Industry Notes for the week of Aug. 30

Bob Phibbs, the Retail Doctor, provides seven practical tips to drive traffic into your store, including social-media strategy and events in the age of COVID.

B&H Photo was recognized as New York State’s 14th Best Employer for 2020 by Forbes as part of its annual list of America’s Best-In-State Employers for 2020. The award is based on independent surveys of approximately 80,000 U.S. employees working for companies employing at least 500 people, via press release.

Sony Electronics Inc. released a free desktop application called Imaging Edge™ Webcam allowing users to transform their Sony digital camera into a high-quality webcam by simply connecting it to a PC via USB.

Vecnos Inc. launched IQUISPIN, a smartphone app allowing users to easily create and to share one-of-a-kind short videos

ACDSee launches Luxea Video Editor, a new $29.99 per year video editing tool.

Corel has introduced PaintShop Pro 2021 and PaintShop Pro 2021 Ultimate, an all-in-one photo editing and graphic design suites built for producing impressive images, sophisticated photo composites, and compelling designs.

Best Buy reported domestic revenue of $9.13 billion increased 3.5% versus the year prior, driven by computing, appliances and tablets. The increase was primarily driven by comparable sales growth of 5.0%, which was partially offset by the loss of revenue from 25 permanent store closures in the past year. Best Buy also reported declines in mobile phones, digital imaging and services.

HP reports third-quarter results

HP Inc. reported fiscal 2020 third-quarter net revenue of $14.3 billion, down 2.1% (down 0.2% in constant currency) from the prior year. Printing net revenue was down 20% year over year (down 19% in constant currency) with a 12.2% operating margin. Total hardware units were down 2% with Commercial hardware units down 32% and Consumer hardware units up 3%. Supplies net revenue was down 19%.

Interesting items from around the web

Android 11 removes the use of third-party cameras

Android Police reports Android 11 takes away the ability for users to select third-party camera apps to take pictures or videos on behalf of other apps, forcing users to rely only on the built-in camera app. Privacy and security are cited as the reason.

Futuresource: Photo books boosted by pandemic effects

Consumers switching to online purchasing has helped producers of photo books and other personalised merchandise, says Futuresource, as reported by the UK publication, Print Business. Demand for printed photo books and similar products increased during 2019 – ahead of the acceleration caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Futuresource, the value of the market for photo print, photo books and photo merchandise, increased 3% to €3.1 billion across the six largest European markets. Until 2019, the market had been static for a number of years.

People on the Move

Mediaclip announces the winner of its Fées Marraines Scholarship

Mediaclip Inc., the leading developer of product personalization solutions for online businesses, announced the winner of its Fées Marraines Scholarship to Lorie Therrien. In Fall 2019, Mediaclip announced the creation of a Fées Marraines Scholarship for driven young girls who wished to continue their studies in Science and Technology.

Chinese dronemaker DJI makes sweeping cuts in ‘Long March’ reforms

Chinese drone giant SZ DJI Technology Co Ltd. has been making sweeping cuts to its global sales and marketing teams as it faces coronavirus headwinds and mounting political pressure in key markets, current and former staff told Reuters.