Rebecca Day

Harman had a 118% year-on-year jump in e-commerce sales during the pandemic, Robert Jan van Dormael, vice president-consumer marketing, told a Futuresource audio conference last week. Traditional retail played an “instrumental role,” he said, including with “shop-in-shops.” Excluding pure play e-tailers like Amazon, Harmon had 32% higher online sales growth with traditional retailers.

Amazon, Ring, Bryte Restorative Beds and Immersive Gym are part of Propel, a new CEDIA initiative designed to bring new brands and revenue opportunities to the channel. Health and wellness is among emerging segments CEDIA is targeting in the Propel affinity program. The “intentional mix of products” from the four brands can provide opportunities across small, midsize and high-end luxury homes, CEDIA said Friday.

Comcast and Sony accounted for 21.2% and 10.4% of Universal Electronics Inc.’s Q3 revenue, said Chief Financial Officer Bryan Hackworth on Thursday's investor call. The company continues to get more revenue from advanced remote controls with its QuickSet self-install software and voice technology, said CEO Paul Arling, though the COVID-19 pandemic slowed installations from legacy customers, which contributed to a 23% revenue decline for the quarter ended Sept. 30. UEI’s Nevo Butler product, which will add smart home features to a remote control, is due to arrive in select markets early next year, said Arling. Software licenses from Sony, along with LG and Samsung, are helping to drive gross margin expansion for the remote control maker, Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Friday. Revenue “remains challenged” by legacy customers, but UEI’s MVPD-focused programs are scheduled to launch over the next few months, with self-installation features that will eliminate “the truck roll issue that has dogged some customers,” said the analyst. Q4 guidance is for sales of $150 million-$160 million vs. $174.7 million in Q4 2019. The stock closed 10.7% higher Friday at $42.39.

Roku revenue soared 73% in Q3 to $452 million on demand for TV streaming products, growth in advertising and expansion of content distribution partnerships, said the company in a Thursday shareholder letter. Advertisers “reassessed their TV upfront advertising commitments and moved significant portions of their investments to connected TV platforms like Roku,” said CEO Anthony Wood on a Thursday investor call.

The 5G ramp up and “significant design wins” with OEMs drove a 73% surge in Qualcomm revenue to $8.3 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 27, said CEO Steve Mollenkopf on an investor call. The company has over 110 5G agreements, including all major handset makers and forecasts 175 million-225 million units for calendar 2020.

A disappointing back-to-school season has been “elongated,” said ODP CEO Gerry Smith on a quarterly call Thursday (see Q3 materials here). The former Office Depot expects sales that didn’t materialize in the traditional BTS season to stretch into Q4 and Q1, Smith said, hoping the 53% of students currently learning from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic will go back to the classroom in coming months and need supplies. ODP had a 9% Q3 revenue drop to $2.5 billion but e-commerce sales grew 20% as the company positioned itself as a source for home office and learn-from-home products during the pandemic. Revenue grew 18% sequentially, and operating performance was near pre-coronavirus levels, said Smith, crediting the company’s pivot to a business-to-business model and a growing e-commerce business. Chief Financial Officer Anthony Scaglione highlighted adjacent categories -- cleaning and breakroom, personal protective equipment, technology, furniture, and copy and print -- which comprised 47% of business solutions division revenue amid “improving business conditions.” Retail sales declined 3% to $1.1 billion, partly due to planned closures of 73 underperforming stores since Q3 2019 to “reduce retail liabilities." Retail remains important to the company, management said, citing positive results from its omnichannel sales approach: Buy online, pick up in store fulfillment rose 82%, said Scaglione. Smith downplayed the concern that tech and PPE sales were pulled forward into Q3 and that demand could slack off as normal routines return in 2021, saying ODP “is not just an office supply company.” Smith is “optimistic we’ll continue to have a multi-channel approach” and offer “broader and broader products and services.” Shares jumped 18.3% Thursday, closing at $24.90.

“Personal soundpheres” will be part of the audio landscape in the next decade, said Flexound CEO Mervi Heinaro on a panel at Futuresource’s Audio Collaborative 2020 virtual event Wednesday. The Finland-based augmented audio company’s technology adds the sensation of touch to sound content.

Canceled trade shows cost CEDIA Expo owner Emerald Holding $68 million in Q3, said the company Monday evening, reporting an 89% revenue drop from the year-ago quarter to $8.5 million. It canceled “substantially all” trade events in the quarter due to COVID-19, it said, citing CEDIA Expo, ASD August, NY NOW August and Modern Day Marine.

Q4 shipping capacity "will be tight" for Amazon's transportation network and the third-party shippers it relies on, said Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky on a Thursday investor call. Amazon has invested “quite a bit in our own capacity," and about half of Amazon's capital expenditure costs are going to expanding transportation, he said. Amazon created 400,000 jobs in 2020 and a lot of employees will be focused on transportation, but “it’s going to be tight for everyone,” he said. “We’ll all be stretched, and it's advantageous to the customer, and probably to the companies, for people to order early this year.”

5G is a “once-in-a-decade opportunity” to expand iPhone's "large, loyal and growing installed base," and appeal to Android "switchers," said Apple CEO Tim Cook on a Thursday investor call. Apple is supporting the 5G rollout with the strongest iPhone lineup "we've ever had by far," he said. “We are very bullish on this cycle.”