Rebecca Day

Autonomous vehicles might only prevent a third of crashes if automated systems drive too much like people, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reported. “It’s likely that fully self-driving cars will eventually identify hazards better than people, but we found that this alone would not prevent the bulk of crashes,” said Jessica Cicchino, vice president-research. A national survey of police-reported crashes gave driver error as the final failure in the chain of events leading to more than nine of 10 crashes, and IIHS said Thursday a third of those were the result of mistakes that AVs would be expected to avoid “simply because they have more accurate perception than human drivers and aren’t vulnerable to incapacitation.” To avoid the other two-thirds, they would need to be specifically programmed to prioritize safety over speed and convenience, it said. “Building self-driving cars that drive as well as people do is a big challenge in itself,” said Research Scientist Alexandra Mueller. Such cars need to be “be better than that to deliver on the promises we’ve all heard.”

Disney+ has 25% adoption among U.S. broadband households after six months in the market, reported Parks Associates Friday, while Apple TV+, launched around the same time, has nearly 10% penetration. They rank fourth and fifth in subscription VOD service adoption, said an March 8-April 3 survey of more than 10,000 consumers. Nearly three in 10 say their use of online video services rose during the period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight in 10 Disney+ customers also subscribe to Netflix; 72% of Apple TV+ users are Netflix customers. “We will see, as household budgets tighten up, if Disney+ has done enough to become an 'essential service' for its subscribers," said analyst Steve Nason. Parks said Thursday consumers subscribing to an over-the-top video service grew 6 points to 76%, due to COVID-19. “While use of existing video services is increasing, consumers are also looking to new services to access new content,” blogged David Drury. The "severe" economic impact of COVID-19 will exacerbate cord cutting from MVPDs “and their higher-priced offerings,” said the analyst: “Consumers are putting their personal finances to much tighter scrutiny, leading to the potential further widening of the already-sizeable gap between OTT and pay-TV.”

Qualcomm launched a flagship portfolio of mobile connectivity systems Thursday designed to make use of fast connection speeds made possible by Wi-Fi 6 and audio advances in Bluetooth 5.2. The SoCs could be in the market by year-end or early 2021, Rahul Patel, senior vice president-connectivity and networking, told us. When the FCC opened the 5.9-7.1 GHz band in the U.S. for unlicensed wireless communication, “Wi-Fi became a big beneficiary,” Patel said, saying wireless speeds will now approach those of wired networks. That will enable low latency experiences not possible before for virtual reality head-mounted displays and 4K video streaming. The 1200 MHz of additional spectrum more than doubles the number of pathways available for sending and receiving data, Qualcomm said. Patel attributed VR’s slow start to the inability to connect to far distances with low latency: That’s being addressed with 5G on the phone side and Wi-Fi 6 in homes, "allowing you to experience the kind of low latency that makes these experiences worthwhile.” Reacting to the announcement, Commissioner Mike O'Rielly tweeted that "6 GHz innovation is going to be revolutionary." It's "great news for future of wireless connectivity!"

The long-awaited launch of AT&T’s HBO Max subscription VOD service drew some early frustration on Twitter Wednesday from apparent cord cutters upset that the $14.99 monthly offering isn’t available on popular streaming platforms. WarnerMedia is offering the subscription directly and through many MVPDs and vMVPDs, not over Amazon Fire TV or Roku. Early Wednesday afternoon Comcast emailed that it reached an agreement to give Xfinity X1 and Flex customers access to HBO Max at no extra cost “via the HBO Max app and website while the companies work to quickly bring the HBO Max app” to the X1 platform and 4K Flex streaming device included with Xfinity Internet.

Videogame console sales were hot during the pandemic, smartphones less so, and it's hard to predict the COVID-19 future, Best Buy executives said Thursday. Revenue for fiscal Q1 ended May 2 fell 6.3% to $8.6 billion from the year-ago period but gaming comparable sales jumped 9.5%. A falloff in mobile phone sales offset increases in computing sales, said Chief Financial Officer Matt Bilunas. Services revenue fell 16.1%. Strong game console results were a “bit of a surprise” because management expected the spike to hit in fall with new platform resets, said Chief Operating Officer Mike Mohan. He pegged the Q1 demand to stay-at-home trends. The company furloughed workers and shut stores (see 2004290032). There’s “still a high level of uncertainty” at micro and macro levels, said CEO Corie Barry. It's “scenario-planning” about variables including unemployment; varying and changing state restrictions on how consumers engage with local businesses; and customer and employee safety via social distancing and masks. The measures will continue into the foreseeable future, she said. During the six weeks when the retailer moved to curbside-only sales, domestic online sales surged 300% year on year, she said, with half using curbside pickup. The pandemic strengthened Best Buy’s resolve that technology should be playing a bigger role in consumer healthcare, said Mohan. Now, consumers are thinking more about what they could or should be doing at home health-wise, he said. It’s a small business for the company, though it has had increased demand for thermometers and other “smart” health gear. Barry sees the home office buildout trend continuing. Shares closed down 4.37% at $77.98.

Target’s same-day services -- order pickup, drive-up and Shipt personal shopper service -- grew 278% in Q1, generating 5 points of the company’s total 10.8% comparable sales growth, said management Wednesday. Quarterly sales grew 11.3% year on year to $19.4 billion for the quarter ended May 2. Digital comp sales jumped 141%, accounting for 9.9 points of total comp sales growth. Q1 level digital volumes weren’t anticipated for another three years, said Chief Operating Officer John Mulligan on a Wednesday earnings call. Management focused on the company’s operating model that combines store and digital operations. “The first quarter demonstrated the strength of that model,” said CEO Brian Cornell: Volatility in the quarter “presented the most extreme test of our business and operations that I could have imagined.” Digital sales grew by $1.1 billion in April, with store fulfillment generating more than $950 million of that growth, said Cornell. Using stores as hubs, and the ability of teams to pivot to meet shifting demand, enabled the surge in fulfillment last month, said Cornell. Target had higher costs in fulfillment but expects to gain customer loyalty. Some 5 million customers shopped at Target.com for the first time in Q1; more than 2 million made their first drive-up trip, Cornell said.

Walmart fiscal Q1 U.S. e-commerce sales jumped 74% from the year-ago quarter and remained strong throughout the quarter, said CEO Doug McMillon. Store traffic was “quite variable” due to different stay-in-place orders and social distancing nationally, McMillon said Tuesday. Later last quarter there was a shift to at-home entertainment and education when home categories “took off” in store and online, he said. Q1 ended April 30. Stimulus check spending at the end of the quarter led to sales increases including for videogames. Walmart discontinued the Jet.com service as part of an effort to streamline expenses. The brand name may still be used in the future, but the Walmart brand has higher traction with consumers, said McMillon. The 2016 purchase was critical to building the company’s e-commerce business, he said. Most Jet.com employees were previously assigned to the Walmart brand, he said. The retailer has an “aggressive mindset” for its e-commerce business, said McMillon. The company will use its 2,500 stores for fulfillment, said Mark Lore, CEO of Walmart eCommerce. He founded Jet.com.

Two major smart home manufacturers are integrating with each other's products. Lutron lighting and shading control products will integrate with iOS and Android apps and with Crestron Home touch screens. Crestron software will automatically detect Lutron hardware on the customer’s network. That will help audiovisual dealers “deliver the best user experience” to clients, “regardless of what brand of lighting controls and shades are installed,” said John Clancy, Lutron vice president-residential. "Crestron and Lutron products are used together so often." It's “great news for integrators,” said Chief Operating Officer Franklin Karp of Audio Video Systems in Plainview, New York, in an email to us Monday.

Mask and temperature checks are among Apple mandates in its gradual reopening for U.S. stores. Nearly 100 Apple stores globally have opened doors to customers, after shutting during different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, blogged Deirdre O’Brien, senior vice president-retail, outlining the company’s approach Sunday. Stores “will look a little different,” O’Brien said, with “plenty of space” due to occupancy controls and “giving everybody lots of room.” In early May, reports said the company planned to gradually reopen 271 U.S. stores, with the first in Alabama, Alaska, Idaho and South Carolina. A Charleston, South Carolina, store showed daily operating hours Monday of 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Hours at a Fairbanks, Alaska, store are 11 a.m.-6 p.m., noon-6 p.m. on Sunday. The Boise store is open daily 11 a.m.-7 p.m., noon-6 p.m. Sundays, and the Birmingham store is open daily 11 a.m.-6 p.m. A notice for reopened stores on the Apple website says: "For everyone’s safety, we’re following social distancing measures, so you may have to wait in line before entering." The company is reopening some stores this week in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Oklahoma and Washington. Customers shopping Apple.com can have products shipped, or pick them up at a store. O’Brien also pushed online and phone customer service and support for customer questions. The response to COVID‑19 is ongoing, she noted, and will have “twists and turns.” When looking back on COVID‑19, she said, “We should always remember how so many people around the world put the well‑being of others at the center of their daily lives.” The company didn't respond to questions Monday.

The Home Entertainment Show 2020 became the latest casualty from the COVID-19 pandemic, saying Wednesday the December expo, tentatively rescheduled from June, was canceled. Organizers emailed exhibitors, showgoers and the media with “what we believe to be a final update.” They were in the final stages of announcing an intention to “simply move the dates” of the event to be at the Hilton Long Beach in southern California from June 12-14 to December but didn't receive “solid answers” from the hotel after asking for clarification on health and safety policies: “We wanted to ensure everyone was going to be safe.” Questions to the hotel were referred to Hilton’s corporate office Thursday. A spokesperson said Hilton was looking into the questions but the Long Beach hotel is independently owned and operated. After hearing Gov. Gavin Newsom (D)’s four-stage Resilience Roadmap for reopening the state, T.H.E. organizers contacted the hotel again, “this time to request information on a full cancellation,” saying the hotel wouldn’t be able to guarantee the event even if it were to be in December.