Sony America will pay $400 million for 5% of Bilibili, the Chinese online entertainment platform, said Sony’s Japanese parent Thursday. Bilibili built a “strong user following” among Chinese Gen Z consumers 30 and younger who are “driving consumption of online entertainment,” said Sony. The buy is in keeping with Sony’s strategy of emphasizing China as “a key strategic region in the entertainment business,” it said. They agreed to “pursue collaboration opportunities” in animation content and mobile game apps. Bilibili CEO Rui Chen said the agreements come as "we increase our domestic stronghold in animation and mobile games." Bilibili, based in Shanghai, reported $288.4 million in 2019 revenue, a 74% increase.

Consumer and industry groups supported proposed changes in a January NPRM asking whether the FCC should update hearing aid compatibility standards (see 2001300041). Groups representing the deaf and hard of hearing supported the HAC proposals, but seeking further changes (see 2003180055). Require in-store testing of handsets until all are fully hearing aid compatible, asked the Hearing Loss Association of America, National Association of the Deaf, Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and Gallaudet University's Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Technology for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. “Require service providers to provide HAC ratings on call out cards for consumer education” and seek further comment on a proposal to eliminate the “refresh” and “differing levels of functionality” requirements, they said. HAC rules should "evolve to ensure they are effectively meeting consumers’ needs,” CTIA said. CTA appreciated utilizing "industry standards in its rules and for taking the common-sense step of incorporating the most recent version.” The FCC “proposes an appropriate transition, which includes grandfathering handsets that were HAC-certified," Samsung said. Comments were posted Tuesday in docket 20-3.

Consumer purchase intentions for loudspeakers and headphones were flat before COVID-19, and demand will likely spike due to work-at-home and entertainment-in-place practices, Parks Associates reported Tuesday. Parks before the pandemic found U.S. broadband household penetration rates of 44% for speakers, 37% for headphones not bundled with a phone or music player and 33% for earbuds. Recent demand won’t diminish consumer expectations for advanced functionality, "so device manufacturers still need to prioritize app development and software enhancements,” said analyst Steve Nason. “Everyone in the household now needs their own headphones and earbuds for privacy.” Users at home want to integrate stand-alone headphones with smart speakers and other connected devices, he said.

TCL plans three Android smartphones under $500, including a 5G model due to arrive later this year. Monday's announcement deviated from the path it laid out at CES, when it expected to launch at MWC 2020 in February. After the event was canceled on coronavirus fears, TCL executives took to the road, showing the products. Stefan Streit, general manager-global marketing, showed us the lineup in New York. The mainstream arrival of 5G felt a lot more imminent last month prior to worldwide lockdowns enacted to contain the spread of COVID-19, he said.

Evoca will be the go-to-market branding of the ATSC 3.0-enabled terrestrial TV service Edge Networks plans to launch in the Boise market this summer, said the startup Thursday. It applied for the Evoca trademark March 18, Patent and Trademark Office records show. Edge has ambitions to leverage 3.0's IP backbone to deploy a wireless nationwide subscription-based video service that includes 4K channels (see report, March 11 issue.)

The Washington state facial recognition bill Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed Tuesday (see 2003310051) is “a reasonable compromise among innovators, law enforcement and the privacy interests of Americans,” said CTA President Gary Shapiro Thursday. “This is a balanced model for other states and should be open to revision with experience."

Wireless charging pushed into the mid range of the smartphone segment in Q4, driven by Apple’s iPhone XR, said Omdia Wednesday. The increase in wireless charging-enabled shipments in the price segment was triggered by Apple’s price reduction on the iPhone XR, said analyst Anna Ahrens. Before Q4, more than 90% of phones with wireless charging capability were premium and high-end devices, led by Apple and Samsung phones. In 2019, phones with wireless charging grew 2.7% to 18.5% of all smartphones. The prior year, annual growth was 5.6%, with the slowdown in 2019 attributed to Samsung.

Sony Electronics Corp. will begin operations as a new “intermediate holding company” at the April 1 start of the fiscal year, said Sony Thursday. It will incorporate the three business segments residing in the Electronics Products and Solutions group (EP&S) -- imaging products, home AV and mobile communications. Shigeki Ishizuka, executive officer in charge of imaging products and storage media, will be Sony Electronics CEO. Ichiro Takagi, who supervises Sony’s consumer AV business, including sales and marketing, plus supply-chain logistics, will be chief operating officer. Forming the new company will “accelerate the integrated operation” of the EP&S businesses, and “optimize its organizational structure, talent and business portfolio,” said Sony. EP&S is forecasting a 45% increase in operating profit to 111 billion yen ($1.01 billion) for the year ending March 31, though sales in the segment are projected to decline 11% to 2.07 trillion yen ($18.9 billion). Sony is scheduled to report year-end results in late April.

Qualcomm launched Bluetooth SoCs geared to true wireless earbuds and hearables Wednesday. One earbud is wirelessly connected to the smartphone via Bluetooth; the other bud mirrors the connected bud and is engineered to deliver what the company called a “rapid swap.” If the user removes the connected bud from her ear, the mirroring bud is designed to take over the connection to the phone, to avoid interruption of streaming music or an active voice call, said the company.

Wedbush lowered its target share price for Roku to $86 from $115 Monday, saying the company's road to profitability is “unclear.” But the streaming platform provider is potentially a “big winner during social distancing and quarantines,” wrote Michael Pachter to investors, saying all subscription VOD and advertising VOD are “well-positioned” at a time when governments are urging social distancing or mandated quarantines. Roku is in a strong position due to revenue share agreements with most SVOD and transactional VOD partners, Pachter said. It and other platforms that host Oscar-nominated films for purchase or rental can benefit from the current climate, with people more likely to watch many of the nominated films for a fee than they would be under normal circumstances, said the analyst. Roku likely is benefiting from its subscription services by signing up users to HBO, Showtime and other premium SVOD suppliers, he said. A downside of the COVID-19 period for streamers and studios is that productions of current film and serial content have halted. Shares closed up 17.5% at $89.46.