Consumer Electronics Daily News

Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 2.7% in September

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25.8 billion for the month of September, an increase of 2.7 percent from the prior month when sales were $25.1 billion. Overall quarter-over-quarter sales increased 2.1 percent and on a year-to-date basis sales grew 2.2 percent. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.

"September's global sales demonstrate an optimistic close to the 3^rd quarter," said Brian Toohey, president, Semiconductor Industry Association. "While global economic uncertainty creates limited visibility for the remainder of the year, recent positive indicators and developments in the U.S. and Europe are encouraging."

"We would like to extend our sympathies to the people of Thailand suffering through a humanitarian crisis caused by devastating flooding," Toohey continued.

A 13.7 percent quarter-over-quarter increase in Japan was driven by progress made in their recovery efforts. Additionally, strong demand for automotive applications and mobile processing in handheld devices like smart phones, tablets and eReaders added to the quarter-over-quarter increase. An updated World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) forecast is expected to be released at the end of November.

Notice for Indirect Purchasers of CRT Products

LEGAL NOTICE:  If You Bought A Cathode Ray Tube Product, A Class Action Settlement May Affect You.  Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) Products include CRTs, Televisions, Computer Monitors, and other products containing CRTs.

You may be affected by a class action lawsuit involving CRT Products purchased indirectly from the Defendant companies. "Indirect" means that you did not buy the CRT Product directly from any Defendant. The lawsuit seeks: (a) nationwide injunctive relief to prohibit the Defendants' behavior that is the subject of the lawsuit and (b) money for indirect purchasers in 24 states.

A Settlement has been reached with Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd. ("Chunghwa"). The litigation is continuing against the remaining Defendants. A complete list of defendants is set out in the Detailed Notice available at www.CRTsettlement.com.

What is this case about?

The lawsuit claims that numerous Defendants, including Chunghwa, conspired to fix, raise, maintain or stabilize prices of CRT Products resulting in overcharges to consumers who bought CRT Products such as Televisions and Computer Monitors. The Defendants deny that they did anything wrong. The Court has not decided who is right.

Who is Included?

The "Settlors" include any person or business that indirectly bought in the U.S. (excluding claims under the Washington Unfair Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act) from March 1, 1995 through November 25, 2007, any CRT Product made by the Defendants.  Both consumers and resellers are included in the Settlement.

What does the Settlement Provide?

The Settlement provides for the payment by Chunghwa of $10,000,000 in cash, plus interest, to the Settlors. It also provides that Chunghwa will furnish information about the case, including other Defendants' involvement in the alleged conspiracy, to Class Counsel. Money will not be distributed to Settlors yet.  The lawyers will pursue the lawsuit against the other Defendants to see if any future settlements or judgments can be obtained in the case and then distribute the funds together to reduce expenses.  It is possible that money will be distributed to organizations who are, as nearly as practicable, representative of the interests of indirect purchasers of CRT Products instead of Settlors themselves if the cost to process claims would result in small payments to Settlors.

Who Represents You?

The Court has appointed Mario N. Alioto of Trump, Alioto, Trump & Prescott LLP as "Interim Lead Class Counsel" to represent members of the Settlement Class ("Settlors").  The Settlement Class is defined in Paragraph 1 of the Order Granting Preliminary Approval of Class Action Settlement with Defendant Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd., which is available at www.CRTsettlement.com. If you are a resident of Illinois or Oregon, you are a member of the Settlement Class but are represented by the Attorney General of your State with respect to your claims under those states' antitrust laws.  You do not have to pay these lawyers to represent you. You may hire your own attorney, if you wish, but if you do so you will be responsible for your own attorney's fees and expenses.

What are your Options?

If you wish to remain a Settlor you do not need to take any action at this time.  If you don't want to be legally bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself in writing by February 1, 2012, or you will not be able to sue, or continue to sue, Chunghwa about the legal claims in this case.  If you remain a Settlor, you may object to the Settlement by February 1, 2012.  The Detailed Notice describes how to exclude yourself or to object.  The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California will hold a Fairness Hearing at 2:00 p.m. on March 15, 2012, at JAMS, Two Embarcadero, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94111.  The hearing may be moved to a different date or time without additional notice, so it is a good idea to check www.CRTsettlement.com. At this hearing the Special Master will consider whether the Settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate.  The Special Master will also consider Interim Lead Class Counsel's request for payment of $2.5 million from the Settlement Fund to be used for expenses incurred in this case. If there are objections or comments, the Special Master will consider them at that time.  You may appear at the hearing, but you don't have to.  After the hearing, the Special Master will decide whether to approve the Settlement.  We do not know how long these decisions will take.  Please do not contact JAMS or the Court about this case.  Please retain any receipts or other evidence of purchase of any CRT Product.  Before disposing of any CRT Product please see the Detailed Notice for recommendations on preserving proof of ownership.

For more details, call toll free 1-800-673-4790, visit www.CRTsettlement.com, or write to CRT Indirect Settlement, c/o The Notice Company, P.O. Box 778, Hingham, MA 02043. Para una notificacion en Espanol, llamar o visitar nuestro website.

Strategy Analytics: Global Handset Shipments Reach 390 Million Units in Q3 2011

 

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global handset shipments grew 14 percent annually to reach 390 million units in the third quarter of 2011. China’s ZTE surpassed Apple to become the world’s fourth largest handset vendor, while Samsung’s marketshare reached record-high levels.

Alex Spektor, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, “Despite ongoing economic volatility, global handset shipments grew a relatively healthy 14 percent annually to reach 390 million units in Q3 2011. ZTE was the star performer as it captured 5 percent market share and overtook Apple to become the world’s fourth largest handset vendor. ZTE’s growth is being driven by competitive pricing of entry-level models for feature phones and Android smartphones.”

Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Nokia’s global handset shipments edged down 3 percent annually to 107 million units in Q3 2011. Nokia’s strong sales of its entry-level dual-SIM models in emerging markets were counterbalanced by weak demand for its high-end Symbian phones in developed regions. The recent Microsoft Lumia announcements have come at a good time to help Nokia’s stagnant smartphone volumes. Hot on Nokia’s heels, second-ranked Samsung continued to grow and reached an all-time-high marketshare of 23 percent, fuelled by robust shipments of its high-end Galaxy S2 superphone.”

Other findings from the research include:

• LG shipped just 21 million handsets worldwide in Q3 2011, as its Optimus One line of affordable smartphones lost some market momentum;
• Apple slipped to fifth place in our marketshare rankings, as the delayed launch of the refreshed iPhone 4S yielded the vendor’s weakest quarter of the year.

The full report, Global Handset Shipments Reach 390 Million Units in Q3 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Device Strategies (WDS) service.

Cellphone Round-Up

• The "Setting Time Zone" feature may be responsible for the widely reported problems regarding the iPhone 4S battery.
• Anna Leach informs us that "RIM has opened a monitoring centre in Mumbai to help the Indian government sip data from Blackberry users there":

  It is encrypted email and BBM messages in particular that Indian cops are interested in, the Indian government reportedly fearing that the messaging channels could be used for organising terrorist attacks. RIM can't hand over corporate emails, because individual companies hold the keys to that information. However India seems to be satisfied with the current compromise that gives it access to consumer accounts.

• "A recent survey conducted by market research and intelligence firm In-Stat found that 75% of respondents listed 4G as one of the features their ideal phone would include," according to Zach Epstein.

Morning Round-Up for October 31, 2011

Headlines

• Charles Arthur is reporting that, despite keeping its PC business, Hewlett Packard will nonetheless close the WebOS division, either firing or transferring employees working on the ill-fated mobile operating system.

• "Blue Coat Systems has fingered itself as one of a number of US companies whose Web filtering kit is being used by the Syrian government." Richard Chirgwin has the story.
• This could end badly: Elinor Mills brings word that "the online collective Anonymous is making threats to a Mexican drug cartel over the alleged kidnapping of one of its activists in Veracruz."

Hardware

• "Acer has become the first major PC vendor to confirm a price rise in response to flooding in Thailand, which it says has led to a 20 per cent hike in the cost of disk drives," reports Paul Kunert.
• Nate Hoffelder is running with news that the new Barnes & Noble NookColor will ship on November 7.
• It's only Monday, and already we have a strong candidate for headline of the week: "When It Gets to 'Buy One PlayBook, Get Two Free,' We'll Know It's Really Bad."

Miscellany

• Robert Kyncl, Global Head of Content Partnerships for YouTube, announced last Friday "that even more talented creators and original entertainment will soon join YouTube's existing channel lineup, including channels created by well-known personalities and content producers from the TV, film, music, news, and sports fields, as well as some of the most innovative up-and-coming media companies in the world and some of YouTube's own existing partners." This continues the online-video company's efforts to make the jump from a repository of cat videos into something resembling an actual video network.

Statement by Jeff Carlisle, Executive Vice President for Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy at LightSquared

The GPS industry has been saying for months that there is no solution to interference caused by GPS devices that "look in" to neighboring spectrum licensed to LightSquared. Nonetheless, in a matter of weeks three private sector companies have now announced inexpensive solutions that eliminate interference for the high precision devices in question. In fact, we announced another collaboration today with global device maker PCTEL which has developed an antenna that will allow existing high precision users to retrofit their GPS devices to make them compatible with LightSquared's network.

The GPS industry, led by Trimble -- a $5 billion company, with a direct financial stake in the outcome of this debate -- continues in desperation to politicize a complex technical matter where several engineering solutions have been developed. Today, those opposed to expanding wireless access for millions distributed alarming numbers based on an outdated plan to deliberately confuse reporters with scare tactics (note the number of caveats in their statement).

Our current proposal to move our spectrum further away from GPS's spectrum will cost LightSquared $100 million and solves the interference problem for mass consumer and industrial GPS devices. Additionally, the solutions currently under development are expected to get us to complete compatibility. LightSquared has also committed $50 million toward replacing/retrofitting government devices that experience interference. The interference issues were caused by the GPS industry not filtering their devices appropriately, and we call on them to fund their share of the solution for the remaining high precision devices through a standard recall.

The Top 5 Questions the GPS Industry Should Answer:

1) Isn’t it true that the so-called “non-biased” PNT Advisory Board, which advises the Pentagon, is represented by board members of GPS companies who have a financial stake in LightSquared not getting approval to proceed?

SEC filings show that PNT Chair Brad Parkinson sold $1.5 million worth of his Trimble stock within weeks of the FCC granting the waiver to LightSquared (see Trimble’s insider trading filings with the SEC). In sum, board members sold nearly $20 million worth of stock within three weeks of LightSquared being granted the FCC waiver -- three times the highest amount of stock board members and top managers had unloaded in any one month going back to at least January 2007. This demonstrates that Trimble insiders clearly viewed LightSquared as a financial threat to its commercial business. And that explains Trimble's motivation in leading the public relations and lobbying campaign against LightSquared, even as LightSquared has committed upward of $160 million solving a problem that is of the GPS industry's making. Clearly, Dr. Parkinson cannot objectively advise the Pentagon or any other government agency if he is obligated as a Trimble board member to protect the fiduciary interests of the company's shareholders.

2) Numerous annual reports and SEC filings from GPS manufacturers going back to 2001 acknowledge material harm to their business due to interference with neighboring spectrum. Why did you not prepare your devices with filters if you’ve known for ten years there would be interference problems caused by your devices looking into adjacent spectrum?

In a 2006 filing, Trimble, wrote: “Many of our products use other radio frequency bands, together with the GPS signal, to provide enhanced GPS capabilities, such as real-time kinematic precision.” As early as 2001, Trimble also wrote that “emissions from mobile satellite services and other equipment operating in adjacent frequency bands ... may materially and adversely affect the utility and reliability of our products.”

3) True or false? Did the GPS industry manufacture devices knowing there would be interference with neighboring spectrum because this enhanced their performance?

True. SEC documents dating back several years show that GPS makers were aware of the risks associated with using spectrum that was not licensed to them (see above). Although their warnings to investors were buried in their reports to the SEC, they did nothing to mitigate their own risk. Furthermore, in April 2011, the FCC reminded the GPS industry to be mindful of their spectrum neighbors: “In the case of GPS, we note that extensive terrestrial operations have been anticipated in the L-band for at least 8 years.”

4) Who funds the Coalition to Save Our GPS?

The Coalition is not set up as a 501(c)3, and therefore not subject to standard rules of transparency. Their outreach efforts do not follow lobbying regulations, and it is unclear which of the members listed on the Coalition’s website are the majority funders.

5) Did the GPS industry falsely claim that it would take billions of dollars and more than a decade to find a solution to this problem?

Yes. It took just a few weeks for several companies -- JAVAD GNSS, PCTEL and Partron America to come up with their solutions to the interference problem –engineering solutions that will undoubtedly benefit the industry with lower costs and more innovation.

World's First String Quartet for Bluetooth Violin Bow Performed by Grammy Winning Kronos Quartet

Technology embraces tradition with the premier of "Polar Suite," the world's first string quartet composed for and performed with K-Bow, a Bluetooth Sensor Bow designed by Berkeley based Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI). Kronos will perform "Polar Suite" by Douglas Quin at Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts on November 9, 2011 at 8pm, as part of the Kronos weeklong residency.

Composed by Quin, hailed as the "Audubon of Audio" by the Washington Post, "Polar Suite" integrates the sounds of traditional instruments processed with captured sounds all controlled by movements of KMI's K-Bow. K-Bow is a Kevlar and graphite bow that seamlessly integrates sensors and CPUs with the feel of a traditional violin bow. "Polar Suite" brings together violin, viola, cello, digitally processed samples and interactive electronics controlled by the K-Bow.

In developing this new work, Kronos Quartet founder David Harrington shared his excitement, "This is an opportunity to essentially relearn our instruments and to transform how we approach live performance. "Polar Suite," is a very different kind of string quartet and an extraordinary sonic adventure--thanks in large part to the K-bow and what is now possible!"

"The bow itself has the feel and balance of a fine bow. One literally has the power to control and manipulate sound at their fingertips with virtually no disruption to the technical act of playing their instrument. It really is the coolest thing that I have ever seen," said Jeffrey Zeigler, cellist for Kronos Quartet.

Keith McMillen has been a pioneer in electronic and computer music for over 30 years. His instruments and inventions have been used by artists like Laurie Anderson, Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin. He invented the first programmable audio mixer and the Zeta violin, the gold standard for electric stringed instruments.

"Working with Kronos is the culmination of five years refining K-Bow. Douglas Quin's demanding need for rapidly changing timbres and the incredible insights Kronos has into sound and beauty helps push technology to a level where it becomes secondary to the music it creates. New instruments should enable truly original music. When an instrument excels and merges with a great performer, an experience exceeding both can be achieved," says McMillen, who has hand-made over 100 sensor bows to finally satisfy these demands.

Composer Douglas Quin said, "K-bow is an extraordinary and visionary invention in every sense. Keith's passion for strings shines through in the detail and elegance of the bow's design: packing in as much technology and punch as possible without losing sight of the feel of a traditional bow. As a composer the possibilities are endless and I finally have an opportunity to create what I have been conceiving in my mind's ear."

Cellphone Round-Up

• John Paczkowski reports: "Another talent loss for Hewlett-Packard's webOS team. Richard Kerris, VP of Worldwide Developer Relations for the division, has left the company for a new gig as Nokia’s Global Head of Developer Relations."
• "The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has voted to overhaul a decades-old system of telephone subsidies in rural areas, with the funding refocused on broadband deployment." Grant Gross has the story.
• Sprint CEO Dan Hesse made the claim that "iPhones use about half the network resources required by Android handsets, a feature that weighed heavily in the carrier's decision to add Apple's device to its portfolio," during his company's earnings call on Wednesday.

Morning Round-Up for October 28, 2011

Headlines

• Hewlett Packard has announced that the company will not sell off its personal-computing division after all.
• Ericsson will sell its stake in Sony Ericsson to Sony Corporation for just over one billion euros in cash.
• "Samsung Electronics has won court approval to fast-track its appeal against the ban on its Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia," reports Brid-Aine Parnell.
• Did the Chinese military play a hand in four hacker attacks on U.S. government satellites? A congressional commission suspects this may have been the case.
• According to Matthew Ingram, "the Stop Online Piracy Act, introduced in the House this week, would give governments and private corporations unprecedented powers to remove websites from the internet on the flimsiest of grounds, and would force internet service providers to play the role of copyright police."

Hardware

• Agam Shah reports: "ARM's new 64-bit ARMv8 architecture could be used in tablets and smartphones in a few years, which could help deliver better performance when running demanding applications such as video, analysts said on Thursday."
• Canonical and Dell have announced plans to sell computers running Ubuntu Linux in China.

Miscellany

• "Facebook on Thursday morning unveiled new features aimed at making people feel more secure on the ever-growing social networking site." Colleen Taylor has the details.
• Your headline for the week: "The Simpsons Called It: Three Eyed Fish Caught Outside a Nuclear Power Plant."

Whirlpool Corporation Comments on U.S. Department of Commerce Preliminary Dumping Determination

The Commerce Department issued today a preliminary determination finding that foreign producers in South Korea and Mexico – including Samsung Electronics (Samsung) and LG Electronics (LG) – violated United States and International trade laws by dumping bottom-mount refrigerators in the United States.  

"The Commerce Department's preliminary finding of dumping validates the legal actions we are taking to protect our 23,000 employees in the United States and the communities in which they work," said Whirlpool Corporation spokesperson Kristine Vernier. "When foreign companies like Samsung and LG violate trade laws, they destroy the ability of United States producers to invest, innovate and create jobs here in America. Whirlpool Corporation spends $7.4 billion each year in the United States to offer innovative products consumers are seeking. Of the products we make, more than 80 percent of what we sell in America is built in America. Maintaining jobs in the United States requires restoring fair competition through the strong enforcement of United States and International trade laws."

In the preliminary determination, the Commerce Department found company-specific dumping margins for four Mexican producers (Samsung 36.65%, LG 16.44%, Mabe 36.21%, and Electrolux 19.80%) and two Korean producers (Samsung 32.20%, and LG 4.09%). As a result of the Commerce Department's action today, affected importers will be required to post bonds as security for future payment of anti-dumping duties if United States' wholesale sales prices on bottom-mount refrigerators are not raised to fair value.  

The Commerce Department is halfway through its investigation, and will seek further information from the companies being investigated, including from LG and Samsung. The Commerce Department will also conduct a thorough audit before the final determination. As a result, the final ruling should accurately measure the respective levels of dumping.

On the successful completion of this case, the United States government will assess duties against United States imports from South Korea and Mexico of bottom-mount refrigerators.