On CE - For Dealers, Distributors and OEMs of Consumer Electronics throughout EMEA

European smart home shipments total nearly 39.9 million units in Q4 2019, a 20.4% Y-o-Y increase, IDC reports-- but the analyst warns the market will be hit by declines due to, as one might expect, the coronavirus pandemic.

The market also sees positive results for overall 2019, as shipments are up by 20% over 2018 to 107m units. Smart speakers continue to be the "stellar product" during Q4 2019, with Amazon gaining market share through "good" smart speaker and digital media adapter performance. The quarter also hosted the European Amazon Smart TV launch, with JVC launching the first FireOS products in the UK. The year was also particularly positive in CEE, with the gradual transition to the DVB-T standard leading to shipment growth of 53.5% Y-o-Y.

HP announces a refresh of the Envy 17 premium laptop-- one featuring a 17.3-inch display with (optional) 4K UHD capability, together with a 10th generation Intel Core i7 processor and up to Nvidia MX330 graphics.

The display claims an 86% screen-to-body ratio, but slimmer bezels make for a laptop smaller than the previous Envy 17 model. HP offers the 2020 Envy 17 in a number of storage configurations, including dual-storage with up to a 256GB SSD and a 1TB HDD, a 1TB 7200rpm SATA HDD and a 16GB PCIe NVMe Intel Optane drive and even up to a 1TB PCIe NVM TLC M.2 SSD.

Ceconomy, the parent company of Media Markt and Saturn, is in talks with the German state-owned KfW development bank for government aid, as the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) leads to store closures, Bloomberg reports.

According to the news story, the German retailer is looking for no less than €2 billion in financing. One potential scenario has KfW provide around 80% of the loans, with commercial banks providing the rest as part of a special program. Another source suggests Ceconomy may need to top only part of the credit line. Negotiations are reportedly still ongoing, and as such the structure and timing of the financial package are not finalised.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple plans to open orders for a long-rumoured 2020 entry-level iPhone-- simply dubbed the iPhone SE-- "very soon," even if one can imagine the coronavirus pandemic might put a damper on such plans.

Previously known as either the iPhone SE 2 or the iPhone 9, the new entry-level iPhone reportedly carries the A13 processor, the same as the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, and 11 Pro Plus. The Apple news website says the new iPhone SE can make a popular replacement for the iPhone 6, since the device no longer receives software updates. In addition, the A13 enables Apple Arcade and augmented reality features not possible on the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus.