Federal funding and public-private partnerships and subsidies are key to building long-term U.S. competitiveness in the semiconductor industry, commented PC market share leaders HP and Dell Technologies, plus contract manufacturer Foxconn, in postings Tuesday in docket BIS-2021-0011. Comments were due Monday in the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security inquiry to help shape recommendations to the White House on President Joe Biden’s Feb. 24 executive order to relieve semiconductor supply chain bottlenecks (see 2103110054).

The U.S. should adopt “smart policies” to eliminate or reduce “vulnerabilities” in the global semiconductor supply chain “and enhance the U.S. economy, national security, and supply chain resilience,” the Semiconductor Industry Association told the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security. Comments due Monday in docket BIS-2021-0011 will help shape recommendations to the White House on President Joe Biden’s Feb. 24 executive order to relieve supply chain bottlenecks (see 2103110054).

As virtual MVPDs continue to poach customers from traditional pay TV, the need to address one of their most appealing differentiators -- no-contract subscriptions -- continues to challenge the segment, said Parks Associates analyst Paul Erickson at the company’s virtual Future of Video conference last week. “There’s a higher level of churn than in traditional pay-TV services,” a factor that’s “likely to persist,” said Erickson, asking panelists what strategies vMVPDs could adopt to stem customer defections.

CTA and NCTA announced an extension of a voluntary agreement for ongoing improvement to set-top box energy efficiency. The extension, beginning in 2023 and running through 2025, highlights IP set-top boxes, which are becoming the most common set-top box type in video distribution, they said Tuesday.

Pearl TV Managing Director Anne Schelle “absolutely” expects one additional TV brand to join LG, Samsung and Sony in the ATSC 3.0-enabled NextGenTV market by the end of 2021, with a fifth brand to follow in 2022's first quarter, she told us Friday. Nondisclosure agreements bar Schelle from discussing specifics, she said. She's "hopeful" the year-end product will be announced at October's NAB Show, and the Q1 product at CES 2022 in January, she said.

Google copying Oracle’s Java code for Android was fair use, the Supreme Court ruled 6-2 Monday, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting (see 2010290055). Justice Amy Coney Barrett didn’t participate.

LG’s inability to come up with a “differentiated offering” to retain or win market share led to its exit from the mobile phone space, Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta told us Monday, after LG said it was exiting the “incredibly competitive” mobile phone segment. Getting out of mobile business will allow LG to focus resources on other markets, including electric vehicle components, connected devices, smart home, robotics AI, business-to-business solutions and platforms and services, it said.

After a year in which the custom integrator channel benefited amid “really unfortunate circumstances,” the Home Technology Specialists of America buying group is “bullish” on 2021, said Executive Director Jon Robbins, opening the group's virtual spring conference Monday. The group hopes it’s the last virtual meeting, said Robbins, citing the importance of face-to-face interaction among members. It's planning an in-person presence at CEDIA Expo in Indianapolis Sept. 1-3 and at its own fall conference Oct. 12-14 in Dallas.

The FTC's deciding not to seek Supreme Court review of its antitrust case against Qualcomm (see 2103300003) leaves standard-essential patent (SEP) and competition issues on the table, tech officials said in interviews following last week's decision. A Qualcomm proponent argued the FTC knew it had a weak case and wanted to avoid setting bad precedent before the high court.

Industry will need to invest about $3 trillion over the next decade in R&D and capital spending globally across the value chain “to meet the increasing demand for semiconductors” that's causing severe shortages across multiple industries, concluded a new Semiconductor Industry Association report prepared with Boston Consulting Group and released Thursday. “Industry participants and governments must collaborate to continue facilitating worldwide access to markets, technologies, capital, and talent, and make the supply chain more resilient.” Government action, in the form of financial incentives and subsidies, “is needed to address vulnerabilities in the global semiconductor supply chain and ensure its long-term strength and resilience,” it said.