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Below are news flashes for the week starting January 5, 2023.

1. Xerox will lay off 15% of its employees this quarter, involving more than 3,000 employees

On January 3, Xerox Holdings (Xerox) officially announced that it will implement a new operating model and organizational structure to further promote the company's restructuring. The adjustment involves its three key businesses: core printing business, global business services, IT and digital services. Xerox said that by implementing this new operating model, it will promote 15% of its layoffs this quarter. The company said the proposed redundancies will be subject to formal consultation with local works councils and employee representative bodies where applicable. At the same time, the company will provide transition support to affected employees.

As of the end of 2022, Xerox had approximately 20,500 employees. If estimated at a 15% ratio, the layoffs will affect more than 3,000 employees (3,075).

2. U.S. Department of Commerce announces foreign direct investment reaches $200 billion milestone

On January 5, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that since the establishment of the SelectUSA program in 2011, the U.S. Department of Commerce has achieved a new milestone in facilitating more than $200 billion in customer-verified foreign direct investment ( FDI), supporting more than 200,000 jobs in the United States and its territories.

The program has facilitated more than $55 billion in customer-verified foreign direct investment, supporting more than 35,000 U.S. jobs in fiscal 2023. This foreign direct investment figure represents more than a quarter of the total foreign direct investment announced by SelectUSA since its founding in 2011. SelectUSA-backed investments span critical industries, from rare earth facilities in Texas to lithium-ion battery manufacturing in Kansas to pharmaceutical manufacturing in Puerto Rico.

The United States has been ranked as the world's largest foreign direct investment destination for 11 consecutive years, reflecting the continued strength of the U.S. economy. According to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), foreign direct investment has created more than 15 million direct and indirect jobs across the United States.

3. Apple plans to release Vision Pro headset in February

According to reports, Apple stores across the United States have recently sent 2-4 store employees to fly to Apple’s headquarters to participate in secret training on new products. Although Apple has clearly stated what the new product is, the industry speculates that the only product that can allow Apple to mobilize people for new product training is Vision Pro. Employees who go to the headquarters for training will learn how to display and sell Vision Pro, and then return to various stores to teach other partners. In addition, Apple will hold a rare three-hour meeting for all US Apple Store employees on January 21, which may discuss sales procedures and other issues. The stores will also receive new inventory shelves and back-end equipment.

The delivery ceremony held by Luxshare Precision, an Apple supplier , last month symbolized the imminent launch of Vision Pro. Not only that, in the past few weeks Apple has applied for design patents for each piece of Vision Pro hardware.

Well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously predicted that Apple Vision Pro will ship approximately 500,000 units in 2024. Although this number is far lower than other Apple hardware products such as iPhone and iPad, considering the complexity of Vision Pro and the starting price of US$3,499, shipping approximately 500,000 units is still a good performance.

4. Wi-Fi7 certification starts, and it is expected that more than 233 million certified devices will enter the market in 2024

On January 8, Wi-Fi Alliance officially announced that it has launched Wi-Fi 7 certification. Companies including Broadcom, CommScope RUCKUS Networks, Intel, MaxLinear, MediaTek and Qualcomm have formed a certified test platform, and they will be the first batch of Wi-Fi 7 certified manufacturers.

According to Wi-Fi Alliance predictions, more than 233 million Wi-Fi 7 certified devices will enter the market in 2024, growing to 2.1 billion units by 2028. Smartphones, PCs, tablets, and access points (APs) will be the early adopters of Wi-Fi 7, while client premise equipment (CPE) and augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) devices will continue to gain early market share attraction.

5. OPPO loses lawsuit , InterDigital announces major victory in Germany

On January 8, InterDigital announced that it had won a major lawsuit against OPPO in Germany as part of the company’s pursuit of fair and reasonable patent innovation compensation.

Announcement information shows that the Munich District Court ruled that OPPO infringed InterDigital’s 5G patents. OPPO was not a voluntary licensee and therefore did not act in a FRAND-compliant manner. InterDigital should obtain injunctive relief in the German market. InterDigital also stated that OPPO does have the right to appeal the judgment.

In September last year, in the invalidity lawsuit filed by Oppo (case number: 4ni 54/22), the German Federal Patent Court supported the German part of InterDigital patent ep2 127 420 B1 and restricted it. EP 420 B1 protects methods of controlling discontinuous reception (DRX) in wireless transmit/receive units, a technology mainly used in devices such as smartphones. When users operate the device in DRX mode, power consumption can be reduced.

According to German patent media Juve-Patent, shortly before Christmas, the Seventh Civil Chamber of the Munich District Court found that Oppo and OnePlus products infringed on previously restricted patents and ordered the defendants to stop using them. This includes recalling products, as well as providing information and presentation of accounts (Case ID: AZ 7 O 17302/21).

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