Industry Notes for the week of March 21

Samsung begins mass production of fast storage
Samsung Electronics has begun mass producing the industry’s first 512-gigabyte (GB) eUFS (embedded Universal Flash Storage) 3.1 for use in flagship smartphones. Delivering three times the write speed of the previous 512GB eUFS 3.0 mobile memory, Samsung’s new eUFS 3.1 breaks the 1GB/s performance threshold in smartphone storage.

Perfect Corp.: Refashioning the beauty industry with the convergence of AI and AR
Perfect Corp. is the world’s leading beauty tech solutions provider that is transforming the industry by developing and integrating advanced artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and machine learning solutions to drive business and re-imagine the consumer beauty experience for brands, retailers, and end-users, via Analytics Insight.

‘Business as usual’: Canva revenue surge keeps IPO hopes intact
Investors in Australian software unicorn Canva are hopeful extreme turbulence in sharemarkets won’t derail the company’s hopes for public listing as newly published financial accounts indicate the graphic design platform continues to boom, the Sydney Morning Herald. Canva’s annual financial report published by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission on Tuesday shows the company recorded $86.3 million in revenue for its Australian entity in 2018, a 118 per cent increase on the previous year.

CEWE board proposes an increased dividend for 11th consecutive year
The CEWE Board of Management and the Supervisory Board proposed a dividend of 2.00 euros per share for the business year of 2019 at the Annual General Meeting to be held on June 10, 2020. The previous dividend is 1.95 euros.

Michaels Cos reports lower fourth-quarter sales
The Michaels Companies Inc. reported a decline in sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019 compared to the prior-year period is due to lower comparable-store sales, the closure of Pat Catan’s stores during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018, and a decrease in wholesale revenue.

Kodak reports $1.2 billion revenues and $116 million earnings for 2019
Eastman Kodak Co. reported full-year 2019 financial results. including revenues of $1.2 billion (about $100 million less than the prior year), continued growth in key product areas and net earnings of $116 million (compared to a $16 million loss in 2018).

Atlanta’s ShootProof, a global leader in software, e-commerce, education, and productivity solutions for professional and semi-professional photographers, appointed Stephen Marshall as chief executive officer.

Canon U.S.A. announced the retirement of Eliott Peck after 45 years with the company
He was most recently executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies and Communications Group