The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a “fundamentally new holiday season calendar,” said eMarketer analyst Andrew Lipsman on a Thursday holiday season retail webinar. As part of the holiday sales season's shift further into Q3, Lipsman predicted Amazon will make an October Prime Day event -- held in 2020 but not 2021 -- an annual occasion, while keeping the summer Prime Day event.

Dell Technologies’ "top priority" amid Russia’s Ukraine invasion “is supporting our Ukrainian team members as they attempt to relocate to a safe and secure environment,” said co-Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke on an earnings call Thursday for fiscal Q4 ended Jan. 28. Dell is “closely monitoring” developments in Ukraine and is “working with employees to address their personal and family situations,” said Clarke. “As for business operations in the region, the situation is rapidly evolving, and we will share more details as they become available.”

Full-year 2021 revenue at Qurate Retail, parent of QVC and HSN operating under the singular QxH brand label in the U.S., declined 1% to $14 billion, “reflecting the weakness in the back half of the year primarily related to supply chain constraints, product scarcity and cost actions,” said CEO David Rawlinson on a Q4 earnings call Friday. December brought a “meaningful deterioration” in the business, as revenue declined mid-teens, he said.

FuboTV reached 1.3 million paid subscribers globally in Q4, up 106% from the prior-year quarter, said the company’s Wednesday shareholder letter. The virtual MVPD expects the Q1 subscriber count to be 1.028 million-1.033 million subscribers due to seasonality, it said. For the year, it forecast 1.5 million subscribers in North America and revenue of $1.08 billion-$1.09 billion vs. $638 million in 2021.

The Wisconsin Assembly voted 59-37 Wednesday to send a comprehensive privacy bill (AB-957) to the Senate. In Florida, the House Judiciary Committee voted 13-4 to send HB-9 to the House floor despite Democrats voting no due to business concerns. The panel supported an amendment by sponsor Rep. Fiona McFarland (R) that would take a tiered approach to the bill’s private right of action (PRA). An industry-backed Utah privacy bill also advanced Wednesday.

Dish Network's mobile 5G network is up and running in Las Vegas, albeit with mixed results, and the company will easily meet its June goal of reaching 20% of the U.S. population, executives said Thursday, announcing its 2021 year-end results. "When it works, it works pretty well," Chairman Charlie Ergen said. He said network optimization and working with handset manufacturers to ensure Dish frequencies are in their hardware are still to be done before broad commercial launch, plus fixing of some regulatory issues like Enhanced 911 access.

Imax is “moving beyond blockbusters” to become a “global platform,” said CEO Rich Gelfond on a Q4 earnings call Wednesday. The company is connecting its theaters over a high-speed network that can broadcast high-definition video and high-fidelity audio around the world, creating a “decentralized global arena” that covers 79 locations in three countries, Gelfond said.

The alarm industry had outages after AT&T started shutting down its 3G network Tuesday, Connect America Chief Operating Officer John Brady told us Wednesday, speaking on behalf of the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC). As expected, the FCC didn’t order a delay (see 2202180067).

Xperi is making progress toward "re-establishing" its semiconductor IP business, announcing a multiyear agreement with Micron Technology for the company’s hybrid bonding IP for next-generation memory devices, said CEO Jon Kirchner on the Wednesday Q4 earnings call. The pact brings Xperi’s licensing share to 90% of the DRAM market and 55% of the NAND flash market, he said.

Public interest and consumer groups proposed that the FCC allocate revenue from future auctions to endow a Digital Equity Foundation to help close the digital divide. The groups announced the initiative on a webcast Wednesday, the day after FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel urged that some auction proceeds be used to pay for improved 911 (see 2202220057).