In the old days, the Consumer Electronics Show was a world class event, with almost every consumer electronics company happily showing off their latest and greatest wares to an adoring public[1].  Major product announcements were made at CES, with flashbulbs popping and beautiful models handing out tote bags emblazoned with company logos or sparkly key chains with company catch  phases, but over the years the show’s visitor’s seemed to change, with many apparently more interested in collecting geegaws that they hoped would one day become valuable memorabilia, while Chinese visitors took pictures of everything.  Eventually the floor became so crowded and frenetic that companies began taking suites in nearby hotels to speak with potential customers in a more sales conducive environment, and a few decided that the competition for press coverage at the show was just not worth the expense, as a small booth (10 x 10) starts at $10,000 (non-primary location) and can run to $20,000 for a better location, while a large (40 x 40) booth in a primary location can run several hundred thousands of dollars, before the cost of shipping products, booth materials, and personnel  what can be very long distances.
Here are a few of the majors that no longer have representation at CES:
Apple (AAPL)
Huawei (pvt)
Dell (DELL)
Hewlett Packard (HPE)
Nintendo (7974.JP)
Sony (SNE)
Vizio (VZIO)
TCL (000100.CH)
Tesla (TSLA)
 
So, while we expect there will be many announcements at CES this year, it is hard to get excited about LG’s (066570.KS) new line of OLED TVs, which is almost the same as last year’s line of OLED TVs, or the three new colors for a smartphone that is rarely sold in the US.  That said, when it comes to odd CE products there is no comparison to the devices that are shown at CES, regardless of whether they actually become commercial products, and even before the show has begun, a few announcements have already caught our eye.
A few of said oddities come from LG Lab, an ‘experimental marketing arm’ of LG that is expected to help the company realize it goal of becoming a ‘smart life solutions’ company, whatever that means.  The product from LG Lab that seems to have garnered the most attention this year is a device called the DukeBox.  The DukeBox is a combination of ‘new and old’ technology, according to the marketing department, which, in reality is a ‘portable’ speaker powered by vacuum tubes (‘old’) with a transparent OLED screen (‘new’) cover.  In its normal mode the display is transparent, allowing the user to see the glowing vacuum tubes that power the speaker, while at the flick of a switch, the display can become a sort of fireplace by displaying what marketing calls a cozy fireplace.  In order to satisfy those times when listening to music while staring at glowing vacuum tubes, or watching a crackling fire image is not enough, the screen can display content, although with a bit of transparency, so as not to miss the excitement of vacuum tubes.  Not only has no price been associated with the device, but there is no guarantee that it will become an actual product, or an actual product that sells, but you have to give LG credit for taking such a large leap into the ‘smart life solutions’ morass.
But wait, there’s more…  While the DukeBox was interesting when viewed from the outer reaches of the Twilight Zone, LG Labs really took the bull by the horns when it released the original version of the ‘Bon Voyage’ last August at the global wellness festival known as Wanderlust Korea.  The Bon Voyage was a 20 meter square two story structure that one could bring (perhaps ‘tow’ would be more apt) to a desired location, and ‘spend time his or her way that blends with the surrounding environment’, although the Bon Voyage in Fig. 2 does not seem to be ‘blending’ with the environment.  The marketing literature goes on to emphasize ergonomic stairs and a feeling of openness, due to one wall being glass, but notes that the Bon Voyage comes with air conditioning, home appliances, IoT devices, and furniture, so the user can maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
But wait, there’s even more…  LG Labs has decided that the Bon Voyage was not quite able to maintain the ‘life quality at home into nature’ and redesigned the Bon Voyage for this year’s CES.  The newly designed Bon Voyage is now the size of a camper (~6.5’ wide x 7.2’ high x 12.5’ deep) and is equipped with a bed, refrigerator, electric stove, water purifier, Styler (steamer to remove clothing wrinkles) and a shoe steam cleaner.  The less bulky size allows the Bon Voyage to be connected to a car and as a place your weird uncle can stay during the holidays.
While we are not choosing LG devices for any particular reason, and give credit to the company for at least trying to push the envelope a bit (We wonder what happened to last year’s “StandbyMe” battery-operated portable TV?), we are not sure why someone might want a transparent speaker, and a fancy camper with a shoe deodorizer is still a camper.  That said, LG is a big corporation with lots of R&D dollars to spend, so why not spend it throwing spaghetti against the wall to see if it sticks?  It has to be better than calling last year’s smartphone color ‘graphite’ titanium gray this year, last year’s ‘lavender’, this year’s titanium violet, and last year’s ‘phantom black’, this year’s (you guessed it…) Titanium Black.
 


[1] You must be in the CE biz in some way to gain entrance.

We have read a considerable amount of Chinese tech propaganda concerning China’s push into the OLED display space and how, ‘with hard work and an undying devotion to China’s persistence and manufacturing expertise’, they have unseated the South Korean ‘dynasty’ and are poised to take over the OLED space, and while China’s OLED producers have made considerable progress toward becoming major contenders in the OLED display space, there are some points to be made.

• First, no matter who was the market share (units of dollars) in the early days of OLED display production, they faced a loss of share as others began to enter the niche.  With Samsung the leader in the small panel OLED space, especially the small panel flexible OLED space, the company was bound to lose share over time, which has been the case.  If China’s BOE, Visionox (002387.CH), or Tianma, had been the first to market, they would have faced the same fate.
• Second, on a unit volume basis, Samsung is still the leader in terms of unit shipments for small panel flexible OLED displays. In fact in only one quarter over the last 3 ½ years did Samsung’s unit shipment ratio fall below 2x that of the producer in 2nd place. 
• Third, while panel producers that produce both LCD and OLED displays rarely break out segment profitability, we expect there have been only a few instances when Chinese OLED producers were profitable for two consecutive quarters.  Samsung Display (pvt), at least on an operating basis, has been profitable for the last ten quarters, although we note that what remained of Samsung Display’s large panel LCD business likely had a negative effect on the early quarterly numbers and the most recent quarters would be influenced by SDC’s QD/OLED large panel business to a degree.

All in, yes, Samsung Display will continue to face increasing competition in the small panel flexible OLED space but remains the overall leader.  Perhaps in the future, one or more Chinese OLED producers will overtake SDC in terms of unit volume, but we expect it will be some time before any Chinese small panel OLED competitor becomes more profitable than SDC over more than a quarter or so.  With 1 new small panel OLED fab and three large panel OLED fabs under construction in China (one additional fab in planning stage), and 2 large panel OLED fabs under construction in Korea, it will be a race to see who can fill those fabs profitably, especially given the current weak state of demand for CE products, but we doubt SDC will lose its position as the most profitable small panel OLED display producer in the near-term.

There are thought to be 5.56 billion active mobile phones across the globe, and almost every one is Wi-Fi capable.  There are billions of other Wi-Fi enabled devices, ranging from laptops to smart TVs and there are over 15 billion IoT devices connected to the internet, many of which use Wi-Fi to make that connection.  With cellular users numbering a mere 6.4 billion, Wi-Fi is the most ubiquitous network protocol globally, yet we rarely pay any attention to this technology that supports industrial, commercial, and residential users 24/7, unless we hear the words, “Wi-Fi is down!”, at which point panic sets in for most users, along with either a call to tech support or having to go into the cabinet under the TV to see if the router lights are flashing.
Those boxes, and their larger counterparts in commercial systems, grab the text messages, e-mails, pictures, videos, and data that you send, right out of the air.  They package each bit, and send it out into the world over cable, fiber, or cell.  Cellular folks laugh at Wi-Fi’s limited range (see below), but cellular signals, particularly 5G cellular, are quite easily blocked by building structures and geographical obstacles, while Wi-Fi is designed to be a low-power system used as a local network.  The comparison is apples to oranges now, but next year things will get better for Wi-Fi users as Wi-Fi 7 standards will be finalized and the potential for substantial improvements in Wi-Fi will be underway.

Typically, a new standard means that equipment manufacturers will begin adding Wi-Fi 7 capabilities to new models as they are released, however some CE manufacturers have taken the preliminary Wi-Fi 7 protocol and built those capabilities into new devices.  15 smartphone models have been released this year having Wi-Fi 7 capabilities, one back in December of last year, all of which are hoping that the protocol does not change radically from the pre-ratified standard on which they have based their phones.  We do note that Qualcomm (QCOM) released its Fast-Connect 7800 Wi-Fi 7 chipset in May 2022, which will likely be the basis for most of the early devices that have Wi-Fi 7 capabilities.  There are also a few early Wi-Fi 7 routers from TP-Link (pvt), Netgear (NTGR), Asus (2357.TT), and Linksys (2354.TT) that support the pre-ratified Wi-Fi 7 standard.
All of that said, how is Wi-Fi 7 going to benefit the user?  Wi-Fi 7 is faster, actually much faster than current (Wi-Fi 6 & 6e) Wi-Fi protocols.  Wi-Fi 6 & 6e have a maximum data rate of 9.6GB/sec, while Wi-Fi 7 has a max rate of 46GB/sec, almost 5 times faster, although those are rates that are rarely reached in normal use.  Current Wi-Fi divides available spectrum into what are called ‘sub-carriers’, using a technique called orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA – This will not be on the test…).  Each user is assigned a subset of the subsets, which allows users to share channels and bandwidth.  Wi-Fi 7 will expand the size of the channels (2x), which has not changed in over 10 years, and allows all three available frequency bands to be ‘linked’ to allow for higher throughput and lower latency.  The new standard also allows Wi-Fi 7 to carry frames (packets of data with transmission information included) that are 12 bits rather than the 10 that are used now, which leads to a 20% gain in data rates.
Of course, while this sounds impressive, there are issues, mostly regulatory, as no regions in the US support the three-channel approach that Wi-Fi 7 uses.  The FCC is currently working on a plan for allocating the channels and bandwidth in the 6GHz band, which does not require a license, so once that plan is completed, network operators will be able to begin the use of Wi-Fi 7 for customers and equipment manufacturers, seeing a less risky path toward building in Wi-Fi 7 capabilities.  That said, changes in important standards like Wi-Fi take time to propagate through Wi-Fi infrastructure, especially when they are as significant as the changes between Wi-Fi 6e and Wi-Fi 7. 
More complicated antenna systems, potential interference, and even higher power consumption issues must be balanced by designers of Wi-Fi 7 equipment, so we keep our timeline for widespread Wi-Fi 7 adoption a bit more extended than industry members might propose.  However, we are still optimistic about the change and how it will be accepted by consumers, although they will have to buy new routers to take advantage of the upgrades.  There are many out there that will ask the question, “What is Wi-Fi 7”, “What’s a router?” and “How much is this going to cost?”, which will slow early adoption to those that recognize or need the benefits.  The rest will be deluged by carriers offering free Wi-Fi router upgrades if they sign up as a new customer. 

​While not officially confirmed by the South Korean government, it has been said that the US has granted Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and SK Hynix (000660.KS) a one-year extension to the US export rules on semiconductor equipment that were put into effect last October.  The rule, which would have tacitly included fabs situated in China but owned and run by both South Korean companies, would have prevented both from expanding or upgrading existing facilities, making them non-competitive with Japanese, Taiwanese, and other Chinese fabs that might find local sources for certain equipment.  We expect official announcements will be made once the current grace period ends at the end of September.

In the early days of streaming services, the ability to choose content was a valuable resource for viewers and there were no reference points as to the relative value of such services, but as streaming services have proliferated over the years, price points have become more visible as battles for hit content continue to push streaming service providers to spend more for content creation, eventually finding that those costs must be passed on to subscribers.  During 2020 and 2021, the COVID pandemic pushed consumers toward almost any kind of streaming content, and monthly bills became secondary to the insatiable need for entertainment, but as the pandemic subsided and subscribers faced the icy fingers of inflation for the first time in many years, they started to think a bit more about what it was they were paying for and how much value it actually had, now that they were no longer tethered to their screens.
As streaming subscribers, we found ourselves in the same situation, subscribed to a number of streaming services, some of which we could not remember why or when we subscribed.  Some of that indulgence was due to billing, as direct billing through Paypal (PYPL) or similar services made monthly charges more abstract and bundling under Roku (ROKU) or other services almost hid them all together.   Eventually the day comes when subscribers sit down and decide that they must ‘figure it out’ and dump those streamers that provide lesser value. 
That said, we were curious to see what the monthly cost of streaming services has done over the last 10+ years, which led us to put together this data on streaming pricing.  The most meaningful timeframe is the period from 2019 to 2023, which includes the year preceding COVID and roughly a year (mid 2022 to current) after the pandemic.  The overall change in price among the major streaming platforms shown here during that period has declined by 10.5%, with HBO (WBD) leading the charge down with a 33.3% decline in aggregate price.  The combined Netflix (NFLX) prices (all tiers) was down 18.8% but Amazon (AMZN) Prime and Hulu were both up over the period by 15.4% and 15.0% respectively, while Disney (DIS) was up 14.3%.  While the composite numbers are helpful, the trends are far more obvious when looking at the charts. 
We do note that the 10.5% composite price decline seem across all categories over the 5 -year period is primarily a result of Netflix’s price decreases (all categories) this year, which puts its pricing below its initial 2007 pricing, which should indicate the increasingly competitive nature of the streaming business.  For those streamers that go back far enough, the 10-year data shows Amazon Prime up the most (81.8%), Hulu up 15% and Netflix up 8.3%, so if you are looking for price stability over time, it would seem Netflix is the choice.  Of course, much in the streaming world is based on content offering, but no matter how you look at content, any evaluation would be subjective, which makes it moot in the ‘Fun with Data’ genre, but Figure 7, which shows top 5 streamer subscribers and y/y growth, indicates that the overall subscriber count continues to grow, albeit a bit down from the 2020 – 2022 years.  Again, that would seem to indicate that subscribers are still shelling out cash for streaming services but streamers themselves are facing a far more competitive world than in early and pre-pandemic years.
We note that the subscriber data, in most cases, does not come from the steaming services themselves, so we consider the data somewhat questionable, particularly that of Amazon Prime, but it does give some visual representation of the trends.

​The Data Protection Commission in Ireland issued a decision concerning Meta’s (FB) use and transfer of data that was collected in the EU, under its 2018 GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), that was adopted by the European Data Protection Board.  The decision, the end result of a battle between the EU and Meta over the transfer of customer information from Meta Ireland to Meta US originally led to a judicial review in Ireland back in 2020 based on a draft decision made way back in 2016 over the same issue, which states that Meta ‘failed to guarantee a level of protection to data subjects that is essentially equivalent to that provided by EU law.”
The ruling ordered that the data transfers be suspended and processing and storage of the data in the US also be suspended, along with a €1.2b ($1.33b) fine, to own knowledge the largest fine ever levied under the GDPR.  The original complaint even cites leaks by Edward Snowden, indicating that the NSA was operating surveillance programs on systems operated by some of the largest technology companies, as a basis for the illegality of the transfers to US soil, which tacitly the US confirmed.  More to the point however was the accusation that the data was both collected without the user’s permission, and was used for purposes that user did not agree to
The ruling, which gives  Meta  6 months to halt the transfer practice, will be appealed by the EU, and will likely drag out for many months, as had the €746m GDPR that was levied against Amazon (AMZN)  in July 2021 (still unpaid), although the GDPR has certainly been a major step forward toward the protection of privacy, at least in the EU, and a similar edict should, in our opinion, be legislated in the US.  That said, with everyday partisan politics in the US, it is hard enough to keep the country from defaulting on its debt, let alone pass legislation that might cause major companies in the US to think before they mine every scrap of data and sell it to whoever might pay for it.  We can dream, right?

In order to reduce the effects of differentiated data sets, we tend to use averaged data from a number of sources and don’t draw conclusions until we have at least a few data points for each category.  That said, there are occasions when one data source is either early in their data collection or estimates, far out of line with others, or unusually different from what we might expect.  In those cases, unless we have empirical evidence that the outlier data is incorrect, we note that to our readers.  Much has been said, particularly by panel producers and CE brands about how the CE space will recover (usually with the ‘gradually’ caveat added), although there has been little, other than seasonality, to back up those predictions.  While seasonality typically does play into a better 2nd half, for any real sustainable recovery there has to be an underlying improvement in demand.
September is typically the strongest month (5 yr. avg.) for notebook panel sales, while March usually shows the biggest m/m sales gain, given that February typically records the lowest notebook panel sales month of the year.  That leaves April sales typically down 8.8% m/m, as CE ‘March Madness’ ends after the Chinese holiday in February, typically the worst m/m decline of the year.  What all of this is leading to is that one data source, Digitimes Research, is reporting that the top 5 notebook brands (excluding Apple) saw a 30% drop in m/m notebook sales in April, more than 3x the average and greater than any w/w April decline in notebook panel sales since at least 2011.  DT cited strong short-term orders in March for the large April decline, but also noted ‘a lack of confidence in end demand’ and relatively high inventories in the retail channel.
The DT data is only one source, and one that tends to be a bit on the aggressive side, but it was so far out of line with the tacit ‘gradual improvement’ scenario promoted by the industry, it is worthy of mention, although we are not surprised at the decline, only the magnitude as there has been little real change in demand after the category saw COVID pandemic demand peak in November of ‘2021.  While notebook panel sales do not always track against retail sales, the implication of a 30% decline in April’s notebook panel shipments would bring notebook panel shipments to a point slightly lower than January shipments, which were only slightly higher than panel shipments in February of 2020, the first month of the COVID pandemic, which would not be a good omen for the gradual recovery scenario, at least for notebooks., which last year represented 26.95% of panel shipment unit volume.
Before taking possible scenarios for the remainder of the year any further, we need to confirm that data with other sources, which tend to show up toward the end of the month, so we will wait to see if other sources confirm the data drop.  The top five notebook brands (excluding Apple, who would be #4 in 2022) are Lenovo (992.HK), Dell (DELL), HP (HPE), Acer (2353.TT), and Asus (2357.TT).
​

Chinese panel producers tend to be an optimistic lot, at least publicly, likely somewhat influenced by the fact that much of their funding comes from the state and local governments, who need to remain positive about their investments.  As listed Chinese companies are required to post at least a summary of conversations they have with analysts and investors, and maintain an on-line Q&A presence, there are times when one can get some insight into what the company is saying publicly, and at times a bit of nuance toward what they are really thinking.  Two weeks ago China’s largest LCD and OLED panel producer BOE (200725.CH) posted its analyst and investor meeting summary, which, if nothing else, gives some indication as to what the company’s near-term plans are based on.  Here is a summary of BOE’s most recent meeting with analysts and investors (139), and a few comments.

Industry Overview

• In the 1st quarter the market supply and demand gradually stabilized.
• LCD TV panel prices started to rise, driven by increased demand and promotional activities.  We would say ‘seasonal demand’ and an emphasis on promotional activities.
• Panel manufacturers adjusted production rates based on demand and focused on healthy development and dynamic control.  Not sure that ‘dynamic control’ is anything more than ‘build to order only.’
• Overall inventory levels were normal, and the industry is expected to gradually recover.  At least back to where it was before the pandemic.

Company Performance

• The company maintained its leading position in the semiconductor display industry across various applications.  BOE holds the largest share (31.5%) of global large panel LCD sales (March) and represents 57.7% of China’s large panel LCD sales.  With LG Display (LPL) #2 at 18.5% global share, BOE is certainly the leader in the large panel LCD space.
• The flexible OLED business showed steady growth, with a target of over 120m shipments for the year. Here is where BOE shines.  The company saw ~4% q/q flexible OLED unit growth in 1Q against an 18.4% decline for the industry and saw an 81.4% y/y unit increase in flexible OLED volume, against industry y/y flexible OLED growth of 27.2% (units).  For perspective, Samsung Display (pvt), the industry leader saw a 20.6% decline q/q and a 2.9% decline y/y.
• Short-term performance was affected by industry and macroeconomic conditions, but the company maintained resilient operations.  On a relative basis, yes, as BOE large panel LCD sales were down 2.7% q/q and down 30.0% y/y while the industry was down 15.9% q/q and down 36.1% y/y in 1Q.
• The company implemented lean management, resulting in improved capital structure and reduced expenses.  Companyspeak

Q&A

• Regarding industry production rates, the industry has been adjusting production rates to achieve a heathier supply-demand balance.  LCD TV panel prices have rebounded, and the production rate is expected to gradually recover.  Based on current estimates for demand and LCD panel capacity, and using an overall 85% utilization rate, there remains considerable overcapacity in the LCD space, so it is hard to call such a situation ‘a healthy supply-demand balance’.  We understand that demand estimates are likely at their lowest at this time of year and in current economic circumstances, but even with some demand improvements, LCD overcapacity will likely remain an issue this year.
• The company’s flexible OLED business has shown significant growth, and the shipment volume is expected to continue to increase.  The company aims to improve the proportion of high-end products and expand into new areas.  We give credit to BOE here as they have done a good job increasing OLED display volumes, particularly with Chinese brands.  They will have to push hard to challenge Samsung Display’s Gen 8 OLED push and a similar one from LG Display, but if nothing else, they are persistent.
• The MLED business is positioned as an important platform for the company’s next generation display development, focusing on various applications in backlighting and direct display.  BOE produces a number of LCD modules with it own Mini-LED backlighting, which puts those panels in the premium category and at a higher-than-average ASP, so we expect this segment will grow throughout 2023, but will also be somewhat dependent on the Chinese economic picture, which is a bit less vibrant than expected late last year.  It’s good business for BOE but higher-end products are in the sights of almost every panel producer and that leaves a concern over the necessity to compete on price to gain a foothold against SDC, which could impact MLED margins.
• The company’s financial performance in the first quarter improved due to cost reduction measures, lower asset impairment losses, and increased product prices.
• The company’s future capital expenditures will focus on strategic planning including enhancing OLED competitiveness, IoT solutions and upgrading manufacturing capabilities.  While BOE has been a bit more careful about capex, despite continued funding from the government, they will have to start spending on Gen 8.6 OLED capacity before the end of the year if they want to get a place in Apple’s OLED IT conversions in 2024.  The company has been working toward the development of Micro-LED displays for wearables, which could become a selling point for the Apple watch down the road, but in the interim they will have to continue to spend on LTPO small panel capacity and IT OLED.

All in and corporate speak aside, BOE’s investor meetings gave only an indication of what management is thinking about the prospects for the current year, particularly for the LCD display business.  Seemingly more confident about the growth of their OLED business, likely as Chinese brands see the company as an alternative to more expensive Samsung displays, and a growing relationship with Apple, albeit with the drama associated with that relationship.  As BOE learns more what it can and cannot do as to its Apple relationship, the company should see its small panel OLED business expand, but the OLED IT space is more of an open field, giving BOE the opportunity to gain an early foothold if it both has the expertise to build out a Gen 8.6 OLED fab that has a reasonable yield and that they can meet Apple’s typically stringent specifications, which have proved challenging for BOE in the past.  That said, they are certainly the most successful Chinese panel producer and have a dominant share of the global large panel LCD space.  Whether that proves ultimately the correct positioning over the next few years, however, is still an open question.

Quick, what is the password for your wi-fi router?  If you know the answer, you are either working for your carrier or you are using the same password for the router as you are for other applications.  If the later is the case, don’t feel bad, as a recent survey by Specops Software (pvt) indicated that 29.03% of respondents use the same password for every application and 34.4% only change their password when they forget the old one, while the average person in 2020 was managing ~100 passwords.  Passwords are obviously a pain, but remain, at least, the frontline of defense against hackers who are trolling for information or looking to steal assets outright.
Simple password entry has given way to 2-step authentication, where when you try to log into an application or account, you are required to enter an ID and a security code that is sent to you, usually on a mobile device.  Once that code is entered on the application you must still enter your password to gain access.  This prevents hackers who have stolen your password from access your data without a secondary device to confirm identity, but you still have to remember the password for each application  There are password managers that help with managing a multitude of passwords by using a master password that gives access to the password manager, or you can do what many others do, jot them down on pieces of paper or in a ‘secret list’ that no one should be able to find.  Of course, pieces of paper are easily lost and a paper list of passwords is an accident waiting to happen, so many keep such lists on devices, in the hope that no one will recognize what they are.
The good news is that steps are being taken to simplify the authentication process in ways that will free you from the burden of remembering, changing, and keeping track of passwords for all of your devices with what is called a passkey.  Google (GOOG) has implemented passkey use when logging into your Google account, also letting you still use passwords, and as of May 3, you can use passkeys to log into Google websites. Apple, Microsoft (MSFT), PayPal (PYPL), eBay (EBAY), and a long list of others are developing or implementing passkey authentication for their applications, with Apple having already built it into the latest version of IoS, so .  By using passkeys you no longer have to remember strings of numbers and characters (Is it a capital V or a small v?) or your 4th child’s birthday, but you do need to have your phone, tablet, or computer nearby, as the passkey system needs to communicate with your device in order to verify your identity.
Passkeys use public-key cryptography to authenticate your access to websites when you register on a site.  At that time the system generates a public and private key, with the public key being stored on the site’s web server as it has no value to a hacker by itself.  The private key remains on your device and when you try to log in to an application it sends a ‘challenge’ to your device.  As the public and private keys have a mathematical relationship, the private key completes the challenge and ‘signs’ a response to the server, identifying you, and the server retains only the public key and still does not know your private key, even though you have been identified.    Your device, however, also checks, via master password, fingerprint, or biometrics, that you are the correct person that the private key will identify, as a safeguard in case your device is lost or stolen.  At no time is any sensitive data exchanged between your device and the server, as does when using standard passwords, making passkeys more secure.
Hackers cannot guess a passkey, or can you accidentally reuse a passkey on another site, and because they are unique to each site, tricks that send you to look-alike sites to collect your password will not work.  That said, because they are unique to each site, you need to set them up each time you open a new account or join a new site, and as the private key still resides on your personal device, care must be taken not to lose the device, although if that were to happen, a hacker would need to know your master password, or find some way to beat your biometrics, which certainly lowers your risk against a hacker figuring out that you only change two numbers in your password across all of your applications.
It will be a while before passkeys become ubiquitous, but with a number of the largest CE companies taking steps to implement the concept across multiple applications, the momentum will build, and standards organizations, such as the FIDO (Fast Identity Online) alliance, are working to set standards that will hopefully make it unnecessary for iOS users and Android users to have different passkeys for the same application.  At that point you would be able to throw away your secret lists and scraps of paper and no longer worry that you haven’t changed your WEP key password in 5 years, letting your next-doors entire family piggyback on your Wi-Fi. 

The EU can be a tough market for CE companies, with all sorts of regulations, such as those that have forced Apple to change its charging connector, or the power consumption regulations that are plaguing the 8K TV market, but the EU is getting ready to make another proposal that will potentially affect a slew of technology companies that network providers say have been riding for free on their networks.  Over the last few years, particularly during the COVD-19 pandemic, network traffic has grown considerably, and while mobile network traffic growth gets much of the press, the growth of all network traffic continues to grow at a rate over 20%/year[1], and while a number of applications that drive network traffic saw peak levels in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, there are more high traffic applications driving current network growth.
The EU has instituted a program that sets connectivity targets that must be reached by carriers by 20230, but EU telco’s, such as Orange (ORAN), Telefonica (TEF), and Deutsche Telekom (DTE.XE) have been writing letters and speaking to officials concerning the cost of building out network capacity to meet those goals.  It is not that they believe such goals are unrealistic, but more about the cost, which they believe should be shared by those that generate internet traffic.  This sounds like a typical cost shift from corporations to consumers, but that is not what the telcos want, they want the companies whose applications are generating the traffic, not consumers, to share the cost of the expansion.
As the data shows, in 2021, almost 57% of internet traffic was generated by applications relating to six very large technology/CE companies (Google (GOOG), Netflix (NFLX), Meta (FB), Microsoft (MSFT), Apple, Amazon (AMZN)) and while that declined to ~48% last year, most of that decline came from Google and Facebook, while all others, particularly Netflix, saw increases.  The EU telecoms are asking that these companies, who pay nothing to ‘piggyback’ their services across carrier hardware, pay a fee to help finance the mandated coverage expansion that the EU has mandated, under the theory that at least a portion of the traffic expansion that will be seen over the next few years, is a result of applications that benefit these companies, while they pay nothing for the use of the network, with carriers and consumers (price increases) baring the cost of the expansion.
We expect that the beginnings of such a proposal will be presented at Mobile World Congress, which begins on February 27th, with a ‘consultation’ between the EU, the US, and the UK, and the collection of opinions from stakeholders that will help to form the legal wording of the proposal, a process that takes about 3 months.  Once the bill is formalized, it is reviewed by all EU members and the EU parliament, with the hope that it can be finalized by the end of this year.  The bill is expected to offer a potential alternative to the original telecom proposal of passing the full cost of 5G and additional broadband coverage equipment on to those who benefit directly or indirectly.  With CE company contingent relying on the concept of net neutrality to quash the bill, the proposal will also have to gather support from those outside of the EU, as global support is essential for the proposal to work, a difficult task at best, but one that will allow carriers to expand broadband coverage, financed by those who benefit, without the public having to bear the cost.  


[1] Based on average monthly usage