Amazon may have violated EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in online retail markets, the European Commission said Tuesday. It's concerned that large quantities of nonpublic seller data are being made available to employees of Amazon's retail business, allowing the data to be aggregated and used to calibrate detail offers and strategic business decisions to the detriment of rivals. The EC's preliminary view is that use of nonpublic marketplace seller data lets Amazon avoid the normal risks of retail competition and leverage its market dominance in France and Germany, the two biggest EU markets. The EC began a second investigation into business practices it said might artificially favor Amazon's own retail offers and those of sellers who use its logistics and delivery services. It's looking at whether criteria for enabling sellers to offer products to Prime users under the Prime loyalty program leads to preferential treatment of Amazon's or those sellers' retail businesses. Amazon "disagrees with the preliminary assertions of the European Commission and will continue to make every effort to ensure it has an accurate understanding of the facts, a spokesperson said. "No company cares more about small businesses or has done more to support them over the past two decades" Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Alex Petros urged U.S. policymakers to "look to the Commission as a model for aggressively working to address these serious concerns" and to create a digital regulator for oversight of platform markets. The antitrust case is "trade protectionism by another name," said Competitive Enterprise Institute Senior Fellow Ryan Young. "Amazon has made retail more competitive," with third-party seller services giving smaller businesses access to a global market they didn't previously have. Meanwhile, traditional large retailers such as Walmart and grocery stores have expanded their online options to compete against Amazon, he said.

Microchip Technology halted all Huawei shipments in mid-September in compliance with the further Commerce Department export restrictions on the Chinese tech giant that were imposed in August (see 2008170043), said President-Chief Operating Officer Ganesh Moorthy on a Thursday investor call for fiscal Q2, ended Sept. 30. Huawei generated about 2% of Microchip’s Q2 revenue, down sequentially from Q1, said Moorthy, who will succeed Steve Sanghi as CEO March 1 as Sanghi transitions to executive chairman. Microchip is working with Commerce “to apply for licenses for products and technologies that we believe have no impact” on U.S. national security, he said. “We do not know if or when such licenses may be granted,” so Microchip assumes no Huawei revenue in the fiscal third quarter ending Dec. 31, he said. Huawei's push to complete manufacturing of all products before the shipment ban took effect caused wide-scale supply chain "constraints" during the September quarter, he said. The rush of Huawei’s competitors to replace the business Huawei lost “further stressed the supply chain,” he said. The “ongoing shift” of semiconductor manufacturing out of China to avoid the Section 301 tariffs also pressured “the capacity in other Asian countries where we manufacture through our partners,” he said. The supply chain disruptions "are continuing into the December quarter,” he said.

Walmart announced an agreement to sell its retail operations in Argentina. The company will record a noncash loss of about $1 billion, after tax, in Q3 FY 2021, primarily due to cumulative foreign currency translation losses, it said Friday in an SEC filing.

Huawei never caused “a single cybersecurity incident” in the 30 years it has been building networks globally, said a Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Wednesday when asked about the U.S. pressuring other countries not to cooperate with the company on 5G. “Not a single country can prove this company is prone to hidden risks or security threats,” he said. “We hope countries will continue upholding an objective and unbiased position and make independent decisions that serve their national interests.” Imposing restrictions on Huawei under the “pretext” of national security concerns is “unfounded and inconsistent with international economic and trade rules,” he said. The U.K. said in July that it wasn't “strong-armed” by the U.S. into recent actions against Huawei (see 2007220026). The White House didn’t respond to questions.

Skyworks Solutions had $957 million in fiscal Q4 revenue, more than $100 million above the high end of its guidance, proof it's “driving and benefiting from the rollout of 5G" worldwide, said CEO Liam Griffin on a Monday investor call about the quarter ended Oct. 2. “Recent data points” show how rapidly adoption is “accelerating,” he said. Thirty-eight countries have launched the networks, with more “set to deploy,” he said. About 12% of smartphones shipped this year are “5G-enabled,” with projections of more than 50% by 2023, he said. “The world's leading smartphone manufacturer has just now released its entire lineup of new 5G devices,” said Griffin, obviously referencing Samsung. “Although we are only in the early innings, 5G has arrived.” A large part of the front-end module and other component supplier's 5G demand came from Asia-Pacific smartphone OEM customers, he said. "We have been winning business. We've been expediting products. The demand has been incredible."

Q3 revenue in the communications “end market” at On Semiconductor declined 7% from the 2019 quarter, said CEO Keith Jackson on a Monday investor call (also see Q3 here.) The chipmaker experienced strong growth in its 5G infrastructure sector, but “our smartphone business declined year over year, in part due to geopolitical factors related to a customer,” said Jackson, obviously referencing Huawei. Communications revenue growth in Q4 likely will be flat or down quarter over quarter, “due to an expected revenue decline from customer-specific geopolitical factors,” he said. “In Q3, there certainly was an impact” from the mid-September halt of shipments to Huawei due to the Commerce Department’s tightened export restrictions on the Chinese smartphone OEM, said Jackson. In Q4, until Commerce grants export licenses authorizing the resumption of shipments, “there is no business at all” with Huawei, he said. “They were one of the top customers.” Jackson thinks “there will be more reluctance” next year among Chinese smartphone OEM customers “to accept sole-source positions from U.S.-based companies as a result of the trade tensions” between the U.S. and China: “They’re very wise economic buyers, and they’re going to do the best thing for their company, but they certainly don’t want to be completely reliant on a U.S. supplier.” The Huawei business that On lost shifted quickly to European competitors, he said.

China as a policy won't comment on Tuesday's U.S. election because it's an "internal affair," said a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Friday when asked about remarks by a Joe Biden aide that the Democratic nominee, if elected president, would consult with allies on what to do about the Section 301 tariffs on Chinese imports. “China's policy on the United States remains highly stable and consistent,” said the spokesperson. “We are committed to developing a China-U.S. relationship featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.” Biden would seek “collective leverage” against China by bonding with allies to curb Beijing's allegedly unfair trade practices, campaign foreign policy adviser Jeffrey Prescott told Reuters Wednesday. Biden won’t “lock into any premature position before we see exactly what we’re inheriting,” said Prescott when asked if Biden would lift the tariffs unilaterally if elected.

Samsung’s foldable phones are getting very positive reviews from the trade and “actual users,” said a senior executive on a Q3 investor call. Foldables provide “a totally new mobile experience through an innovative form factor, differentiated design and also the multitasking through a larger screen,” said Ben Suh, Samsung senior vice president-investor relations. Samsung expects the foldable phones category “to record high growth in the future,” he said. The category experienced “very solid sales trends” this year, despite the “relatively weak demand” for premium smartphones amid COVID-19, he said. Foldables remain “a relatively small portion” of Samsung’s overall smartphone sales, said Suh. “We are planning to continue to increase our foldable portfolio and to widen the price ranges that we offer” by “leveraging the flexible technology that we have already built over several years,” he said. “We are expecting our foldable phone sales to increase for several years going forward.”

There’s a paradox looming in the 2021 LCD TV supply chain between set makers planning to increase their panel buys and panel makers cutting TV display capacity to reconfigure production lines for in-demand laptop screens, reported Omdia Monday. Top global TV brands are expected to increase their panel buys by 9% over 2020 if they're able to secure supply, it said. “Panel makers are prioritizing their panel supply to their strategic or preferred top tier TV makers who can sell TVs with advanced features at a higher premium, rather than to the low-tier TV makers whose TVs are priced at low value in the market,” said Omdia.

The U.S. and Slovak Republic agreed Friday to work together on 5G security, the State Department said. “5G will enable a vast array of new applications, including the provision of critical services to the public, which will benefit our citizens and our economies,” said a joint declaration: “Increased amounts of data on 5G networks will further interconnect the economies of the world, including the Slovak Republic and the United States, and facilitate cross-border services and commerce.”