angle cautioned on a Q1 earnings call that it's "still early in the year." The COVID-19 pandemic “continues to weigh heavily on the macroeconomic landscape and limit our visibility," he said.

Voxx, which distributes Onkyo, Integra and Pioneer audio products under a distribution agreement signed last summer (see 2007300027), inked a letter of intent to acquire Onkyo’s Home Audio/Video business, along with Sharp, which manufactures products for Onkyo in Malaysia. The companies “have a strong working relationship” and are working toward reaching a definitive agreement by May 20, Voxx said Monday. Voxx expanded its alliance with Onkyo and Pioneer to distribute the Onkyo, Pioneer, Pioneer Elite and Integra brands in the Americas in July. The previous year, Onkyo became the distributor of Klipsch audio products in Japan. Distribution of AV receivers, hi-fi equipment, mini systems, smart speakers, turntables, sound bars, home theater systems and optical disc players has been handled through subsidiary 11 Trading Co., since July. At the time, Klipsch CEO Paul Jacobs said Klipsch will become an “innovative and complete audio solutions provider in consumer technology and better equipped to address consumer demand with state-of-the-art AV solutions.” A Voxx spokesperson told us Monday the company is currently distributing Onkyo, Integra and Pioneer products and will continue to do so while discussions are underway. He didn’t address questions on how brands would be affected under the acquisition or the size of Sharp’s share of the business, saying more details will be available at signing of the definitive agreement. If an agreement is reached, it will be presented at the Onkyo shareholder meeting scheduled June 25. In a statement, Voxx CEO Pat Lavelle said, "For the past two years, we've worked well with the Onkyo team, expanding our relationship, and most important, serving the needs of our customers. It is our hope that we can reach an agreement shortly as they have strong brands, and through our Premium Audio Group, led by the Klipsch management team, we have widespread distribution and a global infrastructure to support our growth."

Azione Unlimited created an alliance to bring together custom electronics integrators with architects and designers. Announced at its spring meeting Thursday, the Azione Architects Designers Alliance is a community for design professionals and smart home integrators to connect, learn and work together, said Azione President Richard Glikes on an embargoed call Monday. Through the alliance, dealers will have access to a dynamic directory of AADA professionals, a “dream book” of smart home systems, an affinity program to bring technology into designers’ business, events and private messaging capability. Azione believes designers and architects “don’t understand technology, so part of it is to educate them,” said Glikes. “I’m sure they’re totally lost when it comes to 5G and don’t know that it doesn’t go through walls, and they’re going to need repeaters everywhere.” The group can educate designers “enough that they can hold a conversation about it,” he said. In turn, the hope is that relationships will lead to integrators participating in jobs designers get, he said. Participation will go toward designers' continuing education credits, Glikes said.

CEDIA Expo owner Emerald Holding had an 87% revenue drop to $12.9 million in Q1 on continued impact from COVID-19, said the company Friday. Net loss narrowed to $15.3 million from $570.1 million. The trade show company canceled 13 of 14 shows in Q1.

The “prime question” for Amazon shares is whether e-commerce gains from the COVID-19 pandemic will persist against tough compares of 40%, 37% and 44% over the next three quarters, wrote Canaccord analysts Friday after the company posted Q1 revenue growth of 44% to $108.5 billion. Revenue exceeded the high end of the guidance range by $2.5 billion. Net income was $8.1 billion, vs. $2.5 billion. Shares hit a 52-week high Friday morning at $3,554 before closing down 3.9% at $3,467.42. Canaccord raised its price target to $4,400 from $4,100.

Supply constraints will leave a $3 billion-$4 billion divot in Apple’s fiscal Q3 revenue, said Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri on the company’s Wednesday earnings call. The iPhone reached supply-demand balance only during the March quarter, which will cause a steeper than usual sequential decline for fiscal Q3, he said, and component shortages are affecting Mac and iPad sales, both in strong demand.

Logitech continued to ride hybrid work and learning trends in fiscal Q4, posting sales of $1.5 billion for the quarter ended March 31, up 117% from the year-ago quarter, said the company Thursday. For the year, sales were $5.2 billion, up 76%, it said, led by triple-digit growth in tablet accessories, webcams and video collaboration tools.