U.S. importers sourced 14.19 million smartphones in May, up 13% from May 2020, per Census data we accessed Sunday through the International Trade Commission. Unlike downward pricing trends in notebook PCs and tablets, average smartphone customs value suggested an upmarket shift due to the increasing mix of 5G-enabled handsets. The average smartphone import was worth $275.95, up 15%. China shipped 11.08 million handsets here, up 12% and costing $284.08 on average, an 11% gain. Vietnamese devices soared 31% to $218.43, gaining 2.1 points of share to 2.36 million handsets.

Emerald expects 20% fewer CEDIA Expo exhibitors than 2019 due to people’s “comfort levels for in-person events,” a spokesperson emailed Wednesday. The trade show company hopes for about 300 exhibitors Sept. 1-3 in Indianapolis, she said. Last year’s expo, scheduled for Denver, was canceled. Feedback has been positive among exhibitors, attendees and media who registered for the coming show, the spokesperson said. They're "excited to get back to business," she said. Emerald updated its health and safety plan for the gathering, said a Tuesday email. A seven-question survey focused on willingness to attend trade events, what people miss about going and how far they’re willing to travel to such events. For other conferences' safety precautions, see our report here. Our calendar of events is at communicationsdaily.com/calendar.

Global chip industry sales were $43.6 billion in May, up 26.2% year on year and 4.1% up from April, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Tuesday. Demand remained high across major regional markets, said SIA President John Neuffer. “The industry shipped more units on a three-month moving basis in May than during any previous month in the market’s history.” Neuffer said production has ramped up significantly to address rising demand.

Maryland TV stations broadcasting with NextGenTV are WMAR-TV (ABC), WBAL-TV (NBC), WBFF (Fox) and WNUV (CW), all Baltimore, and WMPT Annapolis and WMPB Baltimore (Maryland Public Television/MPT), they said Thursday. Antenna viewers can get instructions at fcc.gov/rescan on rescans.

Personal IoT devices for tracking children, the elderly and pets will soon “enter the mainstream,” reaching an installed base of 68 million units in 2026 from 16 million this year, reported ABI Research Thursday. Safety is the most significant demand driver for consumer tracking devices, said analyst Harriet Sumnall. She estimates the market for IoT devices to track the elderly will expand at a 42% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2026, when North America will have the largest installed base at 15 million. Devices for tracking children reside in smartwatches like the Verizon GizmoWatch and tracking tags like the Apple AirTag. The segment is projected to have a 30.4% CAGR through 2026.

Amid antitrust and other scrutiny, Amazon touted Prime customers spending $1.9 billion on more than 70 million small business' products over the two-day Prime Day that wrapped up Tuesday. Small- and medium-sized firms that sold on Amazon grew revenue 100%, said the platform Wednesday. The $11 billion industrywide e-commerce spending during the event suggested a “pent up demand for online shopping as consumers look forward to a return to normalcy,” emailed Adobe Digital Insights Director Taylor Schreiner. Also Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee marked up legislation targeting tech companies including Amazon (see 2106230063).

The first day of Amazon’s 48-hour Prime Day sales event spurred total U.S. e-commerce of $5.6 billion, up 8.7% over day one of Prime Day 2020 in October, Adobe Analytics emailed Tuesday. Sales were above Thanksgiving Day totals last year, which were under budget at $5.1 billion. 2020 Cyber Monday holds the e-commerce record at $10.8 billion.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project approved technical specifications that will let Ligado's L-band spectrum be used in 5G networks, the company said Monday. It said the 3GPP approvals will let vendors build compatible 5G and LTE products. This “gives us what we need to accelerate our commercial ecosystem activities and expand Ligado’s roster of partners to deploy this much-needed spectrum,” said Ligado CEO Doug Smith. The L-band uplinks are a “critical asset” for 5G and the approval “is a solid accomplishment,” New Street Research analyst Jonathan Chaplin wrote investors. He said the final major step is getting radio and chipset vendors to incorporate the spectrum into their designs.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and ranking member Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, bowed the Facilitating American-Built Semiconductors Act Thursday. It would create a 25% tax credit for chipmaking investments. “The supply of everything from computers to cars is affected by these shortages, and the way to fix this problem is to bring chip manufacturing back to” the U.S., Wyden said. The Semiconductor Industry Association praised the bill.

Semiconductor Industry Association CEO John Neuffer was unfazed by criticism of fully funding the Chips Act to promote long-term leadership and resilience in U.S. chipmaking -- as last week’s White House supply chain report recommended (see our report here). This won't become a handout to wealthy chip companies and will be the incentive the industry seeks to boost U.S. standing in global semiconductors, he said. The U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (S-1260) cleared the Senate last week by “a very strong bipartisan vote” with $52 billion in U.S. chipmaking and R&D incentives, he told an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation webinar Wednesday. “Now the battle goes to the House, and we’re very optimistic that something good is going to come out of that, so that the president will have a bill to sign.” The way that Chips Act funding in S-1260 is structured, “sure, there’s going to be grants involved, but there’s going to be far more investments required from private sector players,” said Neuffer. “These are solid companies that have to have a lot of capital to be able to do these kinds of investments.” The most “leading-edge” fabs cost $30 billion to build, he said. No policymaker should “adopt a goal of decoupling” U.S. chip production from global supply chains that are heavily concentrated in East Asia, said Neuffer. He cited a September SIA-Boston Consulting Group report.