JUMP REPORT

Gartner said PC makers shipped 69.9 million units in the quarter, rebounding from a weak quarter a year earlier when units fell 12.3%.

New Customers, Technology Advancements, and Independently Verified Performance Data Highlight Traction of HP’s Disruptive New Solution HP Molded Fiber Advanced Tooling Solution Production tools used to create sustainable molded fiber give away box. Using HP AdvancedPro Transfer Tool improves transfer-side smoothness and enables parts with low draft angles as well as custom markings on the transfer side. News highlights: Innofibre, the industry’s leading independent research institute in Quebec, Canada, validates significant advantages of new HP Molded Fiber Advanced Tooling SolutionPartners and customers Eco Pulp, PMD, Polyco Healthline Group, Veritiv, Vernacare and others exploring opportunities for entirely new packaging designsNew technology advancements provide increased productivity and digital production of higher quality, more customized molded fiber tools PALO ALTO, Calif., April 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today at the International Molded Fiber Association (IMFA) annual conference, the leading event for the molded fiber industry, HP showcased independently verified performance leadership, partners and customers driving entirely new packaging designs, and significant technology advancements for its recently introduced HP Advanced Molded Fiber Tooling Solution. The HP Molded Fiber Advanced Tooling Solution is an innovative and environmentally-friendly solution for molded fiber manufacturers. Today, Innofibre, the industry’s leading expert on cellulosic product innovation, released new research data validating HP’s solution as a more productive, efficient option for molded fiber tooling compared with traditional woven wire tooling. “Based on our testing, HP’s Molded Fiber Advanced Tooling Solution can offer greater precision, along with faster forming and drainage times,” said Tarik Jabrane, NSERC Industrial Research Chair, Innofibre. “Compared to traditional molded fiber tooling, HP’s tools can be changed quickly and easily, with fewer stops in the workflow. The speed of iteration and ability to change tools enables more prototyping and ultimately provides a more cost effective option for the industry.” “We are proud our efforts to introduce a truly disruptive solution for the packaging industry have been validated by Innofibre’s research,” said Mariona Company, Global Head of Molded Fiber Solutions, HP Inc. “Based on the data released by Innofibre, it is no surprise we are gaining traction with molded fiber manufacturers in Europe, the US and Canada as they look for innovative new tooling options to meet customer demand. This is just the beginning, we are committed to advancing our solution, helping the molded fiber industry grow and accelerating the transition from single use plastics to sustainable packaging.” Market Leading Productivity and New Design Possibilities Molded fiber, also known as molded pulp, is currently used in handling and packaging thousands of renewable products from food containers to packaging of household items and electronics to single-use medical service items. Unveiled in September 2020, HP’s Molded Fiber Advanced Tooling technology enables fast and enhanced design and fabrication of high-performance molded fiber tooling in as quickly as two weeks1 compared to four to six weeks experienced by customers using traditional methods2. Combined with HP’s new tooling production service, the end-to-end solution yields increased production up time, reduced maintenance, and mass customization capabilities. Key findings published by Innofibre confirm that the HP solution delivers a greater number of stronger parts more quickly than traditional tooling. Improved fiber retention resulting in stronger parts: due to its excellent first pass pulp retention, especially of the longest fibers, HP tooling uses less fiber to make parts with greater strength than equal grammage parts from 50-mesh tooling. Significant process efficiencies and cost reduction: due to its superior fiber retention, and faster forming, HP’s solution saves customers time and money – savings equivalent to avoiding having to discard every eleventh egg tray being produced into whitewater. High quality personalized parts: HP digitally designed screens resist wrinkles so customers get parts with crisp edges and borders, and highly personalized, legible markings. New Customers Embracing HP’s Solution Across Industries Several new customers throughout Europe, the United States and Canada across industries including healthcare and electronics have begun using HP’s tooling solution. This builds on collaboration with existing customers including Fiber Innovation, Pacific Pulp, Pulp Moulded Products, and Western Pulp Products Company as well as partners such as PMD and Veritiv who are working on a variety of new designs. Vernacare is a global leader of paper moulding products specializing in high quality single-use medical products committed to innovation. The company is looking to improve efficiency gains, accelerate turnaround times, and increase productivity with HP’s unique rapid screen replacement.“Compared to traditional manufacturing, HP’s solution increases the speed from concept to execution, and has the potential to improve our productivity efficiencies and machine volumes,” said Garry Partington, Research and Development Manager, Vernacare.Polyco Healthline Group specializes in protection and hygiene products and services including disposable gloves, workwear and bags. Polyco has used molded pulp for more than two decades and its Thermofiber division develops non-medical molded pulp accessories. The company is working with HP to develop applications that reduce the amount of plastics used in the industry. Eco Pulp is a Finland-based packaging producer that specializes in technical molded pulp inserts. They are currently using HP’s tooling solution to produce packaging for electronic devices.“Thanks to HP we are increasing our production efficiencies. The middle screen is saving us a lot of time in the production process, it is light, easy to carry, making the process faster and more sustainable,” said Ari Henttonen, Managing Director, Eco Pulp. New customers include Eco Pack, Enviropack, ERI Mexico, YFY Jupiter and many others exploring new use cases using HP tools. HP’s own business, one of the largest manufacturers of consumer tech products in the world, is leveraging the solution to help achieve its sustainability goals, including a commitment to eliminate 75% of single use plastic packaging by 2025. Technology Advancements Unlock New Value for Manufacturers HP’s Molded Fiber Advanced Tooling Solution leverages proprietary HP innovations in digital manufacturing software and data intelligence along with HP’s industry-leading, industrial 3D printing technology to offer a more efficient, optimized digital design experience, replacing the need for handcrafted screens, CNC machining, and manually drilled form tools. As a result of Innofibre’s research and work with partners including PMD, HP has quickly advanced its tooling capabilities, developing enhancements to optimize production processes and create more personalized solutions. These innovative advancements demonstrate HP’s commitment to open up entirely new design opportunities enabling projects that would be impossible using traditional methods due to complex geometries and shallow draft angles. HP AdvancedPro Transfer Tool: a lightweight transfer tool providing an extra digitally designed screen on the transfer side for improved productivity and process efficiency by reducing forming cycle time and moisture content. The tool improves transfer-side smoothness and enables parts with low draft angles as well as custom markings on the transfer side.HP FlowTec SmartScreen: custom screens algorithmically designed to fine tune slurry flow and improve molding performance for challenging geometries.“We started to work with HP because my desire was to have a fluid dynamic approach to the tooling used for molded fiber products. I didn’t have sufficient knowledge of this approach and very few people in the Industry do,” said Jalal Kahn, Head of Design Pulp & Paper Products at Polyco Healthline. HP’s FlowTec SmartScreen is a breakthrough tooling innovation thanks to which we can actually have a more predictable slurry behavior resulting in efficiency gains for molders.” HP at IMFA ConferenceHP will present at the virtual IMFA annual conference from April 13-14, delivering a keynote address together with Eco Pulp, Polyco Healthline Group, and Vernacare. HP will also deliver a technical session together with Innofibre and PMD, providing a deep dive into Innofibre’s research and HP’s technology advancements. On April 20, HP will follow up on its sessions at IMFA with a free, in-depth webinar and Q&A session to discuss opportunities to transform molded fiber packaging with its end-to-end solution. Click here for more information and to register. About HPHP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our portfolio of personal systems, printers, and 3D printing solutions, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available at hp.com. www.hp.com/go/newsroom ©Copyright 2020 HP Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. ______________________ 1 Delivery as quickly as 2 weeks after HP receipt of design file, detailed specs, the tool design quotation approval, purchase order, and receipt of first payment. Shipping time not included.2 Compared to traditional CNC and manual tooling processes as of June, 2020. Based on internal HP analysis and testing including expert interviews and a review of published market reports. 4-6 weeks average fabrication lead time when producing using CNC manufacturing. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/87e22db0-3397-444c-b9ce-85311c92a56a CONTACT: Michele Guthrie, HP inc. +1 858 761 8424 michele.b.guthrie@hp.com

PC sales, which have been on a decline for the past few years, have been rising during the pandemic, helping companies like Apple (AAPL), Sony (SONY) and Lenovo Group (LNVGY).

(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden told companies vying with each other for a sharply constrained global supply of semiconductors that he has bipartisan support for government funding to address a shortage that has idled automakers worldwide.During a White House meeting with more than a dozen chief executive officers on Monday, Biden read from a letter from 23 senators and 42 House members backing his proposal for $50 billion for semiconductor manufacturing and research.“Both sides of the aisle are strongly supportive of what we’re proposing and where I think we can really get things done for the American people,” Biden said. “Now let me quote from the letter. It says, ‘The Chinese Communist Party is aggressively — plans to reorient and dominate the semiconductor supply chain,’ and it goes into how much money will be they’re pouring into being able to do that.”Chief executives including General Motors Co. CEO Mary Barra, Ford Motor Co. CEO James D. Farley, Jr., and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google participated in the virtual summit.White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the meeting showed the administration is serious about addressing supply-chain constraints and softening the blow for affected companies and workers.National Economic Council director Brian Deese and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan hosted the meeting, with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo also participating. Companies invited to join included Dell Technologies Inc., Intel Corp., Medtronic Plc, Northrop Grumman Corp., HP Inc., Cummins Inc., Micron Technology Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., AT&T Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., as well as GM, Ford and Alphabet Inc.Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in an interview after the meeting that the White House and Congress are working aggressively to support the semiconductor industry with more domestic manufacturing, research and development as well as efforts to build the workforce. Taiwan’s TSMC also voiced its support. The contract chipmaker, which plays a central role in manufacturing most of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, has secured government incentives to begin building a $12 billion Arizona plant this year.“TSMC is confident that our 5nm advanced fab plan in Phoenix Arizona — one of the largest foreign direct investments in U.S. history — will be successful in partnership with the U.S. government,” it said in a statement.The administration intended to highlight elements of the president’s proposed $2.25 trillion infrastructure-focused plan that they believe would improve supply-chain resilience, a White House official said. The agenda also included discussions about the auto industry’s transition to clean energy, job creation and ensuring U.S. economic competitiveness, the official added.Many of the lawmakers supporting additional funding for semiconductors want to see the measure in a standalone competitiveness bill aimed at China, not as part of Biden’s infrastructure package, as it is now. The China bill has some bipartisan support and could have a quicker path through Congress.Intel, Micron, GM, A&T on Roster for White House Chips MeetingBut exactly how to spend and allocate the semiconductor funding is a source of debate among automakers and other consumers of chips, as well as the semiconductor companies themselves.Carmakers are pushing for a portion of the money to be reserved for vehicle-grade chips, warning of a potential 1.3 million shortfall in car and light-duty truck production in the U.S. this year if their industry isn’t given priority.Yet makers of other electronic devices affected by the chip shortage, such as computers and mobile phones, have taken issue with the carmakers’ demands, worried their industries will suffer. The debate was also a factor in the White House meeting.“There were many, many voices saying, ‘hey, we can’t just start carving things up for particular industries. We need a solution that works in the medium and long term and that are sensitive to some of the unique challenges of the immediate term,’” Gelsinger said in the interview. “I think we’re working pretty well through that process right now. Nobody will be entirely happy but we’re heading in a good direction.”The White House has not taken a public position on the issue but has indicated privately to semiconductor industry leaders that it would not support special treatment for one industry, according to people familiar with the matter.Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council, which lobbies for Ford, General Motors and Stellantis NV (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles), expressed optimism that the Biden administration would at least consider his industry’s arguments.Congress Weighs Countering China on Chips, GOP Wary of Cost (1)He said the White House has not endorsed any specific plans for setting aside money for carmakers, but administration officials “understand why the proposal was made.”To avoid future chip shortages, Blunt’s group proposed that at least 25% of any federal support for the construction of semiconductor factories must go to U.S. facilities that commit to allocating at least 25% of their capacity to automotive-grade chips.John Neuffer, president and chief executive officer of the Semiconductor Industry Association, said the industry understands “the difficulty the auto sector is feeling right now, and chipmakers are working hard to ramp up production to meet demand in the short term.”For the long term, he said, the industry needs a boost in domestic production and innovation across the board “so all sectors of our economy have access to the chips they need, and that requires swiftly enacting federal investments in semiconductor manufacturing and research.”(Updates with TSMC’s comments from the seventh paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

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