Rebecca Day

Universal Electronics Inc.s' UEI Comfort family of connected thermostats, launched Thursday, uses the same intelligence unveiled initially on the company's Nevo Butler smart home hub, emailed Arsham Hatambeiki, senior vice president-products and technology, Friday. The line is built with UEI’s QuickSet widget, which offers setup and control via the cloud over Wi-Fi and allows interoperability with other smart home devices and ecosystems.

Market conditions arising from COVID-19 that drove accelerated adoption of Roku devices “creates potential to substantially grow revenue and profits” long-term, Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Friday. Pachter expects advertisers to “continue defecting from linear TV to digital,” where Roku has a rapidly growing user base “and superior targeting capabilities.” Roku is also benefiting from increasing availability of live sports on OTT platforms, “which has accelerated cord-cutting,” he said. The platform’s growth rate is sustainable due to linear TV advertising that will “shift in Roku’s direction,” as content continues to shift to subscription-, premium- and ad-based VOD platforms, Pachter said. Wedbush expects continued revenue growth in transactional VOD, SVOD and AVOD given “substantial user growth coupled with Roku’s enhanced targeting capabilities.” The addition of Quibi original content (see 2101080028) to Roku’s free-to-watch Roku Channel should drive adoption in the desirable 18-to-35-year-old demographic, allowing the platform to command higher ad rates, Pachter said. Roku said Thursday it added 13 new live, linear TV channels to the Roku Channel: Baby Shark, Bloomberg Quicktake, Cine Romantico, CineVault Westerns, Hallmark Movies & More, Kocowa Classic, New K-ID and six Loop channels. Roku reports Q4 results Thursday at 5:30 p.m. EST.

The smart TV has become a battleground for the advertising-based VOD market, said a December Futuresource report. Smart TV brands are placing themselves in the center of the AVOD landscape, with LG developing LG Channels, powered by Xumo and Pluto TV with 190 channels, and Samsung offering its TV Plus service with 160 free channels. Samsung’s 165 million smart TVs and LG’s 100 million-plus will be significant drivers of AVOD in Europe, it said, while delivering ongoing service revenue to the TV makers.

Sonos shares closed 15.7% higher Thursday at $36.44 after the company upgraded up its revenue outlook for the fiscal year ending late September. Revenue was higher in all key metrics, said CEO Patrick Spence on an investor call for fiscal Q1, ended Jan. 2. The company now forecasts 15%-19% growth for the year, up to $1.52 billion-$1.57 billion from $1.4 billion-$1.5 billion.

IRobot is adding contract manufacturers and new lines to boost production in Malaysia over 2021, after a 25% tariff on Roomba robot vacuums imported from China was reinstated at the start the year, said Chief Financial Officer Julie Zeiler on the company’s Thursday earnings call. The company expects to have enough capacity by year-end to support most of its 2022 North American volume requirement, at an anticipated $41 million-$43 million in incremental costs. The company incurred $38 million in Trade Act Section 301 tariff costs in 2019 (see 2007220022).

Google will continue to be one of the most important channels for reaching consumers online, as actions this year move consumers from "I found it on Google," to "I bought it on Google," said a National Retail Federation white paper Wednesday. The report referenced Google's Shopping Actions feature, which was rebranded Buy on Google in December.

The health of the film theater industry “remains very much in question due to COVID-19,” Cowen wrote investors Monday, saying the negative impact of the pandemic will be spread out over several years. But digital consumption should maintain, “if not enhance,” the value of large film libraries, it said.

Strong demand in PCs, 5G, automotive and industrial points to a “solid 2021,” said a Friday S&P report, citing "good supply demand dynamics." In the current earnings season, a number of U.S. tech firms have delivered “strong beats and guides,” amid a “smart" 5G smartphone cycle and continued recovery in automotive and industrial end markets, it said. Ramping of 5G network deployments will add strength to the demand environment, it said.

GoPro is looking to subscriptions from an upcoming app revamp and direct-to-consumer sales to pump up revenue battered in 2020 by COVID-19 as consumers channeled discretionary income into home-based activities. Q4 revenue plunged 32% year on year to $358 million; annual revenue dropped 25% to $892 million, said the company Thursday. It doubled its business on GoPro.com, said CEO Nicholas Woodman. GoPro.com brought in $116 million in the quarter, 33% of revenue, while retail was 67% of sales at $241 million. The company is getting “solid traction” in its e-commerce business in Q1 that’s helping to drive up average selling prices, said Chief Financial Officer Brian McGee. It hopes to expand its subscription base through an app for smartphone users to help them get the most out of their photos and videos, said Woodman. The company will add editing tools “at a steady clip” along with content management features, he said. Subscriptions grew 52% sequentially and 145% year on year. The company is “well-positioned” for a bounce-back post-COVID-19, when “somebody finally goes outside and travels more and is more active,” said Woodman. GoPro found “early success after recently shifting its business model toward a direct-to-consumer strategy,” Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Friday. The direct-to-consumer and subscription strategies give the company a “significantly lower barrier to profitability,” he said: “GoPro is expanding its core user base even as the pandemic has kept many of its traditional core users indoors.” The stock fell 19.1% Friday, closing at $8.38.

Home AV retailers in metro areas with local rooting interests in Sunday’s Super Bowl had requests for TV upgrades spike since the teams clinched spots for the NFL football championship game, dealers in the Kansas City and Tampa Bay areas told Consumer Electronics Daily this week. They're also having a tough time finding the jumbo-size TVs customers want.