Valens (VLN): Barco Puts a Wired Extension Under ClickShare

Valens Semiconductor (VLN) told investors on its FY2026 second-quarter earnings call that Barco, a collaboration brand built on wireless screen sharing, selected its HDBaseT chipset to power a wired extension kit for ClickShare, Barco's flagship product [1]. Valens is so far the only company on the record describing this shift toward wired extension in meeting rooms, and it sells the chips that go into those links.

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Why a large meeting room ran out of wireless headroom

A large conference room now has to carry 4K video and USB 3.2 at the same time, and Wi-Fi does not do that reliably across tens of meters, so room specifications are adding a wired link back in. In these rooms the host PC, the camera and the display often sit tens of meters apart, and the picture and peripheral signals have to travel either over the air or over a network cable. ClickShare is the flagship product of Barco (BAR.BR), and what it does is send a laptop's screen wirelessly to the room display; the brand has been built on not having to plug anything in [1]. USB 3.2 is the interface generation used by high-resolution room cameras and touch-enabled interactive displays, while the older USB 2.0 was only enough for keyboards, mice, audio devices and early cameras [1]. The wireless path is not being removed here. The wired path is being added on top of it.

Every additional link of this kind puts another extension chip in the room. Valens sells exactly that class of chip: the VS3000 uses HDBaseT to carry uncompressed HDMI 2.0 over ordinary category cable, and the VS6320 extends USB 3.2 [1]. The chips end up inside products built by the room-equipment brands themselves, and the customers management named are Crestron, Extron and Logitech [1]. Those brands face the same thing Barco faced, because resolution and USB protocol requirements are rising inside their own designs, which is why this path is unlikely to stop at one customer.

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The kit ships, but only at USB2 and 40 meters

Barco's wired kit currently tops out at 4K video plus USB2 over 40 meters of cable. The specification comes from a June 16, 2026 announcement: the ClickShare USB-C Extension over CAT kit uses Valens' HDBaseT chipsets and carries 4K video and USB2 over category cable at distances up to 40 meters [2]. That tier is USB2; the higher-bandwidth USB 3.2 case runs through Valens' separate VS6320 design [2][1]. What is wired today is the picture and the basic peripherals, while the camera layer is still at the design-in stage.

Valens treats the design win as a statement about the category rather than as one order. On the call, the CEO said a flagship product known for wireless choosing wired is a clear signal of market demand for higher-performance wired connectivity [1]. The call transcript garbles Barco as "Baoco" and ClickShare as "QlikShare," and also spells both correctly in the same passage. The financial detail on the same call sizes the business this lands in: second-quarter gross margin was 69.2% in the cross-industry segment against 41.5% in automotive, and the company raised its FY2026 revenue guidance from $75-77 million to $78-81 million, with the CEO attributing the raise to VS3000 and VS6320 being designed into more customer products and noting that automotive revenue does not start contributing until 2027 [1].

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What sets the size of this business is links per room, not rooms

Each premium room built to the new specification carries one more wired link and one more extension chip in its bill of materials, so chip revenue tracks the number of rooms the equipment brands ship. One step further down, a room re-planned around wired 4K plus USB also needs its network switching layer replaced, and that spending lands on the same new and refurbished rooms.

Only Valens has disclosed this directly, and it is the supplier selling the extension silicon, so it is not a neutral observer. Barco's kit is limited to USB2, and management attributed the guidance raise to VS3000 and VS6320 design-ins across multiple customers rather than to the Barco win specifically [1]. What can be checked later is whether cross-industry segment revenue and that 69.2% segment gross margin hold, and whether the $78-81 million full-year guidance is met - with automotive revenue starting only in 2027, any movement in that line during 2026 comes from this segment [1].

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Companies exposed to this change

• Logitech (LOGI): Sells meeting-room cameras, hosts and peripherals, so the same room-specification change lands on its own product line, and it already sells comparable wired extension products that carry 4K video and USB together over network cable; Valens also names it as one of the customers designing in the VS3000 and VS6320 [1].
• NETGEAR (NTGR): Sells network switching equipment, including a product line aimed at professional AV. Once a room is planned around wired 4K plus USB, it needs a managed switching layer able to carry that traffic, which places NETGEAR one step downstream of the extension chip.
• Semtech (SMTC): The other merchant supplier of silicon for wired room AV; its BlueRiver technology carries uncompressed 4K HDR video over standard Ethernet into the same extension, KVM switching and video-wall sockets, competing for the same position as Valens.

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Sources

[1] Drillr - Valens Semiconductor (VLN) - 2026-08-12 - FY2026 Q2 earnings call (prepared remarks and Q&A)

"During the quarter, we announced that Baoco selected our HDBaseT chipset to power its new ClickShare USB-C extension over CatKit. Barco is one of the most recognized names in collaboration technology and the flagship QlikShare product is known for its wireless connectivity. The company's decision is a clear signal of market demand for higher performance wired connectivity and of Valence's position as a leader in this space."

[2] PR Newswire - Valens Semiconductor - 2026-06-16 - company announcement - http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/valens-semiconductors-hdbaset-chipsets-power-barcos-clickshare-usb-c-extension-over-cat-kit-302801408.html

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