With inflation at a 40-year high, “there are concerns for the potential of a recession in the near future,” said Paychex CEO Martin Mucci on an earnings call Wednesday for fiscal Q4 ended May 31. “We continue to monitor key leading indicators for any signs of a change in the macroeconomic environment, but have not seen any signs of deterioration at this time,” he said.
The FTC sued Walmart in U.S. District Court in Chicago Tuesday, alleging the retailer allowed its money transfer services to be used by fraudsters, who “fleeced consumers out of hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Bowers & Wilkins began taking orders for the Px7 S2 headphones ($399), it said Wednesday, replacing the PX7 with a model that includes new drive units, noise cancellation technology and materials. A flagship Px8 model ($549) has a September target date, in a “staggered launch” owing in part to supply chain disruptions, said Andy Kerr, director of product marketing, on an embargoed webcast this month.
As Netflix tries to wield an ad-supported VOD offering (see 2204200002), “I personally don't see them having a massive material impact on the market overall in this year,” though there will be “some impact” next year, said Cinedigm Chief Strategy Officer Erick Opeka on an earnings call Tuesday for fiscal Q4 ended March 31. Cinedigm’s 30-channel streaming portfolio scored new highs for viewer engagement in the quarter, but the company’s historically low stock price is causing ongoing frustration for investors and senior management, said CEO Chris McGurk.
TikTok has always given company engineers, including those in China, access to U.S. user data on an “as-needed basis” under “strict controls,” the company said Tuesday, amid scrutiny from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and Senate Republicans.
NTIA supported the FCC’s move to address receivers, in comments posted Tuesday in response to a notice of inquiry on receiver performance and potentially standards adopted by commissioners 4-0 in April (see 2204210049). NTIA noted it already collects receiver data. Other commenters generally support the inquiry, with most opposing regulation.
FTC Chair Lina Khan has engaged in undemocratic efforts to shift antitrust precedent, and she should be pursuing antitrust enforcement action to sway the judiciary, panelists told a Computer and Communications Industry Association event Monday.
Nearly two-thirds of telecom decision-makers in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific think it will take another one to three years before 5G technology becomes mainstream, a Jabil poll found. “Continued growth in 5G complexity and diversity creates a wealth of opportunities as well as obstacles for traditional telco service providers, equipment manufacturers and software developers,” said Emanuele Cavallaro, Jabil president-communications and networking.
More than three-fourths of consumers in a May Jungle Scout survey said their spending was affected by rising inflation, and a third said their personal spending declined, compared with about a fourth in a study of Q1 consumer shopping trends.
Though the global outlook for online video subscriptions remains “very positive,” Netflix projections of losing 2 million more subscribers in Q2 (see 2204190066) is ample warning that online video services “cannot take growth for granted,” reported Omdia Monday. Netflix reports second-quarter results July 19.