Q2 sales in Sony’s core home entertainment and sound sector jumped 28.1 percent to $2.7 billion ($1 = 113 yen) on “an improvement in the product mix of televisions reflecting a shift to high value-added models,” the company said in a Tuesday earnings release. The positive trend in TV sales pushed operating profit in the sector 38.9 percent higher to $215.9 million, the company said. Sony sold 3.2 million TVs globally in Q2, a 3 percent increase from Q2 a year earlier, the company said in a “supplemental information” report accompanying the earnings release. Sony said it expects to sell 12.5 million TVs in the fiscal year ending March 31, up 4 percent from the unit sales forecast Sony released in August.
Amazon reported 7.1 million Amazon Prime Video views for NFL Thursday Night Football in the first four weeks of the season in its Thursday Q3 earnings release. Prime members in 187 countries and territories streamed games on living room devices -- including smart TVs and Fire TVs, and the Prime Video mobile app and the web -- watching an average 51 minutes per game, it said. The company mentioned Alexa 20 times in the release, referencing new calling features, the Q3 launch of far-field voice control on Fire TV and the 25,000 skills in the Alexa Skills store. The company now has 12 bookstores in the U.S. with more stores planned in Walnut Creek, California; Washington, D.C.; and Austin, it said. Amazon’s revenue jumped 34 percent in the quarter to $43.7 billion, and net income rose 1 percent to $256 million. Revenue in the U.S. in Q3 was $25.4 billion, it said. Shares closed up 13 percent Friday to $1,100.95.
Netflix announced a $1.6 billion senior note offering to institutional buyers Monday. It plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including content acquisitions, production and development, capital expenditures, investments, working capital and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions, it said. The company said in its most recent shareholder letter (see 1710160062) it had 5.3 million net subscription streaming additions in Q3, significantly better than the 4.4 million net additions it predicted in July. Netflix in the past four years has taken a long-term view “that we’re in the early stages of the worldwide, multi-decade transition from linear TV to internet entertainment,” the letter said, citing Disney’s announced plans to launch direct-to-consumer services for ESPN and its other brands and the international expansion of CBS All Access. The letter didn't mention Disney's decision to pull its films from Netflix starting in 2019 (see 1709080027). Linear TV networks are “cutting down on scripted series” as online services like Netflix have “ramped up activity,” it said. Netflix raised subscription prices on its monthly mid- and top-tier services this month to $10.99 for two screens of simultaneous viewing, including HD, and downloads for two mobile devices, and to $11.99 for four screens of HD and Ultra HD viewing and downloads for four devices. Its basic tier remains $7.99 monthly.
Pandora’s "path to sustainable profitability remains clouded,” Dougherty & Co. analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors before Pandora’s Q3 earnings call. The 20 percent strategic investment from SiriusXM led to a “wholesale housecleaning” of management, a strategic shift away from the premium on-demand offering and a renewed focus on the legacy ad-supported business, Frankel wrote, maintaining a neutral rating “until we have a better feel for what sustainable growth and profitability looks like.” Dougherty is projecting Q3 revenue of $379.9 million, with 4.97 billion listening hours. The analyst is projecting quarterly ad revenue of $298.5 million and subscription revenue of $81.4 million. Frankel listed questions for the company as it moves forward: what tactics Pandora will use to re-engage listeners and drive up listener hours for the ad-supported business; how the company will bring in new users; whether new, nontraditional content -- This American Life and Serial -- are finding an audience; how voice-controlled smart speakers will play into Pandora's future and if they require a different advertising model; and whether Pandora will have to renegotiate deals with labels after the "slower-than-anticipated ramp of its subscription business.”
Amazon is filling its ranks for the holiday season, announcing Thursday it's adding more than 120,000 positions in the U.S. in fulfillment and sorting centers and customer service sites. It expects to transition “thousands” of the positions to regular, full-time roles after the holidays, it said. New positions are available in 33 states.
Amazon refreshed the Kindle again, introducing a next-generation Oasis that’s waterproof and with Audible built in. Users can switch between reading and listening to an Audible book on a Bluetooth-enabled speaker or headphones, Amazon said. Audible will be available on the new Kindle Oasis via a free over-the-air update when the device ships -- and it will be available via update to the gen-eight Kindle and the first Kindle Oasis in coming months, it said. The 7-inch Paperwhite 300-ppi (pixels per inch) display is readable in bright sunlight, said the company, and battery life is given as “weeks” on a charge. Amazon began taking preorders Wednesday, with shipping set for Oct. 31. Three versions are available: 8 GB ($249), 32 GB ($279) and 32 GB with free cellular connectivity ($349).
Pandora is working with Real Industry on the Pandora Challenge: Music & Social Impact program at five U.S. universities, it said. Participating students are using Pandora’s Artist Marketing Platform and data from Next Big Sound to drive awareness for social causes. Participating universities are the University of Southern California; Middle Tennessee State University; New York University; University of Massachusetts Lowell; and Stanford University.
Roku announced Tuesday it closed its initial public offering of 18 million shares of Class A common stock (see 1709050067), including the full exercise by the underwriters of their option to buy 2.35 million additional shares at $14 each. Roku issued and sold 10.35 million shares of Class A common stock and the selling stockholders sold an additional 7.67 million shares, it said. Shares began trading under the ROKU symbol on the Nasdaq. Shares closed 11.7 percent lower Tuesday at $20.81.
TiVo extended its intellectual property license with AT&T, it said in a Wednesday announcement. The companies previously announced a seven-year license renewal at the end of 2015, and the extension will allow AT&T to license TiVo’s patent portfolios through 2025.
Fiat Chrysler received a retroactive waiver of FCC rules on accessibility of user interfaces for some of the automaker's vehicles made without an accessible rear entertainment system. More than 7,100 Dodge Journey vehicles were shipped without the audio files necessary for accessibility functions required by user interface rules due to a supplier error, and a Media Bureau order Monday said the company made good-faith effort to address the unsold ones, requiring any dealer first update the computer code allowing audio accessibility before selling one of the affected Journeys. The bureau granted the manufacturer a permanent waiver for the 4,400 noncompliant Journeys already sold as long as the company complies with consumer notification efforts within 30 days of grant of the waiver, letting them know about the free software update. The bureau said it received no comments or replies on the petition (see 1706200065).