Year: 2021

Former WB marketing exec JP Richards joins Apple TV+ Team

CompuScoop Staff January 21, 2021 0

Last November, he left his position as Co-President of Worldwide Marketing at Warner Bros, one of several well regarded marketing executives who exited in the WarnerMedia restructure.

Richards will help spearhead the growing ambitions of Apple’s original film slates.

Richards spent six years at Warner Bros… While there, he oversaw campaigns for Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Joker, A Star is Born, IT Chapter 1 and 2, They Shall Not Grow Old, The Lego Movies, The Conjuring Series, Creed and Creed 2. In his dozen years at Universal, he hatched digital campaigns for The Bourne Identity, Fast & Furious and Despicable Me franchises, among other films.

Apple is ramping up after launching a year ago under Worldwide Video heads Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht. Last week, it spent big for the worldwide rights to the package Kitbag, which Ridley Scott will direct with Joaquin Phoenix playing French leader Napoleon Bonaparte.

Via: Deadline.com

LG Display stops iPhone LCD Production

Dan Uff January 21, 2021 0

LG halted iPhone LCD production at its AP3 line at Gumi in the third quarter. The line also stopped making panels for other phones as well in the fourth quarter.

For LG, the LCD line for iPhones has been low in profitability. Apple also used organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels instead for its iPhone 12 series.

Apple’s LCD model, iPhone SE, which launched last year, will use LCD panels by JDI and Sharp instead. LG had previously attempted to supply LCD for the 2019-model iPhone SE but failed.

AP3, which will now focus on producing automobile display panels, will produce those with low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) thin-film transistors (TFT).

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CBS All Access relaunching as Paramount+ on Thursday, March 4th, 2021

Dan Uff January 21, 2021 0

CBS and Paramount have announced that the current streaming service, called CBS All Access, will be rebranded as Paramount+ sometime in March of 2021.

Below is the actual press release:

“ViacomCBS Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAC, VIACA) announced today that its highly anticipated streaming service, Paramount+, will launch in the U.S. on Thursday, March 4, 2021.

ViacomCBS will also bring Paramount+ to international markets with initial debuts in Latin America on March 4, 2021; the Nordics on March 25, 2021; and Australia in mid-2021. The CBS All Access service in Canada will be rebranded to Paramount+ on March 4, 2021, and an expanded offering will be available later in the year.

Additionally, the company will host an investor event and issue fourth quarter and full year financial results for the period ending December 31, 2020 on Wednesday, February 24, 2021. The presentation will deliver a comprehensive overview of the company’s streaming strategy, including Paramount+, Pluto TV, and SHOWTIME(R) OTT.”

No other information has been given about the network, its programming, or its current membership.

LG Electronics considering exiting smartphone business

CompuScoop Staff January 20, 2021 0

LG Electronics may exit the smartphone business after losing about 5 trillion won (US$4.5 billion) over the past five years. Its CEO Kwon Bong-seok on Wednesday sent out a message to staff that hinted there would be a major change in the operation of the smartphone segment.

“Regardless of any change in the direction of the smartphone business operation, the employment will be maintained, so there is no need to worry,” he said.

“Since the competition in the global market for mobile devices is getting fiercer, it is about time for LG to make a cold judgment and the best choice,” an LG official explained. “The company is considering all possible measures, including sale, withdrawal and downsizing of the smartphone business.”

As of last year the smartphone business had posted operating losses for 23 consecutive quarters, since the second quarter of 2015.

In the third quarter of 2020, the operating loss stood at 148.4 billion won, narrowing from 206.5 billion won in the first quarter and 237.8 billion won in the second quarter.

In the third quarter of 2020, LG shipped out 6.5 million smartphones, down from 7.2 million in the same quarter of 2019, according to data from Counterpoint. The company held a 2 percent share in the market.

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