Surprises abound in the CES 2021 registration process that went live Thursday, including a provision that lets consumers not qualified for industry credentials to participate, albeit with limited access to event content. The all-virtual show runs Jan. 11-14, with day one reserved for media only. The registration website lists the boilerplate CTA has used for years, describing CES as “a trade-only event for individuals 18 years of age or older and affiliated with the consumer technology industry.” Yet scrolling down the page brings up a section that says consumers are invited and need not be “affiliated with the consumer technology industry.” Consumers “have access to only select public programming on CES official social media channels on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook,” it says. CES 2021 is charging most attendees a base $149 fee to take part in the virtual event (see 2010200026). The fee applies to “industry attendees” who register through Jan. 3, after which it soars to $499 through Jan. 14, the event’s closing day. CTA members who register with their business email addresses through Dec. 14 can enroll in CES 2021 for free. The charge then becomes $149 through Jan. 3 or $499 Jan. 4-14. Registration is free for “credentialed media” but closes Jan. 8, says the site. All fees are “non-refundable and not transferable,” says the site, which on Thursday morning listed the CTA member rate as $199 before it was later changed to $149. CTA plans a series of virtual briefings for Dec. 15 to disclose “breaking news about CES 2021" and dig deeper into the show’s Microsoft-powered “digital venue,” said a media invitation Thursday. Bob Bejan, Microsoft corporate vice president-global events, production studios and marketing community, is scheduled to speak. For now, the registration site says enrolling in CES 2021 entitles attendees to “exhibitor showcases,” product announcements and demonstrations, keynote sessions and conference programming. Exhibitor news conferences will be open only to credentialed media, it says. Industry professionals whose credentials are denied can register for the show as consumers, says the site.

Nearly half of U.S. broadband households own a smart speaker or smart display, said Parks Associates Wednesday. The user experience across smart speakers varies widely, said analyst Jennifer Kent, beyond early uses focused on information requests and music streaming. As voice control devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home move into emergency detection and response, companies will need to ensure quality of service to instill consumer confidence, Kent said. Parks plans a smart speaker webinar Thursday at noon EST.

Online registration for the virtual CES 2021, previously scheduled to go live Tuesday (see 2010200026), "got pushed" to Thursday, emailed CTA spokesperson Jamie Kaplan, for undisclosed reasons. CTA will host a Dec. 15 virtual news conference where "we will be making some announcements and revealing the platform" for CES 2021, said Kaplan. The briefing will be a digital replacement for the physical CES Unveiled New York event in mid-November, which CTA scrapped in August due to the pandemic (see 2008250022). CTA picked Microsoft as its “cloud platform provider” to run CES 2021 as a four-day virtual event (see 2010190043). It opens Jan. 11 with a daylong media-only event.

Global smartphone sales to end users were 366 million handsets in Q3, down 5.7% from the 2019 quarter, reported Gartner Monday. After two straight quarters of 20% declines, quarterly smartphone sales have started to show signs of recovery sequentially, it said. Smartphones remain weak compared with 2019, “even with vendors introducing multiple 5G smartphones,” it said. “Consumers are limiting their discretionary spend even as some lockdown conditions have started to improve.” Sales experienced “moderate growth” from Q2 to Q3, through “pent-up demand from previous quarters,” it said. Samsung held the top global share in Q3 with 22%, with Huawei second at 14.1%. Xiaomi leapfrogged Apple to No. 3 (12.1% share). Xiaomi sold 44.4 million, a 34.9% increase from the 2019 quarter, while Apple sales declined 0.6% to 40.6 million.

After a stronger-than-expected Q3, the global smartphone market is expected to return to growth during the holiday quarter, said IDC Wednesday. It forecast 2.4% growth vs. Q4 2019, followed by 4.4% growth next year, fueled by “an impressively quick supply chain recovery” and incentives from OEMs and channels for 5G handsets. Despite lockdowns and economic concerns, consumers in many markets have shifted spending to consumer electronics from travel, dining out and general leisure activities, said analyst Ryan Reith. The recovery in China was slower than anticipated largely due to weaker-than-expected demand for 5G. IDC expects 5G smartphone shipments to reach close to 10% of global volume this year, growing to 29% in 2024. Despite concerns about the lack of demand for 5G, “the wheels are in motion to transition the mobile industry to the latest network technology,” with cost a key factor. Getting 5G pricing on par with 4G phones is an industry focus, IDC said. The research firm expects worldwide 5G average selling prices to drop 25% this year to $611, and to $453 in 2024. “Aggressive promotions and more affordable 5G devices from major smartphone vendors are expected to partially offset the impact" of COVID-19, said analyst Sangeetika Srivastava.

Xiaomi retook the No. 3 position in global smartphone shipments in Q3 with a record 13.5% share, based on 44.6% shipment growth year over year, the highest among the top five smartphone makers, said Chief Financial Officer Alain Lam on a Tuesday investor call. Its quarterly shipments outside China soared 54.1%, including a 107.3% increase in Western Europe, he said.

More than 60% of the 550 million 5G smartphones shipped in 2022 will sell for below $600, reported ABI Research Thursday. “More diverse and affordable 5G smartphones will be the main driver accelerating 5G adoption after 2021, with many lead vendors expected to push deeper into the segment, quickly democratizing the 5G experience.” More affordable 5G chipset platforms from Qualcomm, MediaTek and others will drive commoditization of handsets, said ABI: “5G at the high end will be squeezed.”

The Consumer Product Safety Commission can better protect the public from everyday hazards by “prioritizing resources,” ensuring compliance with its own reporting requirements and measuring recall effectiveness more comprehensively, reported GAO Thursday. Though staff regularly do recall “checks” by confirming that recalled products were removed from shelves and appropriate signage was placed in stores, “CPSC does not consistently assign more checks to higher-risk recalls,” the auditor said. It faulted failing to “centrally track whether firms undertaking recalls have submitted required monthly progress reports.” GAO found 61% of firms submitted progress reports more than 75% of the time for recalls closed in the four years ended in May. CPSC measures the proportion of recalled product units that have been refunded, replaced or repaired, but “using a single measure may not allow CPSC to accurately gauge the effectiveness,” said GAO. Use additional performance metrics, it recommended. CPSC didn’t comment Thursday, but wrote GAO Nov. 6 that it "generally" supports the report's recommendations and conclusions. The letter appears in Appendix IV of the report.

Printed flexible electronics materials already used in smartphones and sensors are forecast to become a $6.9 billion business by 2031, with wider adoption in applications such as medical devices and smart packaging, reported IDTechEx Wednesday. It cited “extensive opportunities for innovative materials,” including novel OLED emitters and conductive inks and adhesives.

Apple’s “embracing the ability” to capture, share and edit content in Dolby Vision on iPhone 12 models shows how “the Dolby experience can apply far beyond even those more traditional forms of content,” said Dolby CEO Kevin Yeaman on a Thursday investor call. Dolby Vision continues to be a growth area for the company, said the executive, estimating the HDR technology is in 15%-20% of 4K TVs. In the last fiscal year, 4K models were just over 50% of the TV market for Dolby, he said. The company is winding down and exiting conferencing hardware sales, said Yeaman. It's focusing now on Dolby Voice through software on the Dolby.io platform, which is designed to give developers the tools they need to enhance content with high-quality sound with a minimal amount of code. The company is seeing growing engagement with Dolby.io from developers in a range of uses, including podcasts, media production, online marketplace videos, online education, social media and livestreaming applications, he said. Dolby’s fiscal Q4 revenue fell 9% year on year to $271 million, and year-on-year revenue dropped 6% to $1.2 billion, mostly due to COVID-19, said Chief Financial Officer Lewis Chew. The company beat the high end of guidance for the quarter, $255 million. Quarterly revenue improved by $24 million vs. Q3 on higher unit volumes in TVs, set-top boxes, digital media adapters and PCs, he said. Overall licensing revenue growth slipped 3% for the quarter and year. Despite continued headwinds in its cinema-related business, Dolby “significantly exceeded Q4 expectations,” Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Friday, saying “the best is yet to come” as the business benefits from 4K TVs and set-top boxes, new gaming platform launches and growth of the Dolby.io platform. Shares closed 7% higher Friday at $87.20.