There may not be any Apple in Microvision future… because Apple has considered but never [yes that’s right] warmed-up to the idea of embedding a pico projector, Microvision’s or anyone else’s, in any of its product line.
That’s a very bold statement and demands due diligence and research to support this argument.
First, watch this Alex Tokman interview video dated September 27, 2010. Watch carefully; from three minutes seven seconds to three minutes thirty five seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MQtsuj1y-I&feature=youtube_gdata_player
AT sounds sour on Apple don’t you think? For someone who used to answer questions about Apple as: “Apple world loves us”… now talks about Apple as a forgone conclusion in the iPhone vs. Google Android battle of the giants. Google Android is a new entrant to the smartphone arena and anyone worth listening to in this technology space would tell you: “it’s too early to tell who would be the leader… if there is going to be one at all in the first place?”
AT sounds sour on Apple and there may be a good reason for it.
Vast majority of technologists with-in Apple camp are convinced that pico projection technology is not mature enough to risk the integrity of their established technology offering… like computing, MP3 player, or mobile me platform [iPad, iPhone]. Unless there is an Apple product genre that offers pico projection as a primary function… there is very little chance of a pico projector making its way into the existing Apple product line? Unfortunately, that is not the only issue.
Another issue with an embedded pico projector inside any of the Apple product line, according to my sources, are the concern for primary product reliability and common mode failure caused by or because of the embedded pico projector functionality.
The reasoning goes like this...
“Pico projection is relatively new technology; with very little, if any, proven performance and reliability track record. If the pico projector goes on the fritz, the primary functionality of the iPad, iPhone or iWhatever is lost and the entire unit must be repaired or replaced”
That does not sound too good for embedded pico projectors for the Apple product line… at least for now.
However, all is not lost.
Smart companies have figured out the way around Apple’s position on embedded pico projectors. They are coming out with hand held pico projectors as an accessory unit for the Apple products─ like Microvision SHOWwx for one example, or as a docking station for the Apple mobile me products [iPod, iPhone, iPad] with added bells and whistles.
Anant Goel
Disclaimer: These comments are author’s personal observations and opinions and are based on his own research conducted recently.
Showing posts with label iPod. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPod. Show all posts
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Microvision: College Campus Marketing
Microvision recently announced a “back to college” promotion for its laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx… by reducing the list price down to $449 which also included the VGA dock.
After having made an extensive check with my contacts in the computer resellers community [from my past life] that sells consumer electronics gadgets to college students all over the US… I have to say that Microvision’s marketing effort is limited to a blurb about the price reduction offer on their web site… and that’s about it.
There are no signs of any marketing effort to promote or sell SHOWwx to the college students… other than an advertisement on the Microvision web site at…
http://www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays/index.html
College students represent, for many companies like Microvision, a valuable demographic. It's easy to understand why… because most young people are still shaping their brand loyalty, they usually have disposable income, and most are interested in trying new things. Unfortunately, marketing to college students can pose a challenge because they are immune to many classic methods of marketing. By injecting a little fun into the message and having the right attitude, campus marketing can bring your product or service a lot of attention.
Before you decide to launch your marketing campaign, be aware of the “Campus Solicitation” policy of each and every individual campus on your target list. Most colleges discourage aggressive solicitation of students, faculty, and staff on campus. These activities often disrupt campus routine, offend segments of the College community, and imply endorsement by the College of particular products, services, or ideas.
Here’s one idea that is most cost effective and incorporates all of the best of breed ideas in one place…
• Hire a company that specializes in collegiate marketing. Many years ago, I worked with this company called “New Age Marketing”. In my humble opinion, they are the best in the business. Check them out…
http://www.collegiatepromotions.com/cpfeatured.html
You don’t have to create the viral networking buzz yourself… these guys will do it for you in the most cost effective manner.
One other thing that you may consider…
• Partnering with the School
Piggyback on the excitement around college sports events. Football game days at many schools─ Ohio State, Alabama and USC, for example─ are massive undertakings, attracting 100,000 fans to the stadium and thousands more to the surrounding neighborhood. Establishing an official promotional partnership can be expensive, but valuable. Your company could purchase ad space in the stadium. To capitalize on the opportunity without an official license… you must arrive on campus few hours before kickoff and engage the thousands of excited students walking around.
Enter into an agreement with the university to provide goods to students at a low cost. If they have your product in hand, they will learn to turn to you in the future. For example, according to Marguerite Reardon at Wired Magazine, Duke University spent $500,000 to purchase discounted Apple iPods in an attempt to assess their usefulness in higher education. Apple gave 1,650 Duke Freshmen the devices, helping the school and helping Apple expand its market share.
The College or recognized student groups occasionally invite vendors to fulfill particular campus objectives. The Director of Student Life must provide written approval to such vendors to grant exceptions to solicitation policies. Student groups must guarantee the availability of the products that their sponsored vendors sell. These sales must be cleared in writing in advance with the Director of Student Life, and when an athletic team is involved, with the Director of Athletics. No outside organization may proselytize, distribute, or sell products without direct sponsorship of a student organization recognized by the College Student Government or an administrative office.
Here’re some thoughts on doing the marketing to college students on your own…
• Colleges provide sellers with a captive audience full of hungry buyers. College campus advertisements are successful in reaching large numbers of people due to the dense population of students and staff that frequent campus buildings. There are a number of ways that you can effectively advertise on a college campus. By engaging in some creative ad placement, you can increase the success of your business and introduce your product to a whole new group of consumers.
• Print Marketing: Tailor your print marketing to the mindset present in most young people. Instead of putting together ads with lots of tiny words, spend a little extra money with the printer to ensure that your ads have striking images. Think about it; "got milk?" is only two words, but is an ad campaign everyone knows. If nothing else, include a link to your website to take advantage of the increasingly digital lifestyle of the student. Indeed, you should place the signs on outdoor billboards around campus. More important, post them on billboards inside, especially near administrative offices. Thousands of bored students stream past the registrar’s office, and your ad could catch their eye.
• Quad Posting Boards: Many colleges and universities feature a central posting board in their campus quad or other open area. This board contains flyers, student postings and campus event reminders. Advertise your product by placing a flyer on this message board amongst the other messages. Many students peruse this board regularly, so placing your flyer here will surely get you some views.
• Hire enthusiastic young people: to prowl the campus with flyers. Better yet, have them distribute free T-shirts with your product message in vivid colors. Young people are more likely to stop if another young person is flagging them down. Have your employees wear brightly colored T-shirts and make sure they are enthusiastic, above all else.
• Hire some students: to go around to dorms and put flyers up on bulletin boards or stuff mailboxes.
• Put an ad: in the school newspaper.
• Place an ad: on the college radio station.
• Send your flyers: to fraternities, sororities, athletic groups, etc… especially at school "party" times.
One thing that you must not do; is hire yet another “Director of Campus Marketing”… only to fire him/her a year or two later for lack of generating any tangible sales revenue.
Anant Goel
After having made an extensive check with my contacts in the computer resellers community [from my past life] that sells consumer electronics gadgets to college students all over the US… I have to say that Microvision’s marketing effort is limited to a blurb about the price reduction offer on their web site… and that’s about it.
There are no signs of any marketing effort to promote or sell SHOWwx to the college students… other than an advertisement on the Microvision web site at…
http://www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays/index.html
College students represent, for many companies like Microvision, a valuable demographic. It's easy to understand why… because most young people are still shaping their brand loyalty, they usually have disposable income, and most are interested in trying new things. Unfortunately, marketing to college students can pose a challenge because they are immune to many classic methods of marketing. By injecting a little fun into the message and having the right attitude, campus marketing can bring your product or service a lot of attention.
Before you decide to launch your marketing campaign, be aware of the “Campus Solicitation” policy of each and every individual campus on your target list. Most colleges discourage aggressive solicitation of students, faculty, and staff on campus. These activities often disrupt campus routine, offend segments of the College community, and imply endorsement by the College of particular products, services, or ideas.
Here’s one idea that is most cost effective and incorporates all of the best of breed ideas in one place…
• Hire a company that specializes in collegiate marketing. Many years ago, I worked with this company called “New Age Marketing”. In my humble opinion, they are the best in the business. Check them out…
http://www.collegiatepromotions.com/cpfeatured.html
You don’t have to create the viral networking buzz yourself… these guys will do it for you in the most cost effective manner.
One other thing that you may consider…
• Partnering with the School
Piggyback on the excitement around college sports events. Football game days at many schools─ Ohio State, Alabama and USC, for example─ are massive undertakings, attracting 100,000 fans to the stadium and thousands more to the surrounding neighborhood. Establishing an official promotional partnership can be expensive, but valuable. Your company could purchase ad space in the stadium. To capitalize on the opportunity without an official license… you must arrive on campus few hours before kickoff and engage the thousands of excited students walking around.
Enter into an agreement with the university to provide goods to students at a low cost. If they have your product in hand, they will learn to turn to you in the future. For example, according to Marguerite Reardon at Wired Magazine, Duke University spent $500,000 to purchase discounted Apple iPods in an attempt to assess their usefulness in higher education. Apple gave 1,650 Duke Freshmen the devices, helping the school and helping Apple expand its market share.
The College or recognized student groups occasionally invite vendors to fulfill particular campus objectives. The Director of Student Life must provide written approval to such vendors to grant exceptions to solicitation policies. Student groups must guarantee the availability of the products that their sponsored vendors sell. These sales must be cleared in writing in advance with the Director of Student Life, and when an athletic team is involved, with the Director of Athletics. No outside organization may proselytize, distribute, or sell products without direct sponsorship of a student organization recognized by the College Student Government or an administrative office.
Here’re some thoughts on doing the marketing to college students on your own…
• Colleges provide sellers with a captive audience full of hungry buyers. College campus advertisements are successful in reaching large numbers of people due to the dense population of students and staff that frequent campus buildings. There are a number of ways that you can effectively advertise on a college campus. By engaging in some creative ad placement, you can increase the success of your business and introduce your product to a whole new group of consumers.
• Print Marketing: Tailor your print marketing to the mindset present in most young people. Instead of putting together ads with lots of tiny words, spend a little extra money with the printer to ensure that your ads have striking images. Think about it; "got milk?" is only two words, but is an ad campaign everyone knows. If nothing else, include a link to your website to take advantage of the increasingly digital lifestyle of the student. Indeed, you should place the signs on outdoor billboards around campus. More important, post them on billboards inside, especially near administrative offices. Thousands of bored students stream past the registrar’s office, and your ad could catch their eye.
• Quad Posting Boards: Many colleges and universities feature a central posting board in their campus quad or other open area. This board contains flyers, student postings and campus event reminders. Advertise your product by placing a flyer on this message board amongst the other messages. Many students peruse this board regularly, so placing your flyer here will surely get you some views.
• Hire enthusiastic young people: to prowl the campus with flyers. Better yet, have them distribute free T-shirts with your product message in vivid colors. Young people are more likely to stop if another young person is flagging them down. Have your employees wear brightly colored T-shirts and make sure they are enthusiastic, above all else.
• Hire some students: to go around to dorms and put flyers up on bulletin boards or stuff mailboxes.
• Put an ad: in the school newspaper.
• Place an ad: on the college radio station.
• Send your flyers: to fraternities, sororities, athletic groups, etc… especially at school "party" times.
One thing that you must not do; is hire yet another “Director of Campus Marketing”… only to fire him/her a year or two later for lack of generating any tangible sales revenue.
Anant Goel
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Next Paradigm Shift: The Internet Would Democratize Broadcasting and Content Delivery
Over the last few years, there has been such a confluence of technologies in so many different sectors that it is about to bring several paradigm shifts… and in the process shape our lives and also open-up new frontiers to commercial opportunities.
There is a long list of paradigm shifts taking place right under our noses while we work, play or snooze. As the title suggests, here we will just focus on: How Internet Would Democratize Broadcasting and Content Delivery.
How attractive does a new technology have to be to warrant adoption and utilization?
It all started with YouTube and the beginning of ‘broadcast your self” phenomenon in the year 2005.
YouTube is free; and is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. YouTube uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as, amateur content such as video blogs and short original videos. In the early days, most all of the content on YouTube was uploaded by individuals, although there were some early adopter media corporations including CBS, BBC, VEVO and other organizations that offered some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.
Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 and older.
Before the launch of YouTube, there were only a few easy methods available for ordinary computer users who wanted to post videos online. However, with its simple interface, YouTube made it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to post a video that a worldwide audience could watch within a few minutes. The wide range of topics covered by YouTube has turned video sharing into one of the fastest growing and most important part of Internet culture.
Follow the Eyeballs
Consumer demand for service providers to deliver content to any device, at any time and in any location is growing more prevalent each year. Consumers are gaining additional control over how they access content, whether it’s through personal computers, mobile devices or set-top boxes… challenging service providers’ traditional walled living room offerings and in the process threatening their position in the content delivery value chain.
“All service providers need to do is follow the eyeballs,” said Stef van der Ziel, Jet-Stream CEO. “Thanks to the Internet, consumers are revolutionizing the way they access content, and content owners and advertisers are following their lead. Service providers don’t want to be left behind; they want a portion of the content distribution opportunity.”
To do this, service providers must evolve from triple play services─ offering phone, Internet and video, to ‘open play’ platforms that deliver content to all four screens─ PC, Mobile client, TV and the pico projector.
Technology: Deployment of the “Four Screens CDN”
Anyone with commercial interests in streaming media services and CDN [content delivery network] technologies; and that has ever produced a video for YouTube or a web cast, will tell you that the Internet would democratize broadcasting. If a college dropout with heavy interest in media and technology could broadcast video globally on YouTube, then anyone would be able to do so. In a matter of time, all content would be distributed via the web to PC’s, mobile clients, and TV’s and pico projectors. The signs are all around you… just look at the latest products and services offered by Apple, Amazon, NetFlix, Hulu, ESPN and so on.
Years ago, I envisioned a future where consumers and companies would not be locked in walled living rooms… and content owners could distribute content directly to consumers. It was just a matter of time, people and companies [like Apple, NetFlix, Hulu, ESPN] would use the Internet to share content. I also foresaw that the Internet could not handle the sheer volumes of content. There would be a huge need for smart distribution technologies. Telcos will have to follow the eyeballs and embrace Internet based content and consumption on all four screens─ the PC, mobile client, TV, and pico projector by deploying intelligent CDNs.
The Open Play
Enormous amount of resources will be spent to scale the web for professional and massive content delivery; to democratize broadcasting, to disrupt the traditional cable and broadcasting industry and to break open this market so anyone could create, distribute and consume content, anywhere, without borders.
Continued Market Growth Ahead for CDNs
In 2008, the entire global market for video delivery services was only $400 million, according to Frost & Sullivan. That’s a really small number when compared to the overall CDN market size or many of the other segments of the infrastructure market. It shows that the CDN market still has a long way to go and that many opportunities still exist.
Most content owners still don’t make any money with their content, but just imagine what the CDN market will look like when they do. CDNs will be even more crucial down the road as content owners rely on them to help them generate revenue. In the next few years, as more devices [like Apple TV, iPhone, iPad] come to the market, consumers will begin to adopt them in large numbers—then the market will change.
While many ask when this is going to happen and what the next tipping point will be that gives CDNs the next surge of traffic, you have to remember that it does not happen overnight. Many use the example of YouTube and 2007 as being the year that the CDN market really exploded. But what most people didn’t see, or don’t know about, is all the work that was taking place in the CDN space leading up to that event in the years before. Companies worked very hard from 2004 to 2007—none of that perceived growth in 2007 truly happened overnight.
Today, we’re building the market size for CDNs every single day. Even with the poor economy, you don’t see less content online… you see more. You don’t see poorer quality video… you see HD. You don’t see fewer devices… you see more platforms than ever before. This is what we’re building on. So when it seems like there is a sudden surge in the CDN business years from now, with or without Telco’s, remember that it did not happen overnight.
Tough times for many of the vendors in the CDN space may be coming to an end. All industries need corrections, and the CDN industry is no different. The bottom line is that the CDN industry has never been stronger, has never been more needed, and will only continue to evolve to help do more than just deliver some bits from point A to point B.
In the future, private CDNs─ like the one rumored at Apple, will flourish. Streaming media analyst Dan Rayburn reported last year that Apple was planning to bring some of its CDN capabilities in-house. “Folks I have spoken to inside Apple told me that once the new data center is completed, Apple plans to have a more active role in doing their own content delivery,” Rayburn wrote, noting a precedent. “While its way too early to speculate what kind of content Apple will deliver and in what volume, this strategy is nearly identical to what we’ve seen Microsoft do over the years.”
In closing, I must re-state that most CDNs will become profitable, some will be worth acquiring, and many content owners will be willing to pay more for a service that makes them money. We’re all waiting for this time to come. And while it won’t come overnight, I think it will happen sooner than many people may realize.
Anant Goel
There is a long list of paradigm shifts taking place right under our noses while we work, play or snooze. As the title suggests, here we will just focus on: How Internet Would Democratize Broadcasting and Content Delivery.
How attractive does a new technology have to be to warrant adoption and utilization?
It all started with YouTube and the beginning of ‘broadcast your self” phenomenon in the year 2005.
YouTube is free; and is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. YouTube uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as, amateur content such as video blogs and short original videos. In the early days, most all of the content on YouTube was uploaded by individuals, although there were some early adopter media corporations including CBS, BBC, VEVO and other organizations that offered some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.
Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 and older.
Before the launch of YouTube, there were only a few easy methods available for ordinary computer users who wanted to post videos online. However, with its simple interface, YouTube made it possible for anyone with an Internet connection to post a video that a worldwide audience could watch within a few minutes. The wide range of topics covered by YouTube has turned video sharing into one of the fastest growing and most important part of Internet culture.
Follow the Eyeballs
Consumer demand for service providers to deliver content to any device, at any time and in any location is growing more prevalent each year. Consumers are gaining additional control over how they access content, whether it’s through personal computers, mobile devices or set-top boxes… challenging service providers’ traditional walled living room offerings and in the process threatening their position in the content delivery value chain.
“All service providers need to do is follow the eyeballs,” said Stef van der Ziel, Jet-Stream CEO. “Thanks to the Internet, consumers are revolutionizing the way they access content, and content owners and advertisers are following their lead. Service providers don’t want to be left behind; they want a portion of the content distribution opportunity.”
To do this, service providers must evolve from triple play services─ offering phone, Internet and video, to ‘open play’ platforms that deliver content to all four screens─ PC, Mobile client, TV and the pico projector.
Technology: Deployment of the “Four Screens CDN”
Anyone with commercial interests in streaming media services and CDN [content delivery network] technologies; and that has ever produced a video for YouTube or a web cast, will tell you that the Internet would democratize broadcasting. If a college dropout with heavy interest in media and technology could broadcast video globally on YouTube, then anyone would be able to do so. In a matter of time, all content would be distributed via the web to PC’s, mobile clients, and TV’s and pico projectors. The signs are all around you… just look at the latest products and services offered by Apple, Amazon, NetFlix, Hulu, ESPN and so on.
Years ago, I envisioned a future where consumers and companies would not be locked in walled living rooms… and content owners could distribute content directly to consumers. It was just a matter of time, people and companies [like Apple, NetFlix, Hulu, ESPN] would use the Internet to share content. I also foresaw that the Internet could not handle the sheer volumes of content. There would be a huge need for smart distribution technologies. Telcos will have to follow the eyeballs and embrace Internet based content and consumption on all four screens─ the PC, mobile client, TV, and pico projector by deploying intelligent CDNs.
The Open Play
Enormous amount of resources will be spent to scale the web for professional and massive content delivery; to democratize broadcasting, to disrupt the traditional cable and broadcasting industry and to break open this market so anyone could create, distribute and consume content, anywhere, without borders.
Continued Market Growth Ahead for CDNs
In 2008, the entire global market for video delivery services was only $400 million, according to Frost & Sullivan. That’s a really small number when compared to the overall CDN market size or many of the other segments of the infrastructure market. It shows that the CDN market still has a long way to go and that many opportunities still exist.
Most content owners still don’t make any money with their content, but just imagine what the CDN market will look like when they do. CDNs will be even more crucial down the road as content owners rely on them to help them generate revenue. In the next few years, as more devices [like Apple TV, iPhone, iPad] come to the market, consumers will begin to adopt them in large numbers—then the market will change.
While many ask when this is going to happen and what the next tipping point will be that gives CDNs the next surge of traffic, you have to remember that it does not happen overnight. Many use the example of YouTube and 2007 as being the year that the CDN market really exploded. But what most people didn’t see, or don’t know about, is all the work that was taking place in the CDN space leading up to that event in the years before. Companies worked very hard from 2004 to 2007—none of that perceived growth in 2007 truly happened overnight.
Today, we’re building the market size for CDNs every single day. Even with the poor economy, you don’t see less content online… you see more. You don’t see poorer quality video… you see HD. You don’t see fewer devices… you see more platforms than ever before. This is what we’re building on. So when it seems like there is a sudden surge in the CDN business years from now, with or without Telco’s, remember that it did not happen overnight.
Tough times for many of the vendors in the CDN space may be coming to an end. All industries need corrections, and the CDN industry is no different. The bottom line is that the CDN industry has never been stronger, has never been more needed, and will only continue to evolve to help do more than just deliver some bits from point A to point B.
In the future, private CDNs─ like the one rumored at Apple, will flourish. Streaming media analyst Dan Rayburn reported last year that Apple was planning to bring some of its CDN capabilities in-house. “Folks I have spoken to inside Apple told me that once the new data center is completed, Apple plans to have a more active role in doing their own content delivery,” Rayburn wrote, noting a precedent. “While its way too early to speculate what kind of content Apple will deliver and in what volume, this strategy is nearly identical to what we’ve seen Microsoft do over the years.”
In closing, I must re-state that most CDNs will become profitable, some will be worth acquiring, and many content owners will be willing to pay more for a service that makes them money. We’re all waiting for this time to come. And while it won’t come overnight, I think it will happen sooner than many people may realize.
Anant Goel
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Microvision: Apple─ The Media Player OEM?
At the Microvision shareholder’s meeting on September 15th, 2009, there were some questions asked about OEM relationship with Apple.
My take on CEO Alex Tokman’s answer was something like: “Apple World loves us and we have to be ready… I just ask you that you be patient.” In all probability, Microvision was in talks with “Apple”, however, there wasn't enough unit volume of PicoP Display Engines for Apple’s appetite at that time to be engaged officially.
Fast forward to today, last day of August 2010…
A year later, you may want to re-visit the questions about Apple in light of Microvision’s $11.1 million order from a [non-disclosed] Media Player OEM for the embedded PDEs…
• $11.1 million in initial order is not a small order by any means… because after the initial order, all of Microvision production could go to this OEM on a monthly basis. And these monthly orders represent about $12 million per Qtr [20,000pm x 3m x $200per unit = $12 million] in the first half of 2011… and increasing.
• With 5 Green Laser suppliers, the unit production can easily be ramped –up to 100,000 units per month… and that’s a decent production run for any Premium Media Player OEM like Apple or NetFlix.
• With diode GL coming into play some time in 2011, number of units can only go higher than the 100,000 per month… and that’s not shabby at all.
• Since announcing the Media Player OEM early this year, Microvision has been very tight lipped about the identity of this OEM… which is a typical modus of operands for any of the Apple suppliers. A small time OEM would probably follow the example of rest of the OEM flock in the CE industry─ where it is a common practice to earn some free publicity by announcing new products in the pipe line.
• CEO of Microvision has, on more than one occasion, stated publicly that the Media Player OEM would announce the product on its own time schedule before the 2010 Christmas shopping season. Well, early September is a good time to announce new products for the 2010 seasonal shopping… don’t you think? Apple will be making product announcements on September 1st … now that’s some coincidence!!!
• On March 8th, 2010, Microvision announced two new members of the management team: Joe O'Sullivan as Vice President of Global Operations and Michael Fritts as Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing, and Business Development.
Mr. O'Sullivan is a consumer electronics industry veteran with executive management experience at Apple Computer and InFocus. At Apple, Mr. O'Sullivan spent 15 years in operations and supply chain management, including Vice President of Operations where he was instrumental in building a global operations infrastructure in Asia. In addition, he developed Apple's International Procurement Organization strategy, building a structure in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Europe.
Today, a day before Apple’s new product introduction on September 1st , we hear this rumor about: “New iPod May Include Projector”. Could it be Microvision’s laser based PicoP projector inside the Apple’s new premium iPod?
We just have to wait and see.
Here’s the link to the rumor news…
http://www.benzinga.com/company-news/contracts/10/08/450653/new-ipod-may-include-projector-mvis-aapl
While we wait, let’s look at Apple’s secret to success…
“Show and Sell”
All the while the competition…
"Flashes an exotic prototype, then – Presto! – get consumers to buy their more boring stuff. That kind of thinking still rules at most electronics companies. Apple under Steve Jobs only shows off actual products. And that difference is Apple’s arcane secret to success."
Like washed-up Catskill magicians unable to let go of old routines while a brash upstart steals their audience, nearly every maker of consumer electronics in the world clings to a quaint song-and-dance about prototypes.
“Here is your possible future,” they bark, flourishing the latest conceptual product from the lab. “Now watch us make it disappear!”
Apple’s chief magician, however, knows better, pulling solid objects out of the ether; products you can actually buy.
No one can be sure until the rumors lead the way to actual news in the media or corporate announcements.
But if you think it is possible, than rest assure it can happen someday.
If this sounds like a minor complaint about most of the industry’s lack of imagination in marketing, you’re misunderstanding the whole act. The fact that Apple does not reveal prototypes but shipping products; is the fundamental difference between their entire business strategy and that of the rest of the CE industry. It evokes a feeling of trust between Apple and consumers – that when Apple actually reveals a product, it’s something that they’re confident enough to support for years to come.
Anant Goel
My take on CEO Alex Tokman’s answer was something like: “Apple World loves us and we have to be ready… I just ask you that you be patient.” In all probability, Microvision was in talks with “Apple”, however, there wasn't enough unit volume of PicoP Display Engines for Apple’s appetite at that time to be engaged officially.
Fast forward to today, last day of August 2010…
A year later, you may want to re-visit the questions about Apple in light of Microvision’s $11.1 million order from a [non-disclosed] Media Player OEM for the embedded PDEs…
• $11.1 million in initial order is not a small order by any means… because after the initial order, all of Microvision production could go to this OEM on a monthly basis. And these monthly orders represent about $12 million per Qtr [20,000pm x 3m x $200per unit = $12 million] in the first half of 2011… and increasing.
• With 5 Green Laser suppliers, the unit production can easily be ramped –up to 100,000 units per month… and that’s a decent production run for any Premium Media Player OEM like Apple or NetFlix.
• With diode GL coming into play some time in 2011, number of units can only go higher than the 100,000 per month… and that’s not shabby at all.
• Since announcing the Media Player OEM early this year, Microvision has been very tight lipped about the identity of this OEM… which is a typical modus of operands for any of the Apple suppliers. A small time OEM would probably follow the example of rest of the OEM flock in the CE industry─ where it is a common practice to earn some free publicity by announcing new products in the pipe line.
• CEO of Microvision has, on more than one occasion, stated publicly that the Media Player OEM would announce the product on its own time schedule before the 2010 Christmas shopping season. Well, early September is a good time to announce new products for the 2010 seasonal shopping… don’t you think? Apple will be making product announcements on September 1st … now that’s some coincidence!!!
• On March 8th, 2010, Microvision announced two new members of the management team: Joe O'Sullivan as Vice President of Global Operations and Michael Fritts as Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing, and Business Development.
Mr. O'Sullivan is a consumer electronics industry veteran with executive management experience at Apple Computer and InFocus. At Apple, Mr. O'Sullivan spent 15 years in operations and supply chain management, including Vice President of Operations where he was instrumental in building a global operations infrastructure in Asia. In addition, he developed Apple's International Procurement Organization strategy, building a structure in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Europe.
Today, a day before Apple’s new product introduction on September 1st , we hear this rumor about: “New iPod May Include Projector”. Could it be Microvision’s laser based PicoP projector inside the Apple’s new premium iPod?
We just have to wait and see.
Here’s the link to the rumor news…
http://www.benzinga.com/company-news/contracts/10/08/450653/new-ipod-may-include-projector-mvis-aapl
While we wait, let’s look at Apple’s secret to success…
“Show and Sell”
All the while the competition…
"Flashes an exotic prototype, then – Presto! – get consumers to buy their more boring stuff. That kind of thinking still rules at most electronics companies. Apple under Steve Jobs only shows off actual products. And that difference is Apple’s arcane secret to success."
Like washed-up Catskill magicians unable to let go of old routines while a brash upstart steals their audience, nearly every maker of consumer electronics in the world clings to a quaint song-and-dance about prototypes.
“Here is your possible future,” they bark, flourishing the latest conceptual product from the lab. “Now watch us make it disappear!”
Apple’s chief magician, however, knows better, pulling solid objects out of the ether; products you can actually buy.
No one can be sure until the rumors lead the way to actual news in the media or corporate announcements.
But if you think it is possible, than rest assure it can happen someday.
If this sounds like a minor complaint about most of the industry’s lack of imagination in marketing, you’re misunderstanding the whole act. The fact that Apple does not reveal prototypes but shipping products; is the fundamental difference between their entire business strategy and that of the rest of the CE industry. It evokes a feeling of trust between Apple and consumers – that when Apple actually reveals a product, it’s something that they’re confident enough to support for years to come.
Anant Goel
Friday, July 2, 2010
Microvision: Open Letter to Microvision CEO Alex Tokman
For a company that launched laser based SHOWwx in September 2009, and announced the availability of the hottest consumer electronic product of this decade, your management team is awfully quiet on all fronts of news with no visible signs of product promotions, marketing or sales. Granted, the backorders and future product introductions do count; but then again who knows for sure what the future would bring, and if the delivery would be made at profitable terms.
Market does not like the lack of any significant news for extended periods and reacts by selling [and short selling] the Microvision stock. Just over the last one week, the stock price has dropped by 30% [down from $3.60 to $2.64]. This kind of price drop, it seems, has become a norm for Microvision stock after every Qtr earnings CC or the Annual Share Holders meeting.
Lack of news; or lack of any visible signs of product promotion, marketing, or sales does not build confidence in Microvision business model… and as a result, more and more investors [and supporters] abandon the MVIS stock every time there is carnage in its market price.
I don’t know if you realize how important the Microvision investors are to the well being, survival, and future prosperity of your [our] company?
Think about this…
At this early stage of the game, your first wave of prospective customers will be the Microvision investors [their family & friends], employees, vendors, hot leads from trade shows, and a few live ones from the ROV customer base. That’s your “hot” prospective customer base that you can easily tap for “placing the sensors in the ground”.
There are over 1,000 investors of MVIS stock that track the company’s news like a hawk on a daily basis. Each one of us [investors] has at least 200 people in our center of influence. If you do the math and add-up all the numbers you get over 200,000 people that would love to provide comments [and feed back] and be part of this paradigm changing technology at this early stage.
President-elect Obama used the Internet to reach out to millions [and continues to do so to this day] in a very short period of time and raised over $1billion in donations for his Presidential election. If Obama can evangelize his “Change We Need” slogan, then why can’t Microvision do the same with its “PicoP Green Machine” slogan? Let’s face it… sooner or later Microvision will have a HD PicoP Projector/TV that could provide large screen HDTV experience to a billion people in energy starved China and India. In the U.S. and Europe, it could easily replace millions of power hungry LCD/Plasma TVs in every room.
Investors need more frequent news on product developments; and also need to see visible signs of activity in promotions, marketing and sales… no matter how small. It keeps us interested and engaged. Share more information with us [Microvision investors] and make us part of your viral marketing strategy. It costs you nothing and results could be 200,000 times better than what an expensive team of executives with fancy titles would bring to the table.
For a moment think Apple…
To succeed like Apple, companies need to understand more deeply the consumer they are targeting. Apple recognizes that it can't have everyone as its customer. It is willing to alienate some segments by appealing to a strong core of people that sociologists refer to as the Cultural Creatives. These are the people who wait in line overnight for the latest iPod, iPhone, or the iPad. Focusing on the Cultural Creatives in turn attracts followers who might not otherwise trust the brand.
[The concept is presented in the book The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (2000), where the authors claim to have found that 50 million adult Americans who can now be identified as belonging to this group. They estimated that there were an additional 80 to 90 million Cultural Creatives in Europe as of 2000.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Creatives
Observe the next 10 people you see on the street with an iPod and ask your self how many of them represent the Cultural Creatives featured in Apple's advertising.
One, may be two?
Address your core audience… and the rest will follow. That's how you sell 10 million iPods in one quarter.
In the hands of an artful company like Apple, design is the vehicle for driving meaningful, relevant experiences that are authentic to the brand. It's not about paring product lines or making cool stuff. Done right, design can add value to the bottom line and the brand. However, design done right goes beyond the appearance and behavior of the object itself. It takes the entire product ecosystem into consideration. Design done right sees technology as an enabler, not just the solution.
Apple creates holistic experiences that inspire customers, strategic partners like accessory manufacturers, and content providers to build up the platform. Apple understands: “It's not about market share. It's about mind share.”
There are two ways to reach this group of prospective Microvision customers... the first is by more frequent e-mails… and the second is more organized, like the formation of “PicoP Green Machine User’s Group”. With that as a means to reach out and touch, you could hold the interest and engage your core Cultural Creatives… in exchange for latest news or sneak-peak at the technology that could save the Planet Earth.
You know what I mean? You get the idea!
It doesn’t cost you anything and it can build your e-mail list very quickly. Think “Obama” every time you want to reach out and touch millions in a hurry.
The foresight to go live with your Blog “The Diaplayground” was an excellent idea in this internet driven world… and the timing could not be any better. Perfect stroke of genius!
However, there is total lack of response to visitor posts at your Blog site… and that is the second issue.
I expect customers, investors, vendors and competitors to dominate the ranks of visitors that lurk The Displayground.
As investors, we are a fickle bunch and our Blog posts tend to be skewed towards topics that effect our financial investment in Microvision. We tend to be long term investors but the current volatility can be devastating… and as such, we doubt our good judgment from time to time. Sometimes our questions may be direct, inquiring, frustrating, out-of-line, etc. Some of us, at times, can’t say what we mean or mean what we say. However, we mean no disrespect, malice or harm. Now, with your corporate governance legal frame work in place, your team may or may not respond to [or even publish] our comments from time to time. We would understand your position in such a situation. However, there are ways to answer a comment, without violating legal rules and regulations, and still maintain the flow of dialog with the Blog participant.
I guess it all goes back to: “the beginning of openness and sharing of the truth with integrity and trust.”
Openness and sharing truth with integrity are important to investors… both large and small.
Anant Goel
PS: "Strive for simplicity, innovation, human-centered interaction, visual interest, and efficiency." This is the calling card for all businesses for the future.
Market does not like the lack of any significant news for extended periods and reacts by selling [and short selling] the Microvision stock. Just over the last one week, the stock price has dropped by 30% [down from $3.60 to $2.64]. This kind of price drop, it seems, has become a norm for Microvision stock after every Qtr earnings CC or the Annual Share Holders meeting.
Lack of news; or lack of any visible signs of product promotion, marketing, or sales does not build confidence in Microvision business model… and as a result, more and more investors [and supporters] abandon the MVIS stock every time there is carnage in its market price.
I don’t know if you realize how important the Microvision investors are to the well being, survival, and future prosperity of your [our] company?
Think about this…
At this early stage of the game, your first wave of prospective customers will be the Microvision investors [their family & friends], employees, vendors, hot leads from trade shows, and a few live ones from the ROV customer base. That’s your “hot” prospective customer base that you can easily tap for “placing the sensors in the ground”.
There are over 1,000 investors of MVIS stock that track the company’s news like a hawk on a daily basis. Each one of us [investors] has at least 200 people in our center of influence. If you do the math and add-up all the numbers you get over 200,000 people that would love to provide comments [and feed back] and be part of this paradigm changing technology at this early stage.
President-elect Obama used the Internet to reach out to millions [and continues to do so to this day] in a very short period of time and raised over $1billion in donations for his Presidential election. If Obama can evangelize his “Change We Need” slogan, then why can’t Microvision do the same with its “PicoP Green Machine” slogan? Let’s face it… sooner or later Microvision will have a HD PicoP Projector/TV that could provide large screen HDTV experience to a billion people in energy starved China and India. In the U.S. and Europe, it could easily replace millions of power hungry LCD/Plasma TVs in every room.
Investors need more frequent news on product developments; and also need to see visible signs of activity in promotions, marketing and sales… no matter how small. It keeps us interested and engaged. Share more information with us [Microvision investors] and make us part of your viral marketing strategy. It costs you nothing and results could be 200,000 times better than what an expensive team of executives with fancy titles would bring to the table.
For a moment think Apple…
To succeed like Apple, companies need to understand more deeply the consumer they are targeting. Apple recognizes that it can't have everyone as its customer. It is willing to alienate some segments by appealing to a strong core of people that sociologists refer to as the Cultural Creatives. These are the people who wait in line overnight for the latest iPod, iPhone, or the iPad. Focusing on the Cultural Creatives in turn attracts followers who might not otherwise trust the brand.
[The concept is presented in the book The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World (2000), where the authors claim to have found that 50 million adult Americans who can now be identified as belonging to this group. They estimated that there were an additional 80 to 90 million Cultural Creatives in Europe as of 2000.]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Creatives
Observe the next 10 people you see on the street with an iPod and ask your self how many of them represent the Cultural Creatives featured in Apple's advertising.
One, may be two?
Address your core audience… and the rest will follow. That's how you sell 10 million iPods in one quarter.
In the hands of an artful company like Apple, design is the vehicle for driving meaningful, relevant experiences that are authentic to the brand. It's not about paring product lines or making cool stuff. Done right, design can add value to the bottom line and the brand. However, design done right goes beyond the appearance and behavior of the object itself. It takes the entire product ecosystem into consideration. Design done right sees technology as an enabler, not just the solution.
Apple creates holistic experiences that inspire customers, strategic partners like accessory manufacturers, and content providers to build up the platform. Apple understands: “It's not about market share. It's about mind share.”
There are two ways to reach this group of prospective Microvision customers... the first is by more frequent e-mails… and the second is more organized, like the formation of “PicoP Green Machine User’s Group”. With that as a means to reach out and touch, you could hold the interest and engage your core Cultural Creatives… in exchange for latest news or sneak-peak at the technology that could save the Planet Earth.
You know what I mean? You get the idea!
It doesn’t cost you anything and it can build your e-mail list very quickly. Think “Obama” every time you want to reach out and touch millions in a hurry.
The foresight to go live with your Blog “The Diaplayground” was an excellent idea in this internet driven world… and the timing could not be any better. Perfect stroke of genius!
However, there is total lack of response to visitor posts at your Blog site… and that is the second issue.
I expect customers, investors, vendors and competitors to dominate the ranks of visitors that lurk The Displayground.
As investors, we are a fickle bunch and our Blog posts tend to be skewed towards topics that effect our financial investment in Microvision. We tend to be long term investors but the current volatility can be devastating… and as such, we doubt our good judgment from time to time. Sometimes our questions may be direct, inquiring, frustrating, out-of-line, etc. Some of us, at times, can’t say what we mean or mean what we say. However, we mean no disrespect, malice or harm. Now, with your corporate governance legal frame work in place, your team may or may not respond to [or even publish] our comments from time to time. We would understand your position in such a situation. However, there are ways to answer a comment, without violating legal rules and regulations, and still maintain the flow of dialog with the Blog participant.
I guess it all goes back to: “the beginning of openness and sharing of the truth with integrity and trust.”
Openness and sharing truth with integrity are important to investors… both large and small.
Anant Goel
PS: "Strive for simplicity, innovation, human-centered interaction, visual interest, and efficiency." This is the calling card for all businesses for the future.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Microvision: Pico Projector Consumer is Well and Alive
Economists and investors cheered the 2nd Qtr 2010 earnings results from Apple Inc. (AAPL), saying it was a sign that the global consumer is alive and well. The company sold a mind boggling 2.94 million Mac PCs, 10.89 million iPods, and close to 8.75 million iPhones in a three-month time span. And these numbers do not include the 3 million iPads sold since April.
First, here’re the Apple numbers for the 2nd Qtr 2010…
• Total sales: $13.5 billion, up 48.6% year over year
• Earnings: $3.33 per share. up 86%
• Profit: $3.07 billion, up 89.5%
• Mac sales: 2.94 million units, up 33%
• iPhone sales: 8.75 million units, up 131%
• iPod sales: 10.89 million units, down 1%
• iPod touch sales: up 66%; iPod revenue up 12%
• Apple store visitors: 47 million in 286 retail outlets, up 20%
• Gross margin: 41.7%, up from 39.9% last year
• Cash and marketable securities: $41.7 billion, up $1.9 billion since December
• Guidance for the third fiscal quarter: revenue between $13 and $13.4 billion, EPS between $2.28 and $2.39, gross margin 36%
Wow, that doesn’t sound like a recession. But is that really good news or is there something unnerving about all that spending in this harsh recession that we should be concerned about?
Could it be that people spent money in a haphazard manner? Or they spent money [just to keep-up with the Jones] when they really should have been saving?
Either way, I expect the laser based PicoP Projector to follow the same buying pattern as the iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
[Note: Just to be sure we are on the same page; let me qualify that statement with a caveat… it’s the first second half of 2011 that I’m talking about; when the green lasers have become plentiful and their price has come down significantly from the current levels.]
Here’s a story [that I read somewhere] to explain why…
“In the 1970s, Harlem was one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation, but it was a money making machine for people selling expensive clothes, sneakers, and cars. Before it opened, there was much concern that a McDonald’s in the hood would be an abject failure.
As it turns out, the first McDonald’s in Harlem became the number one selling restaurant for the chain in the entire world for years. Back then, there were street vendors who lived in the community and the money they made circulated among the people that earned it. However, for the most part it was like there was a giant vacuum cleaning hose sucking up all disposable, and not-so-disposable, money out of the hood.
Nothing was more peculiar than the need to own “Air Jordan” sneakers. Mothers that scrubbed floors for minimum wage had to drop $200 to make sure their children fit-in and were part of the hip crowd. Households that sustained themselves on welfare checks also felt the same pressure. Demand for these overpriced shoes never waned even after waves of violence, even murder, was being committed to own them. It was the ultimate status symbol, one that made you cool and one that also made you a potential candidate for the morgue. It was American consumerism at its best. It brought out what John Maynard Keynes called “animal spirits.” The desire to own these ultra expensive sneakers also brought out what sociologists might also brand “animal spirits”, too.
After fueling the growth of the world for decades, it is clear that the American consumer is now struggling. One lesson we’ve all learned over the years is that prosperity can be fleeting. In fact, in a blink of an eye it seems like all of our wealth vanished and somehow landed in China. It’s such a fascinating reversal of fortunes, but it underscores the notion of fiscal prudence. Those “Air Jordan” sneakers that were all the rage in Harlem were made by peasants in China whose annual income was so small they couldn’t afford to live [in Harlem] for one week. China isn’t the financial juggernaut it is because there are 1.3 billion people there; the cheap labor source of the world belies the notion of becoming wealthy. Their secret was saving. Saving money for years, living on the bare minimum, fixated on the future.
With that in mind, iPods, iPhones, and iPads are today’s “Air Jordan” sneakers… hip, stylish, and must have gadgets… but not a necessity.
Stuff We (don’t) Need but Must Have:
Ironically, the Pew Research Center released its latest survey on things that the public believes are necessities. The results are somewhat shocking. There were huge percentage decreases for clothes dryers, home air conditioning (maybe it will be higher in July than April), television sets, and microwaves. In fact, there were only a few items listed that more people believe are necessities now versus 2006. High speed internet access increased 2%, but only 31% said it was a necessity. Flat screen televisions increased the most, up 3%. Then, there were those iPods, again, increasing 1% to 4%. Like many surveys, much could be made of the results. On one hand, it could suggest less materialism.
But this list isn’t about chasing the Jones; rather it’s about basic stuff that is within reach of most Americans… like iPods, iPhones, and iPads. There is no doubt that income, or lack thereof, played a major role as respondents are certainly feeling the pinch. A whopping 57% said that they’ve bought less expensive brands or shopped more at discount stores… this is evident in the moves of stocks such as Family Dollar Store, 99 Cents Only Stores, and CitiTrends. Perhaps a silver lining is the 28% that said they’ve cut back on alcohol and cigarettes.
Here’s the link to Pew Research Center survey database…
http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/395.pdf
There are so many other things people are doing to adjust to their current circumstances. The sharp decline in what people think they need, however, is remarkable. Maybe there is something else afoot in this story.
Still, there is another way to look at the results. In some ways I believe that people may be taking many things for granted… things like iPods, iPhones, and iPads. I kind of lean that way, and it’s not just that we think an air conditioner is less important but some people think we don’t need more ships and jet fighters to protect us. Heck, this weekend we fired up the air conditioners in our house. If asked a week earlier I may have been inclined to say air conditioning wasn’t a necessity, but after a two hour bike ride in the blazing sun I felt like a walking volcano and at that moment the ice cube maker and AC were right up there with Guttenberg’s printing press as the greatest inventions ever.
One of the side effects of a horrific economic slide is a sense of defeat as well. However, we can’t be so down in the dumps as to become vulnerable to so many things, including the shifting away from the things that made the nation great in the first place… our innovation and the high tech industry to fuel the future prosperity.”
Yes, I do expect to see the global consumers buying millions upon millions of more iPods, iPhones, iPads… and of course, the PicoP projectors.
The next popular product categories that integrate PicoP projectors would be fixed and mobile computing devices, and a whole range of multi-functional consumer electronic products such as smartphones, digital photo frames, personal media players, digital cameras, and digital camcorders.
“As mobile devices add more multimedia capabilities, embedded picoprojectors can add a big-screen experience to a very small device,” said David Chamberlain, Author of the report and Principal Analyst, Cellular Devices, Mobile Consumer and Mobile Video Services, In-Stat.
In-Stat found that illumination technologies are rapidly and continuously evolving by the day with manufacturers able to produce and supply Light Emitting Diodes (LED’s) and green lasers, and that the demand for such gizmos integrated within other devices will be so huge that the volumes will easily drive down modular costs to the extent that pico projectors will become part and parcel of billions of relatively low cost cell phones and media players.
“Technological advances in miniaturization, signal processing, and light sources—including green laser—are making pico projectors a realistic feature for small battery powered devices like cell phones, media players, computing devices, and other consumer electronics,” said Chamberlain.
The future for pico projectors is guaranteed since there is evidence of consumers willing to pay more for additional technologies such as good quality cameras, reported TMCnet, to be included in a single hand held mobile device.
Anant Goel
[Edited By]
First, here’re the Apple numbers for the 2nd Qtr 2010…
• Total sales: $13.5 billion, up 48.6% year over year
• Earnings: $3.33 per share. up 86%
• Profit: $3.07 billion, up 89.5%
• Mac sales: 2.94 million units, up 33%
• iPhone sales: 8.75 million units, up 131%
• iPod sales: 10.89 million units, down 1%
• iPod touch sales: up 66%; iPod revenue up 12%
• Apple store visitors: 47 million in 286 retail outlets, up 20%
• Gross margin: 41.7%, up from 39.9% last year
• Cash and marketable securities: $41.7 billion, up $1.9 billion since December
• Guidance for the third fiscal quarter: revenue between $13 and $13.4 billion, EPS between $2.28 and $2.39, gross margin 36%
Wow, that doesn’t sound like a recession. But is that really good news or is there something unnerving about all that spending in this harsh recession that we should be concerned about?
Could it be that people spent money in a haphazard manner? Or they spent money [just to keep-up with the Jones] when they really should have been saving?
Either way, I expect the laser based PicoP Projector to follow the same buying pattern as the iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
[Note: Just to be sure we are on the same page; let me qualify that statement with a caveat… it’s the first second half of 2011 that I’m talking about; when the green lasers have become plentiful and their price has come down significantly from the current levels.]
Here’s a story [that I read somewhere] to explain why…
“In the 1970s, Harlem was one of the poorest neighborhoods in the nation, but it was a money making machine for people selling expensive clothes, sneakers, and cars. Before it opened, there was much concern that a McDonald’s in the hood would be an abject failure.
As it turns out, the first McDonald’s in Harlem became the number one selling restaurant for the chain in the entire world for years. Back then, there were street vendors who lived in the community and the money they made circulated among the people that earned it. However, for the most part it was like there was a giant vacuum cleaning hose sucking up all disposable, and not-so-disposable, money out of the hood.
Nothing was more peculiar than the need to own “Air Jordan” sneakers. Mothers that scrubbed floors for minimum wage had to drop $200 to make sure their children fit-in and were part of the hip crowd. Households that sustained themselves on welfare checks also felt the same pressure. Demand for these overpriced shoes never waned even after waves of violence, even murder, was being committed to own them. It was the ultimate status symbol, one that made you cool and one that also made you a potential candidate for the morgue. It was American consumerism at its best. It brought out what John Maynard Keynes called “animal spirits.” The desire to own these ultra expensive sneakers also brought out what sociologists might also brand “animal spirits”, too.
After fueling the growth of the world for decades, it is clear that the American consumer is now struggling. One lesson we’ve all learned over the years is that prosperity can be fleeting. In fact, in a blink of an eye it seems like all of our wealth vanished and somehow landed in China. It’s such a fascinating reversal of fortunes, but it underscores the notion of fiscal prudence. Those “Air Jordan” sneakers that were all the rage in Harlem were made by peasants in China whose annual income was so small they couldn’t afford to live [in Harlem] for one week. China isn’t the financial juggernaut it is because there are 1.3 billion people there; the cheap labor source of the world belies the notion of becoming wealthy. Their secret was saving. Saving money for years, living on the bare minimum, fixated on the future.
With that in mind, iPods, iPhones, and iPads are today’s “Air Jordan” sneakers… hip, stylish, and must have gadgets… but not a necessity.
Stuff We (don’t) Need but Must Have:
Ironically, the Pew Research Center released its latest survey on things that the public believes are necessities. The results are somewhat shocking. There were huge percentage decreases for clothes dryers, home air conditioning (maybe it will be higher in July than April), television sets, and microwaves. In fact, there were only a few items listed that more people believe are necessities now versus 2006. High speed internet access increased 2%, but only 31% said it was a necessity. Flat screen televisions increased the most, up 3%. Then, there were those iPods, again, increasing 1% to 4%. Like many surveys, much could be made of the results. On one hand, it could suggest less materialism.
But this list isn’t about chasing the Jones; rather it’s about basic stuff that is within reach of most Americans… like iPods, iPhones, and iPads. There is no doubt that income, or lack thereof, played a major role as respondents are certainly feeling the pinch. A whopping 57% said that they’ve bought less expensive brands or shopped more at discount stores… this is evident in the moves of stocks such as Family Dollar Store, 99 Cents Only Stores, and CitiTrends. Perhaps a silver lining is the 28% that said they’ve cut back on alcohol and cigarettes.
Here’s the link to Pew Research Center survey database…
http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/395.pdf
There are so many other things people are doing to adjust to their current circumstances. The sharp decline in what people think they need, however, is remarkable. Maybe there is something else afoot in this story.
Still, there is another way to look at the results. In some ways I believe that people may be taking many things for granted… things like iPods, iPhones, and iPads. I kind of lean that way, and it’s not just that we think an air conditioner is less important but some people think we don’t need more ships and jet fighters to protect us. Heck, this weekend we fired up the air conditioners in our house. If asked a week earlier I may have been inclined to say air conditioning wasn’t a necessity, but after a two hour bike ride in the blazing sun I felt like a walking volcano and at that moment the ice cube maker and AC were right up there with Guttenberg’s printing press as the greatest inventions ever.
One of the side effects of a horrific economic slide is a sense of defeat as well. However, we can’t be so down in the dumps as to become vulnerable to so many things, including the shifting away from the things that made the nation great in the first place… our innovation and the high tech industry to fuel the future prosperity.”
Yes, I do expect to see the global consumers buying millions upon millions of more iPods, iPhones, iPads… and of course, the PicoP projectors.
The next popular product categories that integrate PicoP projectors would be fixed and mobile computing devices, and a whole range of multi-functional consumer electronic products such as smartphones, digital photo frames, personal media players, digital cameras, and digital camcorders.
“As mobile devices add more multimedia capabilities, embedded picoprojectors can add a big-screen experience to a very small device,” said David Chamberlain, Author of the report and Principal Analyst, Cellular Devices, Mobile Consumer and Mobile Video Services, In-Stat.
In-Stat found that illumination technologies are rapidly and continuously evolving by the day with manufacturers able to produce and supply Light Emitting Diodes (LED’s) and green lasers, and that the demand for such gizmos integrated within other devices will be so huge that the volumes will easily drive down modular costs to the extent that pico projectors will become part and parcel of billions of relatively low cost cell phones and media players.
“Technological advances in miniaturization, signal processing, and light sources—including green laser—are making pico projectors a realistic feature for small battery powered devices like cell phones, media players, computing devices, and other consumer electronics,” said Chamberlain.
The future for pico projectors is guaranteed since there is evidence of consumers willing to pay more for additional technologies such as good quality cameras, reported TMCnet, to be included in a single hand held mobile device.
Anant Goel
[Edited By]
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Microvision: SHOWwx Grabs [and some more] Macworld Expo 2010 “Best of Show” Award
That’s right... we got it... we’re not hot... we’re so cool.
But first, let’s get the “... Macworld Expo 2010 Best of Show Award” part out of the way.
In the words of Matt Nichols of Microvision; comes the first coverage of his exciting news at the company’s blog site The Displayground...
Microvision’s SHOWwx Grabs Macworld Expo 2010 “Best of Show” Award
February 12th, 2010
by Matt Nichols
The New Year may be young, but SHOWWX already has earned three big industry awards in 2010, we’re proud to report.
In addition to the Last Gadget Standing and Innovation awards at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, SHOWWX took away top honors as a “Best of Show” winner at the Macworld 2010 conference this week at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Estimated attendance is in the 30K+ range by the show organizers. So, while attendance may be down from the high a few years ago, this is still a very active show. The Macworld Best of Show awards, selected by the editors of Macworld, are given to the best products, innovations and upgrades.
Only a few companies — Microvision among them — were chosen to spotlight award-winning products on the Main Stage during “Macworld DEMO: Best of Show.” This was a feature presentation for conference attendees, in front of about 1,000 people on Thursday morning. Myself, Ben Averch and Nick Andron gave the SHOWWX pitch and demo on stage. It was exhilarating to listen to the ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ of delight from the audience when we turned the projector on! Here’s just one of the many blogs about the event, entitled: Six Products To Watch From MacWorld.
Active link: http://mashable.com/2010/02/11/macworld-best-of-show/
It’s also been very busy in the Microvision booth during the first day of the exhibitions, and many conference attendees are excited to hear that the product is planned to arrive in the U.S. for distribution in the March time frame.
If you are in the San Francisco area, come visit us at booth #1486.
http://www.microvision.com/displayground/
Now let’s look at a few facts to see what this Macworld Expo 2010 “Best of Show” award means to Microvision...
• There are over 120 million Apple users worldwide... 20+ million Mac users... 100+ million iPod and iPhone users. Not only that, Mac and Apple consumer product owners tend to very devoted to Apple; unlike the PC product owners that are very fragmented just like the PC industry itself. Remember, there is only one Apple whereas there are thousands of PC manufactures of all shape and sizes. So, when you grab the “Best of Show” at Macworld Expo 2010, you surly are going to get some serious attention, sooner or later, from the Apple user community worldwide. Millions of those from the Apple cult will become buyers of SHOWwx and quite possibly also become the investors of Microvision stock MVIS.
• Millions of Apple user eyeballs get the opportunity to see what makes laser based PicoP projector a compelling companion product for the iPod, iPhone, iPad and the Mac. Immediate attention that SHOWwx receives during the MacWorld Expo 2010 will be nothing compared to the slow sizzle that would spread throughout the Apple user community in the months to come. This is just the beginning, wait till we get to the embedded PicoP Display Engine part in 2nd Qtr of 2010 with dozens of applications catering to the worldwide Apple user community. It will be a real sizzler!
• For those Apple users that may be somewhat familiar with pico projectors, it could mean a wake-up call to SHOWwx as a better choice pico projector compared to other technologies currently being offered.
Microvision Stock Reacts Positively to the News:
We saw the immediate stock price reaction to this news, in the form of new investors taking long position in MVIS stock, about the same time [11:40 am PST or 2:40pm EST] when Microvision got its turn to make the of SHOWwx presentation to the 1,000 or so present at the live Expo 2010 Main Stage.
“At about 2:40 pm EST [11:40 am PST] MVIS stock moved very quickly from $2.07 to $2.22 and closed the day at $2.24... the new high for the day."
Here’s the link to the stock chart...
http://www.google.com/finance?client=ig&q=MVIS
This is the part that most of us may or may not realize...
The next day on Friday, following the “Best of Show” award on Thursday, the MVIS stock kept moving higher... while the rest of the market stayed down over 100 pts on the Dow most of the day. At the end of the day, MVIS closed at $2.55... that’s 31 cents higher on the day while the rest of the market closed lower.
The MacWorld Expo continues for another day on Saturday. Then on Monday, it’s a holiday for President’s Day. In other words, there is much more pent-up demand building for MVIS stock during the long weekend of due diligence from thousands of Apple devotees. Tuesday, when the market opens, it will be a very interesting day for the long investors of Microvision stock.
Microvision stock is an opportunity of a lifetime in our lifetime.
Here’s the link to part 5 of the story...
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/11/microvision-opportunity-of-lifetime-in.html
[Warning: There are four more parts to this story. I know brevity is a virtue... but I didn’t learn that lesson until recently]
Once this “opportunity of a lifetime...” part sinks-in the minds of thousands of Apple investors and consumers, we could see the MVIS stock move back-up to its glory days of over $3.28 in the next few days.
Also, there is confluence of evidence that Microvision will launch its laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx in the US market sometime in the month of March. It is also evident that SHOWwx will be sold directly from Microvision website... perhaps as an addendum to the existing corporate web site currently at...
http://www.microvision.com/
Over the last few days, there have been several favorable [to Microvision] news events and they are worthy of mention.... and that will be the subject of my next post.
Enjoy the recovery because it is sustainable; and is a clear skies evidence of superior PicoP technology that not only validates Microvision’s business model but is also a prerequisite to becoming a true financial success.
Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/
But first, let’s get the “... Macworld Expo 2010 Best of Show Award” part out of the way.
In the words of Matt Nichols of Microvision; comes the first coverage of his exciting news at the company’s blog site The Displayground...
Microvision’s SHOWwx Grabs Macworld Expo 2010 “Best of Show” Award
February 12th, 2010
by Matt Nichols
The New Year may be young, but SHOWWX already has earned three big industry awards in 2010, we’re proud to report.
In addition to the Last Gadget Standing and Innovation awards at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month, SHOWWX took away top honors as a “Best of Show” winner at the Macworld 2010 conference this week at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Estimated attendance is in the 30K+ range by the show organizers. So, while attendance may be down from the high a few years ago, this is still a very active show. The Macworld Best of Show awards, selected by the editors of Macworld, are given to the best products, innovations and upgrades.
Only a few companies — Microvision among them — were chosen to spotlight award-winning products on the Main Stage during “Macworld DEMO: Best of Show.” This was a feature presentation for conference attendees, in front of about 1,000 people on Thursday morning. Myself, Ben Averch and Nick Andron gave the SHOWWX pitch and demo on stage. It was exhilarating to listen to the ‘ooohs’ and ‘ahhhs’ of delight from the audience when we turned the projector on! Here’s just one of the many blogs about the event, entitled: Six Products To Watch From MacWorld.
Active link: http://mashable.com/2010/02/11/macworld-best-of-show/
It’s also been very busy in the Microvision booth during the first day of the exhibitions, and many conference attendees are excited to hear that the product is planned to arrive in the U.S. for distribution in the March time frame.
If you are in the San Francisco area, come visit us at booth #1486.
*****
Here’s the link...http://www.microvision.com/displayground/
Now let’s look at a few facts to see what this Macworld Expo 2010 “Best of Show” award means to Microvision...
• There are over 120 million Apple users worldwide... 20+ million Mac users... 100+ million iPod and iPhone users. Not only that, Mac and Apple consumer product owners tend to very devoted to Apple; unlike the PC product owners that are very fragmented just like the PC industry itself. Remember, there is only one Apple whereas there are thousands of PC manufactures of all shape and sizes. So, when you grab the “Best of Show” at Macworld Expo 2010, you surly are going to get some serious attention, sooner or later, from the Apple user community worldwide. Millions of those from the Apple cult will become buyers of SHOWwx and quite possibly also become the investors of Microvision stock MVIS.
• Millions of Apple user eyeballs get the opportunity to see what makes laser based PicoP projector a compelling companion product for the iPod, iPhone, iPad and the Mac. Immediate attention that SHOWwx receives during the MacWorld Expo 2010 will be nothing compared to the slow sizzle that would spread throughout the Apple user community in the months to come. This is just the beginning, wait till we get to the embedded PicoP Display Engine part in 2nd Qtr of 2010 with dozens of applications catering to the worldwide Apple user community. It will be a real sizzler!
• For those Apple users that may be somewhat familiar with pico projectors, it could mean a wake-up call to SHOWwx as a better choice pico projector compared to other technologies currently being offered.
Microvision Stock Reacts Positively to the News:
We saw the immediate stock price reaction to this news, in the form of new investors taking long position in MVIS stock, about the same time [11:40 am PST or 2:40pm EST] when Microvision got its turn to make the of SHOWwx presentation to the 1,000 or so present at the live Expo 2010 Main Stage.
“At about 2:40 pm EST [11:40 am PST] MVIS stock moved very quickly from $2.07 to $2.22 and closed the day at $2.24... the new high for the day."
Here’s the link to the stock chart...
http://www.google.com/finance?client=ig&q=MVIS
This is the part that most of us may or may not realize...
The next day on Friday, following the “Best of Show” award on Thursday, the MVIS stock kept moving higher... while the rest of the market stayed down over 100 pts on the Dow most of the day. At the end of the day, MVIS closed at $2.55... that’s 31 cents higher on the day while the rest of the market closed lower.
The MacWorld Expo continues for another day on Saturday. Then on Monday, it’s a holiday for President’s Day. In other words, there is much more pent-up demand building for MVIS stock during the long weekend of due diligence from thousands of Apple devotees. Tuesday, when the market opens, it will be a very interesting day for the long investors of Microvision stock.
Microvision stock is an opportunity of a lifetime in our lifetime.
Here’s the link to part 5 of the story...
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/11/microvision-opportunity-of-lifetime-in.html
[Warning: There are four more parts to this story. I know brevity is a virtue... but I didn’t learn that lesson until recently]
Once this “opportunity of a lifetime...” part sinks-in the minds of thousands of Apple investors and consumers, we could see the MVIS stock move back-up to its glory days of over $3.28 in the next few days.
Also, there is confluence of evidence that Microvision will launch its laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx in the US market sometime in the month of March. It is also evident that SHOWwx will be sold directly from Microvision website... perhaps as an addendum to the existing corporate web site currently at...
http://www.microvision.com/
Over the last few days, there have been several favorable [to Microvision] news events and they are worthy of mention.... and that will be the subject of my next post.
Enjoy the recovery because it is sustainable; and is a clear skies evidence of superior PicoP technology that not only validates Microvision’s business model but is also a prerequisite to becoming a true financial success.
Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Microvision: Opportunity of a Lifetime… in our Lifetime (Part 5)
The cost of missing out can be greater than the cost of messing up.
“The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity.” …Leonard Ravenhill
From time to time, during the course of our lives, we are granted the "opportunity of a lifetime. It's a chance that doesn't come our way very often, and usually one that would result in enormous financial benefits to us… if we can manage to get hold of it before it fades away.
Here’s the REASON #5… to not let this opportunity pass you by and why you should quickly reposition your assets now…
Microvision: Paradigm Shift “Atoms” to “Bits”
No, this article is not about breaking Atoms into Bits… like in nuclear fission.
It is, however, all about the next wave of change, a paradigm shift, where real physical things [made-up of Atoms] are giving way to virtual things that physically don’t exist but function equally well with interweaved streams of bits, bytes, electrons and photons.
Consider this…
The Internet and mobile networks have reached a critical mass in terms of adoption, ease and speed of access, and data and financial security. This critical mass is now forging the next wave of change or a paradigm shift called “Atoms” to “Bits”. In the last few years, as you may have noticed, physical things [made up of Atoms] are giving way to electrons, photons and bits & bytes… in more of our every day activities and lives.
Some examples would be: comparison shopping on-line from virtual stores and paying by credit cards; on-line prescriptions; accessing & retrieving information on-line; banking and paying bills on-line; communications and information exchange on-line; rich text and video e-mails; on-line advertising and promotions; podcast & webcast; webinars and distant learning from virtual universities; telecommuting, teleconferencing and video conferencing; streaming videos in place of DVDs; on-line brokerage and virtual trading platforms; electronic buying and selling commodity exchanges, etc.
I think you get the idea. This paradigm shift has been underway for a while… but it is only recently [in the last three to four years] that it’s having a profound impact on brick & mortar type businesses. The on-line B2B and B2C business has grown from a few billion dollars a year to hundreds of billions of dollars in year 2009. And at the rate we are going, further technological enhancements in Internet, mobile networks, RGB lasers, nano technologies, augmented reality and automation will further increase the virtual commerce to over a trillion dollars in a short few years.
The paradigm shift from “Atoms” to “Bits”, as I call it, will be detrimental to many traditional businesses that still maintain monolithic physical presence and hang-on to the old business model in spite of visible signs of change and the resultant demand destruction for many traditional products and services. When you consider the impact of rising operating costs, higher taxes, rising fuel cost and higher costs of raw materials of all kind… you have the making of a witch’s brew that is sure to knock out any business that fails to change with the times. Those companies that recognize the evolution of Internet; mobile networks; augmented reality; nano technology; dramatic shift to virtual commerce; and automation ─ and have the vision to recognize its far-reaching impact on traditional business models, can capitalize from the revolution and not be its victim.
Blockbuster is a good example, shutting down stores and developing new alliances with cable operators. Rite-Aid looks like a bankruptcy candidate… unless they find a way to improve their balance sheet. And how about those high vacancy rates in malls, shopping centers and the ever so declining foot traffic of shoppers into such establishments?
Companies that fail to embrace the Real Time nature of globally connected New World Economy of the Internet and mobile networks will slowly disappear… cut down to nothing by the competition… or be acquired at massive discounts.
Massive changes are taking place in the way business is done, customers are acquired and served, financial transactions are conducted, risk is managed, and investments are made today. You can embrace the changes and go with the flow, to capitalize and gain from it, or be a victim of the change itself. Choices are simple but the impact will be massive. The real time information, traveling at the speed of light to billion(s) of informed and educated potential customers, consumers and investors around the globe, can very quickly take your company to higher levels of financial success or, on the flip side, simply cut it down to size forever.
The subject of this post, paradigm shift from Atoms to Bits, is not only complex but is very broad in nature and it’s not my intent to discuss it here at any great detail in this forum. However, I do intend to discuss two major changes that are taking place right under our noses… and directly impact our investment in companies like Microvision and Apple...
Change #1: Computer laptops are taking over and dominating the PC world. Every year the laptop adoption rates have grown dramatically over their desktop brethren. IDC predicts the number of worldwide mobile workers will reach 1 billion─ including nearly 75% of the U.S. workforce ─ by the end of 2011. Is your company prepared for this shift in the mobile workforce? Download this new report to see what IDC has to say about mobile worker population trends, forecasts and technology recommendations.
Here’ the link…
http://whitepapers.silicon.com/0,39024759,60431682p,00.htm
Notebook Computers: It is well known that the screen size [of billion strong mobile workforce using laptops] is one of the main determining factors in laptop form-factor design. Vendors and consumers alike are pulled in opposite directions: Make the computer smaller, but improve screen readability. Adding mobile projection allows for smaller form factor design while providing a large screen display when desired. The market size for pico projectors, therefore, is huge to the tune of over a billion units world-wide.
Change #2: We already know the ubiquitous nature of the Internet, the laptops and mobile phones around the world. However, what we may not know that there is yet another mega change taking place right under our noses…
The mobile phones have become ubiquitous globally on one hand… and on the other hand we have the smartphones taking market share from the mobile phones. The billion or so a year mobile phone market is giving way to the smartphones.
• Smartphones are rapidly replacing the classic mobile phones around the globe
“Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 286.1 million units in the second quarter of 2009, a 6.1 per cent decrease from the second quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphones sales surpassed 40 million units, a 27 per cent increase from the same period last year, representing the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market.”
Here’s the link to Gartner report…
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1126812
"Smartphones sales were strong during the second quarter of 2009, with sales of 40.9 million units in line with Gartner's forecast of 27 per cent year-on-year sales growth for 2009," said Ms Milanesi. "Given the higher margins, smartphones offer the biggest opportunity for manufacturers. It is the fastest-growing market segment and the most resistant to declining ASPs."
Smartphones are feature rich mobile devices that consist of a mini-laptop with built-in mobile phone and connected to a service provider [carrier] via a broadband mobile network like the 3G. Smartphones are feature rich mobile phones and one of the key features that have plans to be offered in the high-end smartphones is a pico projector… as an accessory unit initially… followed by the embedded version in 2010. Future smartphones are expected to include, or offered as an option, a pico projector as a standard unit just like the digital camera is today.
It is my belief that in the coming short years all sorts of video devices and services will dominate our communications, collaboration, networking, entertainment and learning world.
• Pico projectors are being developed as an embedded feature in all things digital
The next popular categories that integrate pico projectors would be mobile computing [laptops] and communication [cell phones, smartphones] devices, and a whole range of multi-functional consumer electronic products such as personal media players [iPod], digital cameras, digital camcorders and Integrated Mobile TV/projectors.
Why pico projectors are such a rage all of a sudden… you may ask?
That’s a fair question and can be answered in four parts…
Part 1: Pico Projectors can add Big Screen Experience to Small Devices
Analyst, Cellular Devices, Mobile Consumer and Mobile Video Services, In-Stat: “As mobile devices add more multimedia capabilities, embedded pico projectors can add a big-screen experience to a very small device,” said David Chamberlain, Author of the report and Principal.
Part 2: Rapidly Evolving Illumination Technologies like LEDs and Green Lasers
In-Stat found that illumination technologies are rapidly and continuously evolving by the day with manufacturers able to produce and supply Light Emitting Diodes (LED’s) and green lasers, and that the demand for such gizmos integrated within other devices will be so huge that the volumes will easily drive down modular costs to the extent that Pico projectors will become part and parcel of relatively low cost cell phones, media players and other digital consumer electronic devices.
“Technological advances in miniaturization, signal processing, and light sources—including green laser—are making Pico projectors a realistic feature for small battery powered devices like cell phones, media players, computing devices, and other consumer electronics,” said Chamberlain.
Part 3: Powerful & Always Connected. Functions Rich Devices with Enhanced Visual Experience
Today, the mobile devices are ubiquitous and if you were to project out the current trends another ten years…
“You will be carrying with you, on a 24x7 basis, a very powerful, always connected, functions & sensor-rich device with enhanced visual experience… called the Smartphones. And the cool thing is, so will everyone else. So what are you going to do with it that you aren't doing now?
Before we consider the possibilities, let’s first address the ubiquity of the mobile devices and extrapolate the current trends towards the mobile phones of the future for everyone on this planet. In other words, the mobile phones of to-day will pave the path to ubiquity for Smartphones of tomorrow… and that tomorrow may be here as early as the next 10 years. And what’s good for smartphones of tomorrow is indeed good for pico projectors as an accessory of as an embedded unit.
Consider this…
As more and more consumers switch to smartphones globally, the Blackberry and iPhone are picking up market share at the expense of foreign competitors such as Nokia.
However, the good news is that the overall smartphones market is growing faster than ever. In 2008, a total of 1.2 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide, according to IDC, of which some 160 million were smartphones, or 13%. In 2013, IDC predicts that 20% of the 1.4 billion mobile phones sold will be smartphones, or 280 million.
Currently, we know what smartphones like Blackberry and iPhone offer. What we don’t know and, therefore, we can only speculate what additional functionality and features the future smartphones may offer. Here’s a list of what the future may hold in store for the consumers…
Here’s the link to my post on this very subject…
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/10/microvision-opportunity-of-lifetime-in_19.html
There is one paragraph from the post that I want you to read again…
Enhanced Visual Experience: Not too long ago, a mobile phone offered only a one-to-one viewing experience with little room for personalization and lacking the cool factor. Soon Microvision’s PicoP display engine technology will change the DNA of the phone, making it more visual, interactive and unique to the user. Taking this a step further, your cell phone will become a “one-to-many” tool, allowing us to share mobile content with groups of friends, family and colleagues. In the not-too-distant future, road warriors [the billion strong mobile workforces] will be showing presentations to a room full of colleagues via a projector accessory [SHOWwx] for their mobile phones. We have only begun to unleash the mobile visual experience.
Now, let’s take it a step further and gather some information from real life consumers that will eventually become user of enhanced communications products…
• Video vs. Other Forms of Communications: Research has shown that users prefer video communication over other forms of communication [sound, smell, touch] and video will continue to be the preferred means of all human communications.
• Users Preference for Image Quality: Research has shown that users prefer wide screen, high definition, 2D/3D video with fast refresh [without motion blur] and always in focus images for all forms of video [static, streaming, and broadcast] communications.
• User Preference for Mobility: The entire world [users and service providers] is getting into the instant gratification mode and going mobile in all forms of communications and entertainment across the globe.
• Product Features Leading to Technological Convergence: Technological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks. Today, we are surrounded by a multi-level convergent media world where all modes of communication and information are continually reforming to adapt to the enduring demands of technologies, “changing the way we create, consume, entertain, learn and interact with each other”.
Convergence in this instance is defined as the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and ubiquity of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space.
• Customers Requirements: Customers desire all digital/video devices to be low power, low cost, multi-media enabled, multi-tasking, integrated & all inclusive, easy to use, low maintenance, professionally supported and warranty serviced.
• Consumer Defined Shared vs. Private Information: Consumers desire the option [in product models or optional features] or built-in switch able flexibility in these digital/video devices to be able to switch between “shared” vs. “private” mode.
Having established the huge market size [and consumer preferences] for pico projector lets move on to identifying the leading pico projection technology that hopes to fulfill the consumer needs…
Laser based Pico display technology is superior to what’s out there right now… like DLP by Texas Instruments, LcoS by 3M and FLCOS by Micron Displaytech. The competition believed that green lasers wouldn’t be ready for years and its cost would be excessive. They also had concerns about laser projection “speckle” and laser safety issues. It is for these reasons, in my opinion, that they did not pursue the laser pico display technology path and essentially left the laser Pico technology to Microvision un-contested.
Microvision on the other hand believed in the green lasers as being the differentiating technology that would make Pico display engine as superior to LED based Pico projection technology… and also as a serious contender, in terms of quality and brightness of images, to the lamp based projection technology.
There were several hic-ups along the way. However, after three years of hard work, anxious wait for green lasers and sweating it each passing day, and 115 issued patents later, the world’s first laser based PicoP projector was commercially launched on September 15th, 2009.
Not only that, another announcement was made [on October 8th] of a major OEM purchase order as a major milestone accomplished in the history of Microvision. The stakeholders of Microvision [investors, partners and consumers] can finally take comfort in this announcement as a milestone that…
“…validates the performance and quality of our first laser projector offering. On the heels of announcing our first shipments of the SHOWwx laser pico projector, and receiving the purchase order from an international distributor, this is another significant milestone in our go-to-market strategy.” ... Alex Tokman, CEO of Microvision.
To make the matter even more interesting, another announcement was made [on October 27th] of a purchase order from a World Leading Mobile Phone Operator…
Microvision Lands Order For SHOWWX Laser Pico Projectors With World Leading Mobile Phone Operator
Press Release
Source: Microvision, Inc.
On 6:30 am EDT, Tuesday October 27, 2009
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), a global leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display and image-capture products for mobility applications, announced today that it has received an initial purchase order from its European distributor for its SHOWWX™ laser-based pico projector to be sold by one of the world’s top mobile phone operators. The initial quantities of SHOWWX are expected to be deployed within the next month in Europe and at that time more details are expected to be provided by the mobile carrier.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome our first global mobile phone operator as a SHOWWX launch customer for 2009,” stated Alexander Tokman, Microvision President and CEO. “Carriers serve as the frontline to mobile subscribers and as a result often influence mobile handset designs to include new features that delight their customers and help achieve a broader subscriber base and higher revenue per user. We believe that interest from one of the three largest carriers in the world in this application and specifically in Microvision’s PicoP® laser projection technology is an important first step towards future accessory and embedded opportunities.”
Microvision’s Made for iPod® SHOWWX laser pico projector, based on the PicoP display engine, delivers a colorful, vivid “big screen” viewing experience from a device about the size of a mobile phone. Users of the SHOWWX can also connect to other portable media players, mobile phones and notebooks to spontaneously share movies, YouTube™, photos, presentations and more with their friends, family or business associates. The SHOWWX can project images up to 200 inches across, depending on the ambient lighting conditions, without the user ever having to adjust focus.
Here’s the link to press release…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microvision-Lands-Order-For-bw-181864591.html?x=0&.v=1
We are truly at the turning point in the history of Microvision, that some may call the “validation” phase. Because, that’s what the commercial release and the three purchase orders from global consumer electronic OEMs and the World leading mobile phone operator represent as …
• Validation of Microvision’s laser based PicoP display engine technology, its quality, its reliability, and a viable commercial fabrication & production milestone.
• Validation of performance and quality of PicoP display engine at the core of the world’s first laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx.
• Validation of Corning's green laser technology, its reliability, and a viable commercial fabrication & production milestone.
• Validation of technical and performance superiority of laser based PicoP projector as compared to other two technologies on the market… like DLP from Texas Instruments and LcoS for 3M.
• Validation of consumer preference for Microvision’s PicoP projector: wide screen, high definition, longer battery life, 2D video with fast refresh without motion blur, small physical size and always in focus images for all of video [static, streaming, and broadcast] communications.
• Validation of acceptable safety standard for laser based PicoP projectors in consumer use and adoption.
• Validation of speckle as a non-issue and as virtually non-existent with Microvision’s laser based PicoP display engine.
• Validation of fundamental design flaws of Microvision competitors: low resolution images, faded colors, short battery runs, longer throw distance, and requiring constant manual focus adjustments.
• Validation of Microvision as a product company rather than just a R&D house with 115 issued patents and with many more on file.
• Validation of global consumer electronic OEMs recognizing laser based PicoP projectors as a viable and superior alternative to DLP, LcoS and FLOCS technology.
• Validation of growing demand for Pico projectors from carriers and content providers on a global basis.
• Validation of consumer demand for quality Pico projectors.
• Validation of growing demand for green lasers and the ensuing competition in green laser product arena.
Microvision is ready as a supplier of laser Pico projectors to consumers and Pico display engines to its OEM partners… and offers the best of breed Pico display technology.
Is Microvision ready for prime time SHOWwx time and worthy of your investment dollars, consider this…
Consider the RISK vs. REWARD:
First, read the transcript of the Report “The Next Big Thing”. There are 40 pages to this very well written report and will take you an hour or so to read… but it is well worth it. Here's the link...
http://www.investorsdailyedge.com/21Century/TheNextBigThing.pdf
After reading this report on Microvision stock opportunity, you will understand why the Risk vs. Reward is compelling and the stock remains a strong buy for over 100 fold increases in price per share (PPS) in the next 4 to 5 years… by the end of 2014.
Here’s why…
In any investment, it is very important to look at RISK vs. REWARD.
After having done considerable amount of research and analysis of Microvision, I would like to share the following conclusions [in a summary form]….
Stock Volatility: Over the last few weeks, both the “Historical Volatility” and “Implied Volatility” have come down gradually. Currently, the HV is 80 and the IV is 96. Looks like we now have more believers [long] than speculators [shorts] on board. Also, this stock is now part of Russell 2000/3000 and as such is subject to small cap market volatility… which has been coming down in recent weeks.
Volatility is unavoidable in small-cap investing. It can be a gut-wrenching, stress-inducing part of the small-cap investing experience, or it can be the grease that runs the profit machine. Where a 3% move in Microsoft or McDonald's would be out of the ordinary, good or bad news can routinely move small caps' share prices more than 10%. It can be tough for an investor to handle, but the determining factor is self-discipline.
• Determine your small-cap investment criteria
Small-cap investing has high -- yet manageable -- risk, at least when compared to value or income investing. Significant returns probably will not materialize early on in any individual investment. A conscious decision on one's small cap risk limit is essential. Those relying on investments for regular income should be extremely cautious with small-cap investing.
• Perform due diligence before pulling the trigger
Investors sometimes invest without understanding the company's business. Then, at the first sign of negative volatility, they finally scramble to look at the firm's financial statements. That's being reactive, not proactive. You need to understand a company before investing in it. If the stock happens to rally to unattractive levels while you're doing your research, you'll nonetheless be in a great position to buy when the stock inevitably dips. If the stock falls, you'll know more about the company and therefore be less prone to panic. Cognitive scientists have determined that uncertainty is one of the most stressful and painful emotional states. Prior due diligence reduces the element of surprise and is the most effective way of minimizing investment uncertainty.
• Due diligence does not only include checking the criteria for buying a stock. With rare exception, it should also include formulating the conditions for selling based on the stock's valuation. Because small-cap companies often have greater growth prospects than blue-chip companies, your reasons for selling a small-cap company are more apt to change
Stock Short Interest: Over the last few weeks, the short interest has gone up and now stands at 11% [8.38 million shares] of the float [63.19 million shares]. All in all, at the current low average volume per day, it will take about 10 days to cover… about 8.38 million shares short… trading 895,000 shares per day average over the last 3 months.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/shortinterests.aspx?symbol=MVIS&selected=MVIS
Stock Trading Range: For a period of four weeks [from September 21 to October 22] the stock traded over $5 in a very tight range of “$5.02 to $5.52”. We have seen some very volatile days on Wall Street in the last 10 days [from October 24 to November 4]… and the stock has come down to $3.70 and now seems to be holding at this level as a very strong support… and waiting for next announcement of news. The stock price has crossed under the 50 day moving average [at $4.50] and seems to have very strong support at $3.66 or so. This is where the stock price was before the commercial launch of SHOWwx [on September 15th] and three purchase orders in October. The reason for the stock price drop, in my opinion, is due mainly to the uncertainty associated with quantities of green lasers that are essential to fulfilling the three initial purchase orders.
Here’s the stock chart…
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=MVIS&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p22460456358
However, if you look at the P&F [point and figure] chart the stock is still in the uptrend channel with a “bullish price” of $8.31.
http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?c=MVIS,P&listNum=
Stock Holding: Institutions hold about 14.40% and the Insiders hold over 16.93% of the outstanding stock [63.19 million float on a fully diluted basis]. This means that over 68.67% of the float is held by retail investors. This is a very wide distribution of MVIS stock… a good sign for PPS support [during lean times] and PPS momentum [during good times] when institutions finally wake-up and come looking to take position in the MVIS stock directly… or decide to invest aggressively in small cap stocks indexed by Russell 2000/3000.
Short Term Risk [next four weeks]: Over the next four weeks [up until the announcement of the European mobile phone carrier] the stock PPS could trade in tight range of $3.65 to $3.80… but hopefully does not trade any lower than $3.37. This is the short term risk to PPS… mainly due to lack of news or release of any significant news over the next few weeks.
Mid Term Risk [next 2 Qtrs]: There is a very strong possibility that an additional OEM contract [and purchase order] and increased quantities of SHOWwx shipments will be announced on a monthly basis from hereon. In such a case, the PPS may just take-off to new highs for the year and not look back. As we know, there is more demand for Microvision’s pico projector SHOWwx than the supply of green lasers and that bodes well for the mid term future… as there could be monthly announcements of OEM contracts and agreements for rest of the year 2010.
Two of the supply chain issues could be “green laser cost” and “green laser volume production”. Feasibility and product development of the various PicoP display engine components is not an issue. The issue [if any] could be with the price and mass production of green lasers from Corning. The supply chain issue is real and has affected the full blown end of summer 2009 commercial product launch. The delay in large quantity shipments, however, may be short and you could see quick recovery in PPS… as the second green laser supplier Osram comes on board in the next few weeks.
Also, there is a strong possibility that the company may be selling some more shares to fund its short term cash flow needs beyond June 2010… in case there is cash flow short fall from sale of products and services. That’s the mid-term risk… but I will take it with a smile.
Long Term Risk [over 2 years]: If the company can fast track the volume production of PicoP display engines and SHOWwx laser projectors to a few million units a year [the good case scenario] or survives the “hostile” take-over attempt in the mid-term [precipitated as a result of major supply chain issues], there is no long term issue… because the market is huge and the company has leadership position in four (4) different product categories.
Reward: For those who understand the company’s — business model; the various products; the size [and the pull] of the captive world wide market— the rewards are phenomenal.
Five years from now in 2014, the stock could easily trade in the $300 to $500 range. Here’s an educated projection…
• Worldwide Market Size: 2 billion units [cell phones, laptops, smartphones, iPods, iPhones, camcorders, digital cameras, mobile TV/Projectors etc.]
• Worldwide Market Size: 1 billion units [wearable see thru displays]
• Market Adoption Rate: 10%... 300 million units
• Microvision Market share: 15% of 300 million units… 45 million units
• OEM price: $90 per PicoP display engine
• Revenue: $4 billion
• Net Profit Margin: 40%
• Net Profit: $1.6 billion
• EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization: $1.5 billion [with operating expenses at $100 million]
• Interest Expense: $0 million
• Interest Income: $20 million
• Tax: $220million
• Depreciation: non cash and very small
• Amortization: non cash and very small
• Net Operating Income: $1.3 billion
• Earning Per Share: $13 on a fully diluted basis [100 million shares]
• Price Earning Ratio: 30 for a hyper growth company
• Price Per Share: $390 per share
In my book, the “Risk” is insignificant [may be 2% per year interest in treasury bills as the lost opportunity] as compared to the potential of making 100 times your money in the next year 4 to 5 years… and that is on top of 5 times the money you have already made if you aggressively bought MVIS stock [at 80 cents] when recommended in March 2009.
Alex Tokman, CEO of Microvision, said in his March 6th earnings conference call: "the market demand for PicoP display engines will be larger than the supply."
Here’s the link to Microvision web site…
http://www.microvision.com/
This projection for 2014 could actually be low compared to the reality of the market place that will start to un-fold in the months ahead.
Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/
“The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity.” …Leonard Ravenhill
From time to time, during the course of our lives, we are granted the "opportunity of a lifetime. It's a chance that doesn't come our way very often, and usually one that would result in enormous financial benefits to us… if we can manage to get hold of it before it fades away.
Here’s the REASON #5… to not let this opportunity pass you by and why you should quickly reposition your assets now…
Microvision: Paradigm Shift “Atoms” to “Bits”
No, this article is not about breaking Atoms into Bits… like in nuclear fission.
It is, however, all about the next wave of change, a paradigm shift, where real physical things [made-up of Atoms] are giving way to virtual things that physically don’t exist but function equally well with interweaved streams of bits, bytes, electrons and photons.
Consider this…
The Internet and mobile networks have reached a critical mass in terms of adoption, ease and speed of access, and data and financial security. This critical mass is now forging the next wave of change or a paradigm shift called “Atoms” to “Bits”. In the last few years, as you may have noticed, physical things [made up of Atoms] are giving way to electrons, photons and bits & bytes… in more of our every day activities and lives.
Some examples would be: comparison shopping on-line from virtual stores and paying by credit cards; on-line prescriptions; accessing & retrieving information on-line; banking and paying bills on-line; communications and information exchange on-line; rich text and video e-mails; on-line advertising and promotions; podcast & webcast; webinars and distant learning from virtual universities; telecommuting, teleconferencing and video conferencing; streaming videos in place of DVDs; on-line brokerage and virtual trading platforms; electronic buying and selling commodity exchanges, etc.
I think you get the idea. This paradigm shift has been underway for a while… but it is only recently [in the last three to four years] that it’s having a profound impact on brick & mortar type businesses. The on-line B2B and B2C business has grown from a few billion dollars a year to hundreds of billions of dollars in year 2009. And at the rate we are going, further technological enhancements in Internet, mobile networks, RGB lasers, nano technologies, augmented reality and automation will further increase the virtual commerce to over a trillion dollars in a short few years.
The paradigm shift from “Atoms” to “Bits”, as I call it, will be detrimental to many traditional businesses that still maintain monolithic physical presence and hang-on to the old business model in spite of visible signs of change and the resultant demand destruction for many traditional products and services. When you consider the impact of rising operating costs, higher taxes, rising fuel cost and higher costs of raw materials of all kind… you have the making of a witch’s brew that is sure to knock out any business that fails to change with the times. Those companies that recognize the evolution of Internet; mobile networks; augmented reality; nano technology; dramatic shift to virtual commerce; and automation ─ and have the vision to recognize its far-reaching impact on traditional business models, can capitalize from the revolution and not be its victim.
Blockbuster is a good example, shutting down stores and developing new alliances with cable operators. Rite-Aid looks like a bankruptcy candidate… unless they find a way to improve their balance sheet. And how about those high vacancy rates in malls, shopping centers and the ever so declining foot traffic of shoppers into such establishments?
Companies that fail to embrace the Real Time nature of globally connected New World Economy of the Internet and mobile networks will slowly disappear… cut down to nothing by the competition… or be acquired at massive discounts.
Massive changes are taking place in the way business is done, customers are acquired and served, financial transactions are conducted, risk is managed, and investments are made today. You can embrace the changes and go with the flow, to capitalize and gain from it, or be a victim of the change itself. Choices are simple but the impact will be massive. The real time information, traveling at the speed of light to billion(s) of informed and educated potential customers, consumers and investors around the globe, can very quickly take your company to higher levels of financial success or, on the flip side, simply cut it down to size forever.
The subject of this post, paradigm shift from Atoms to Bits, is not only complex but is very broad in nature and it’s not my intent to discuss it here at any great detail in this forum. However, I do intend to discuss two major changes that are taking place right under our noses… and directly impact our investment in companies like Microvision and Apple...
Change #1: Computer laptops are taking over and dominating the PC world. Every year the laptop adoption rates have grown dramatically over their desktop brethren. IDC predicts the number of worldwide mobile workers will reach 1 billion─ including nearly 75% of the U.S. workforce ─ by the end of 2011. Is your company prepared for this shift in the mobile workforce? Download this new report to see what IDC has to say about mobile worker population trends, forecasts and technology recommendations.
Here’ the link…
http://whitepapers.silicon.com/0,39024759,60431682p,00.htm
Notebook Computers: It is well known that the screen size [of billion strong mobile workforce using laptops] is one of the main determining factors in laptop form-factor design. Vendors and consumers alike are pulled in opposite directions: Make the computer smaller, but improve screen readability. Adding mobile projection allows for smaller form factor design while providing a large screen display when desired. The market size for pico projectors, therefore, is huge to the tune of over a billion units world-wide.
Change #2: We already know the ubiquitous nature of the Internet, the laptops and mobile phones around the world. However, what we may not know that there is yet another mega change taking place right under our noses…
The mobile phones have become ubiquitous globally on one hand… and on the other hand we have the smartphones taking market share from the mobile phones. The billion or so a year mobile phone market is giving way to the smartphones.
• Smartphones are rapidly replacing the classic mobile phones around the globe
“Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 286.1 million units in the second quarter of 2009, a 6.1 per cent decrease from the second quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphones sales surpassed 40 million units, a 27 per cent increase from the same period last year, representing the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market.”
Here’s the link to Gartner report…
http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1126812
"Smartphones sales were strong during the second quarter of 2009, with sales of 40.9 million units in line with Gartner's forecast of 27 per cent year-on-year sales growth for 2009," said Ms Milanesi. "Given the higher margins, smartphones offer the biggest opportunity for manufacturers. It is the fastest-growing market segment and the most resistant to declining ASPs."
Smartphones are feature rich mobile devices that consist of a mini-laptop with built-in mobile phone and connected to a service provider [carrier] via a broadband mobile network like the 3G. Smartphones are feature rich mobile phones and one of the key features that have plans to be offered in the high-end smartphones is a pico projector… as an accessory unit initially… followed by the embedded version in 2010. Future smartphones are expected to include, or offered as an option, a pico projector as a standard unit just like the digital camera is today.
It is my belief that in the coming short years all sorts of video devices and services will dominate our communications, collaboration, networking, entertainment and learning world.
• Pico projectors are being developed as an embedded feature in all things digital
The next popular categories that integrate pico projectors would be mobile computing [laptops] and communication [cell phones, smartphones] devices, and a whole range of multi-functional consumer electronic products such as personal media players [iPod], digital cameras, digital camcorders and Integrated Mobile TV/projectors.
Why pico projectors are such a rage all of a sudden… you may ask?
That’s a fair question and can be answered in four parts…
Part 1: Pico Projectors can add Big Screen Experience to Small Devices
Analyst, Cellular Devices, Mobile Consumer and Mobile Video Services, In-Stat: “As mobile devices add more multimedia capabilities, embedded pico projectors can add a big-screen experience to a very small device,” said David Chamberlain, Author of the report and Principal.
Part 2: Rapidly Evolving Illumination Technologies like LEDs and Green Lasers
In-Stat found that illumination technologies are rapidly and continuously evolving by the day with manufacturers able to produce and supply Light Emitting Diodes (LED’s) and green lasers, and that the demand for such gizmos integrated within other devices will be so huge that the volumes will easily drive down modular costs to the extent that Pico projectors will become part and parcel of relatively low cost cell phones, media players and other digital consumer electronic devices.
“Technological advances in miniaturization, signal processing, and light sources—including green laser—are making Pico projectors a realistic feature for small battery powered devices like cell phones, media players, computing devices, and other consumer electronics,” said Chamberlain.
Part 3: Powerful & Always Connected. Functions Rich Devices with Enhanced Visual Experience
Today, the mobile devices are ubiquitous and if you were to project out the current trends another ten years…
“You will be carrying with you, on a 24x7 basis, a very powerful, always connected, functions & sensor-rich device with enhanced visual experience… called the Smartphones. And the cool thing is, so will everyone else. So what are you going to do with it that you aren't doing now?
Before we consider the possibilities, let’s first address the ubiquity of the mobile devices and extrapolate the current trends towards the mobile phones of the future for everyone on this planet. In other words, the mobile phones of to-day will pave the path to ubiquity for Smartphones of tomorrow… and that tomorrow may be here as early as the next 10 years. And what’s good for smartphones of tomorrow is indeed good for pico projectors as an accessory of as an embedded unit.
Consider this…
• There are currently about 3.2 billion mobile subscribers in the world, and that number is expected to grow by at least a billion in the next few years.However, have you ever considered just exactly how powerful these ubiquitous devices are and if the current trends were to be extrapolated… what future mobile device will look like? Whatever the name [or logo] on the cover, under the hood these mobile phones of the future will be the smartphones that will be very smart [pun intended] and very powerful. Smartphones like “Blackberry” considered a business tool are now successfully targeting consumers. On the other hand, “iPhone” considered a consumer product is now targeting business customers. Some day, they may converge and pretty much offer the same power, functionality, connectivity, long battery life and ease of use etc.
• Today, mobile phones are more prevalent than cars (about 800 million registered vehicles in the world) and credit cards (only 1.4 billion of those).
• While it took 100 years for landline phones to spread to more than 80% of the countries in the world, their wireless descendants did it in only 16 years.
• Fewer teens are wearing watches now because they use their phones to tell time instead. So it's safe to say that the mobile phone may be the most productive and ubiquitous consumer product ever invented.
As more and more consumers switch to smartphones globally, the Blackberry and iPhone are picking up market share at the expense of foreign competitors such as Nokia.
However, the good news is that the overall smartphones market is growing faster than ever. In 2008, a total of 1.2 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide, according to IDC, of which some 160 million were smartphones, or 13%. In 2013, IDC predicts that 20% of the 1.4 billion mobile phones sold will be smartphones, or 280 million.
Currently, we know what smartphones like Blackberry and iPhone offer. What we don’t know and, therefore, we can only speculate what additional functionality and features the future smartphones may offer. Here’s a list of what the future may hold in store for the consumers…
Here’s the link to my post on this very subject…
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/10/microvision-opportunity-of-lifetime-in_19.html
There is one paragraph from the post that I want you to read again…
Enhanced Visual Experience: Not too long ago, a mobile phone offered only a one-to-one viewing experience with little room for personalization and lacking the cool factor. Soon Microvision’s PicoP display engine technology will change the DNA of the phone, making it more visual, interactive and unique to the user. Taking this a step further, your cell phone will become a “one-to-many” tool, allowing us to share mobile content with groups of friends, family and colleagues. In the not-too-distant future, road warriors [the billion strong mobile workforces] will be showing presentations to a room full of colleagues via a projector accessory [SHOWwx] for their mobile phones. We have only begun to unleash the mobile visual experience.
Now, let’s take it a step further and gather some information from real life consumers that will eventually become user of enhanced communications products…
• Video vs. Other Forms of Communications: Research has shown that users prefer video communication over other forms of communication [sound, smell, touch] and video will continue to be the preferred means of all human communications.
• Users Preference for Image Quality: Research has shown that users prefer wide screen, high definition, 2D/3D video with fast refresh [without motion blur] and always in focus images for all forms of video [static, streaming, and broadcast] communications.
• User Preference for Mobility: The entire world [users and service providers] is getting into the instant gratification mode and going mobile in all forms of communications and entertainment across the globe.
• Product Features Leading to Technological Convergence: Technological convergence is the tendency for different technological systems to evolve towards performing similar tasks. Today, we are surrounded by a multi-level convergent media world where all modes of communication and information are continually reforming to adapt to the enduring demands of technologies, “changing the way we create, consume, entertain, learn and interact with each other”.
Convergence in this instance is defined as the interlinking of computing and other information technologies, media content and communication networks that have arisen as the result of the evolution and ubiquity of the Internet as well as the activities, products and services that have emerged in the digital media space.
• Customers Requirements: Customers desire all digital/video devices to be low power, low cost, multi-media enabled, multi-tasking, integrated & all inclusive, easy to use, low maintenance, professionally supported and warranty serviced.
• Consumer Defined Shared vs. Private Information: Consumers desire the option [in product models or optional features] or built-in switch able flexibility in these digital/video devices to be able to switch between “shared” vs. “private” mode.
Having established the huge market size [and consumer preferences] for pico projector lets move on to identifying the leading pico projection technology that hopes to fulfill the consumer needs…
Laser based Pico display technology is superior to what’s out there right now… like DLP by Texas Instruments, LcoS by 3M and FLCOS by Micron Displaytech. The competition believed that green lasers wouldn’t be ready for years and its cost would be excessive. They also had concerns about laser projection “speckle” and laser safety issues. It is for these reasons, in my opinion, that they did not pursue the laser pico display technology path and essentially left the laser Pico technology to Microvision un-contested.
Microvision on the other hand believed in the green lasers as being the differentiating technology that would make Pico display engine as superior to LED based Pico projection technology… and also as a serious contender, in terms of quality and brightness of images, to the lamp based projection technology.
There were several hic-ups along the way. However, after three years of hard work, anxious wait for green lasers and sweating it each passing day, and 115 issued patents later, the world’s first laser based PicoP projector was commercially launched on September 15th, 2009.
Not only that, another announcement was made [on October 8th] of a major OEM purchase order as a major milestone accomplished in the history of Microvision. The stakeholders of Microvision [investors, partners and consumers] can finally take comfort in this announcement as a milestone that…
“…validates the performance and quality of our first laser projector offering. On the heels of announcing our first shipments of the SHOWwx laser pico projector, and receiving the purchase order from an international distributor, this is another significant milestone in our go-to-market strategy.” ... Alex Tokman, CEO of Microvision.
To make the matter even more interesting, another announcement was made [on October 27th] of a purchase order from a World Leading Mobile Phone Operator…
Microvision Lands Order For SHOWWX Laser Pico Projectors With World Leading Mobile Phone Operator
Press Release
Source: Microvision, Inc.
On 6:30 am EDT, Tuesday October 27, 2009
REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Microvision, Inc. (NASDAQ:MVIS - News), a global leader in innovative ultra-miniature projection display and image-capture products for mobility applications, announced today that it has received an initial purchase order from its European distributor for its SHOWWX™ laser-based pico projector to be sold by one of the world’s top mobile phone operators. The initial quantities of SHOWWX are expected to be deployed within the next month in Europe and at that time more details are expected to be provided by the mobile carrier.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome our first global mobile phone operator as a SHOWWX launch customer for 2009,” stated Alexander Tokman, Microvision President and CEO. “Carriers serve as the frontline to mobile subscribers and as a result often influence mobile handset designs to include new features that delight their customers and help achieve a broader subscriber base and higher revenue per user. We believe that interest from one of the three largest carriers in the world in this application and specifically in Microvision’s PicoP® laser projection technology is an important first step towards future accessory and embedded opportunities.”
Microvision’s Made for iPod® SHOWWX laser pico projector, based on the PicoP display engine, delivers a colorful, vivid “big screen” viewing experience from a device about the size of a mobile phone. Users of the SHOWWX can also connect to other portable media players, mobile phones and notebooks to spontaneously share movies, YouTube™, photos, presentations and more with their friends, family or business associates. The SHOWWX can project images up to 200 inches across, depending on the ambient lighting conditions, without the user ever having to adjust focus.
*****
Here’s the link to press release…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microvision-Lands-Order-For-bw-181864591.html?x=0&.v=1
We are truly at the turning point in the history of Microvision, that some may call the “validation” phase. Because, that’s what the commercial release and the three purchase orders from global consumer electronic OEMs and the World leading mobile phone operator represent as …
• Validation of Microvision’s laser based PicoP display engine technology, its quality, its reliability, and a viable commercial fabrication & production milestone.
• Validation of performance and quality of PicoP display engine at the core of the world’s first laser based PicoP projector SHOWwx.
• Validation of Corning's green laser technology, its reliability, and a viable commercial fabrication & production milestone.
• Validation of technical and performance superiority of laser based PicoP projector as compared to other two technologies on the market… like DLP from Texas Instruments and LcoS for 3M.
• Validation of consumer preference for Microvision’s PicoP projector: wide screen, high definition, longer battery life, 2D video with fast refresh without motion blur, small physical size and always in focus images for all of video [static, streaming, and broadcast] communications.
• Validation of acceptable safety standard for laser based PicoP projectors in consumer use and adoption.
• Validation of speckle as a non-issue and as virtually non-existent with Microvision’s laser based PicoP display engine.
• Validation of fundamental design flaws of Microvision competitors: low resolution images, faded colors, short battery runs, longer throw distance, and requiring constant manual focus adjustments.
• Validation of Microvision as a product company rather than just a R&D house with 115 issued patents and with many more on file.
• Validation of global consumer electronic OEMs recognizing laser based PicoP projectors as a viable and superior alternative to DLP, LcoS and FLOCS technology.
• Validation of growing demand for Pico projectors from carriers and content providers on a global basis.
• Validation of consumer demand for quality Pico projectors.
• Validation of growing demand for green lasers and the ensuing competition in green laser product arena.
Microvision is ready as a supplier of laser Pico projectors to consumers and Pico display engines to its OEM partners… and offers the best of breed Pico display technology.
Is Microvision ready for prime time SHOWwx time and worthy of your investment dollars, consider this…
Consider the RISK vs. REWARD:
First, read the transcript of the Report “The Next Big Thing”. There are 40 pages to this very well written report and will take you an hour or so to read… but it is well worth it. Here's the link...
http://www.investorsdailyedge.com/21Century/TheNextBigThing.pdf
After reading this report on Microvision stock opportunity, you will understand why the Risk vs. Reward is compelling and the stock remains a strong buy for over 100 fold increases in price per share (PPS) in the next 4 to 5 years… by the end of 2014.
Here’s why…
In any investment, it is very important to look at RISK vs. REWARD.
After having done considerable amount of research and analysis of Microvision, I would like to share the following conclusions [in a summary form]….
Stock Volatility: Over the last few weeks, both the “Historical Volatility” and “Implied Volatility” have come down gradually. Currently, the HV is 80 and the IV is 96. Looks like we now have more believers [long] than speculators [shorts] on board. Also, this stock is now part of Russell 2000/3000 and as such is subject to small cap market volatility… which has been coming down in recent weeks.
Volatility is unavoidable in small-cap investing. It can be a gut-wrenching, stress-inducing part of the small-cap investing experience, or it can be the grease that runs the profit machine. Where a 3% move in Microsoft or McDonald's would be out of the ordinary, good or bad news can routinely move small caps' share prices more than 10%. It can be tough for an investor to handle, but the determining factor is self-discipline.
• Determine your small-cap investment criteria
Small-cap investing has high -- yet manageable -- risk, at least when compared to value or income investing. Significant returns probably will not materialize early on in any individual investment. A conscious decision on one's small cap risk limit is essential. Those relying on investments for regular income should be extremely cautious with small-cap investing.
• Perform due diligence before pulling the trigger
Investors sometimes invest without understanding the company's business. Then, at the first sign of negative volatility, they finally scramble to look at the firm's financial statements. That's being reactive, not proactive. You need to understand a company before investing in it. If the stock happens to rally to unattractive levels while you're doing your research, you'll nonetheless be in a great position to buy when the stock inevitably dips. If the stock falls, you'll know more about the company and therefore be less prone to panic. Cognitive scientists have determined that uncertainty is one of the most stressful and painful emotional states. Prior due diligence reduces the element of surprise and is the most effective way of minimizing investment uncertainty.
• Due diligence does not only include checking the criteria for buying a stock. With rare exception, it should also include formulating the conditions for selling based on the stock's valuation. Because small-cap companies often have greater growth prospects than blue-chip companies, your reasons for selling a small-cap company are more apt to change
Stock Short Interest: Over the last few weeks, the short interest has gone up and now stands at 11% [8.38 million shares] of the float [63.19 million shares]. All in all, at the current low average volume per day, it will take about 10 days to cover… about 8.38 million shares short… trading 895,000 shares per day average over the last 3 months.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/shortinterests.aspx?symbol=MVIS&selected=MVIS
Stock Trading Range: For a period of four weeks [from September 21 to October 22] the stock traded over $5 in a very tight range of “$5.02 to $5.52”. We have seen some very volatile days on Wall Street in the last 10 days [from October 24 to November 4]… and the stock has come down to $3.70 and now seems to be holding at this level as a very strong support… and waiting for next announcement of news. The stock price has crossed under the 50 day moving average [at $4.50] and seems to have very strong support at $3.66 or so. This is where the stock price was before the commercial launch of SHOWwx [on September 15th] and three purchase orders in October. The reason for the stock price drop, in my opinion, is due mainly to the uncertainty associated with quantities of green lasers that are essential to fulfilling the three initial purchase orders.
Here’s the stock chart…
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=MVIS&p=D&yr=0&mn=6&dy=0&id=p22460456358
However, if you look at the P&F [point and figure] chart the stock is still in the uptrend channel with a “bullish price” of $8.31.
http://stockcharts.com/def/servlet/SC.pnf?c=MVIS,P&listNum=
Stock Holding: Institutions hold about 14.40% and the Insiders hold over 16.93% of the outstanding stock [63.19 million float on a fully diluted basis]. This means that over 68.67% of the float is held by retail investors. This is a very wide distribution of MVIS stock… a good sign for PPS support [during lean times] and PPS momentum [during good times] when institutions finally wake-up and come looking to take position in the MVIS stock directly… or decide to invest aggressively in small cap stocks indexed by Russell 2000/3000.
Short Term Risk [next four weeks]: Over the next four weeks [up until the announcement of the European mobile phone carrier] the stock PPS could trade in tight range of $3.65 to $3.80… but hopefully does not trade any lower than $3.37. This is the short term risk to PPS… mainly due to lack of news or release of any significant news over the next few weeks.
Mid Term Risk [next 2 Qtrs]: There is a very strong possibility that an additional OEM contract [and purchase order] and increased quantities of SHOWwx shipments will be announced on a monthly basis from hereon. In such a case, the PPS may just take-off to new highs for the year and not look back. As we know, there is more demand for Microvision’s pico projector SHOWwx than the supply of green lasers and that bodes well for the mid term future… as there could be monthly announcements of OEM contracts and agreements for rest of the year 2010.
Two of the supply chain issues could be “green laser cost” and “green laser volume production”. Feasibility and product development of the various PicoP display engine components is not an issue. The issue [if any] could be with the price and mass production of green lasers from Corning. The supply chain issue is real and has affected the full blown end of summer 2009 commercial product launch. The delay in large quantity shipments, however, may be short and you could see quick recovery in PPS… as the second green laser supplier Osram comes on board in the next few weeks.
Also, there is a strong possibility that the company may be selling some more shares to fund its short term cash flow needs beyond June 2010… in case there is cash flow short fall from sale of products and services. That’s the mid-term risk… but I will take it with a smile.
Long Term Risk [over 2 years]: If the company can fast track the volume production of PicoP display engines and SHOWwx laser projectors to a few million units a year [the good case scenario] or survives the “hostile” take-over attempt in the mid-term [precipitated as a result of major supply chain issues], there is no long term issue… because the market is huge and the company has leadership position in four (4) different product categories.
Reward: For those who understand the company’s — business model; the various products; the size [and the pull] of the captive world wide market— the rewards are phenomenal.
Five years from now in 2014, the stock could easily trade in the $300 to $500 range. Here’s an educated projection…
• Worldwide Market Size: 2 billion units [cell phones, laptops, smartphones, iPods, iPhones, camcorders, digital cameras, mobile TV/Projectors etc.]
• Worldwide Market Size: 1 billion units [wearable see thru displays]
• Market Adoption Rate: 10%... 300 million units
• Microvision Market share: 15% of 300 million units… 45 million units
• OEM price: $90 per PicoP display engine
• Revenue: $4 billion
• Net Profit Margin: 40%
• Net Profit: $1.6 billion
• EBITDA: Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization: $1.5 billion [with operating expenses at $100 million]
• Interest Expense: $0 million
• Interest Income: $20 million
• Tax: $220million
• Depreciation: non cash and very small
• Amortization: non cash and very small
• Net Operating Income: $1.3 billion
• Earning Per Share: $13 on a fully diluted basis [100 million shares]
• Price Earning Ratio: 30 for a hyper growth company
• Price Per Share: $390 per share
In my book, the “Risk” is insignificant [may be 2% per year interest in treasury bills as the lost opportunity] as compared to the potential of making 100 times your money in the next year 4 to 5 years… and that is on top of 5 times the money you have already made if you aggressively bought MVIS stock [at 80 cents] when recommended in March 2009.
Alex Tokman, CEO of Microvision, said in his March 6th earnings conference call: "the market demand for PicoP display engines will be larger than the supply."
Here’s the link to Microvision web site…
http://www.microvision.com/
This projection for 2014 could actually be low compared to the reality of the market place that will start to un-fold in the months ahead.
Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/
Monday, September 28, 2009
INTEL: I made Over 14,000% Profit since 1981 by Investing in Intel Stock
I’m one of those old timers that invested in Intel during its early days as a company… in the early 80’s. I recall buying some shares for a total cost of $1,000 dollars. That was lot of money in those days and commission paid was a disgrace. Stock brokers were king of the hill and roamed the streets like God’s gift to humanity.
I had to liquidate all my position in Intel during the Dot Com bust of 2000… around May of that year. I think it was just before the last stock split the company had. However, it was not all that bad, because I managed to sell pretty close to the all time high and I remember bragging about my good fortune and fortitude to have stayed the course to make over 14,000% profit… for a net gain of over $140,000 dollars. That’s right… over $140,000 in profit including dividends and the stock splits.
I always believed in investing in companies that ride the wave of change or bring about the paradigm shift with an eye on the long term growth prospects. In the last 30 odd years that I have been investing, I had my share of good fortune and misfortune. However, what’s important is the fact that I managed to secure my financial future and live today to talk about my strategy of investing in companies that ride the wave of change or bring about a paradigm shift. Some of these companies have grown to be huge enterprises and have made their early investors, like me, over 10,000% or over since their inception. Some day, I will tell you about my other [early] investment in companies like Dell, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Cisco, Healthsouth [after the 2003 perfect storm] and most recently Microvision. And while Dell has had disappointing returns since the turn of the century, its business is still strong and investors have not even come close to losing everything.
Currently, I’m out of all the stocks except Microvision [Nasdaq: MVIS]. The past performers in my portfolio have served well. However, these companies like Intel, Dell, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Healthsouth are past their hyper growth phase and are now too big and are just slow earnings growth vehicles. No disrespect to these fine companies… it’s just that they don’t fit the “hyper growth” company model any more.
My only stock holding now, besides an options income portfolio, is Microvision. If you would like to find out why I consider Microvision to be the next 50,000% profit producer, then click on the link to my blog post and make sure to read all the related articles.
Access to my blog is free and my profile will tell you why I’m taking this time and making an effort to reach out and share information that already exists in the Internet sphere…
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/09/microvision-from-here-to-picop-ubiquity.html
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/09/yes-virginia-its-intel-inside-but-image.html
Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/
I had to liquidate all my position in Intel during the Dot Com bust of 2000… around May of that year. I think it was just before the last stock split the company had. However, it was not all that bad, because I managed to sell pretty close to the all time high and I remember bragging about my good fortune and fortitude to have stayed the course to make over 14,000% profit… for a net gain of over $140,000 dollars. That’s right… over $140,000 in profit including dividends and the stock splits.
I always believed in investing in companies that ride the wave of change or bring about the paradigm shift with an eye on the long term growth prospects. In the last 30 odd years that I have been investing, I had my share of good fortune and misfortune. However, what’s important is the fact that I managed to secure my financial future and live today to talk about my strategy of investing in companies that ride the wave of change or bring about a paradigm shift. Some of these companies have grown to be huge enterprises and have made their early investors, like me, over 10,000% or over since their inception. Some day, I will tell you about my other [early] investment in companies like Dell, Qualcomm, Microsoft, Cisco, Healthsouth [after the 2003 perfect storm] and most recently Microvision. And while Dell has had disappointing returns since the turn of the century, its business is still strong and investors have not even come close to losing everything.
Currently, I’m out of all the stocks except Microvision [Nasdaq: MVIS]. The past performers in my portfolio have served well. However, these companies like Intel, Dell, Qualcomm, Microsoft and Healthsouth are past their hyper growth phase and are now too big and are just slow earnings growth vehicles. No disrespect to these fine companies… it’s just that they don’t fit the “hyper growth” company model any more.
My only stock holding now, besides an options income portfolio, is Microvision. If you would like to find out why I consider Microvision to be the next 50,000% profit producer, then click on the link to my blog post and make sure to read all the related articles.
Access to my blog is free and my profile will tell you why I’m taking this time and making an effort to reach out and share information that already exists in the Internet sphere…
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/09/microvision-from-here-to-picop-ubiquity.html
http://mirro7.blogspot.com/2009/09/yes-virginia-its-intel-inside-but-image.html
Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Microvision: From Here to PicoP Ubiquity
Microvision is a publicly traded company [NASDAQ: MVIS] and has “killer apps”.
It’s the “disruptive technology” called: “Laser based PicoP display engine.” It can bring about massive shifts in “technology paradigm” and “social paradigm”. And if you can ride this technology/social paradigm for long enough [like Intel did with computing], you have a very high probability of being “ubiquitous” [if not out-right industry standard] in the Pico projection space [like Intel is with its “Intel-inside” for CPUs].
In simple terms, paradigm shift is defined as: “A complete change in thinking or belief systems that allow the creation of a new condition previously thought impossible or unacceptable.” Just to make sure we're all on the same page, here's a clear definition of the phrase, which was coined by Thomas Kuhn in his ground-breaking 1962 book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions:
"Think of a Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It does not just 'happen', but rather it is driven by agents of change."
Most of us understand the definition well. However, we tend to miss the true meaning of the statement: “It does not just ‘happen’, but rather it is driven by agents of change”. If you read carefully and do some research you will see: “those agents of change can cause micro level paradigm shifts with-in a macro level paradigm over a period of time. And in order for your product to become ubiquitous [or an industry standard], you must plan and manage for such constantly changing micro level paradigms [with-in a major paradigm] on an on-going basis over an extended period of time. I know it’s a mouthful, so let’s see what all that means first and then we will apply it to PicoP display technology…
One big example is “The Computing Paradigm Shift” that started in early 1980 when the Personal Computer was first introduced. Few years later, in 1993, John Quarterman of Texas Internet Consulting wrote in the Journal of Organizational computing…
“Over the last five years, there has been a shift from centralized to distributed computing. Timesharing and batch systems still have uses, but the large mainframe is no longer the only way to do computing. Networks have spread computing power, access, and costs beyond centralized computer centers. Personal computers have made computing accessible to many new users. Distributed computing attempts to bring the manageability of mainframe computing together with the accessibility of networked computing and the transparency of personal computing.”
According to the definition of paradigm shift, personal computing represents the macro level paradigm shift. Intel rode this major paradigm for a long time and managed it so well that AMD could not catch-up with Intel for over 20 years. And that gave Intel enough time to become ubiquitous with its CPUs in-side all of the major PC manufacturer’s product line. However, by year 2000, AMD caught-up with Intel and that’s when another paradigm shifts [call it micro paradigm] took place with-in the personal computing paradigm. For example, changes taking place within the PC paradigm were so visible…
“At the Intel Developer Forum, fall of 2005, in San Francisco, there were very few individual products or product groups that represented any new breakthrough relevant to silent computing.
But when you consider the entire range of changes in focus, product development, and marketing messages at Intel over the past year, especially as they culminated at the fall 2005 IDF, it does not seem farfetched to speak of a major paradigm shift.”
The paradigm shift I refer to is being driven by Intel in response to technological, competitive and market forces, and it has three major aspects:
- End of the processor clock race, replaced by multi-core processor development.
- A focus on performance-per-watt and power efficiency.
- New ways of assessing and ranking performance.
Another example is: “the change in thinking created by Just-in-Time that views inventory as a liability, not an asset.”
Now let’s talk about PicoP display technology…
Microvision’s PicoP display engine technology can cause major shift in “technology paradigm” and “social paradigm”. Example of technology paradigm shift would be:
- Your 2”x 2” screen [on cell phone, smartphone, iPod, iPhone, Blackberry, etc.] now projects to up to 100” high definition quality images [pictures, movies or streaming videos] on any surface… on the fly… always in-focus… and at miniscule power drain on your battery.
- Your 2”x 2” screen [on digital camera, camcorder] now projects up to 100” HD quality image on any surface… on the fly… always in-focus… and at miniscule power drain on your battery.
- Your Laptop comes with built-in projector for up to 100” HD quality image on any surface… on the fly… always in-focus… and at miniscule power drain on your battery.
- High Definition Mobile Projector/ TV that could provide large screen HD TV experience to a billion people in energy starved China and India. In the U.S. and Europe, it could easily replace millions of power hungry LCD/Plasma TVs in every room.
- High Definition Mobile Projector/ TV that could provide large screen HD TV experience on the ceiling for late night video or movie watching from the comfort of your bed. In the U.S. and Europe, it could easily replace millions of power hungry LCD/Plasma TVs in every bedroom.
Since the beginning of 2007, Microvision has accomplished quite a few major milestones on its way to becoming a well managed and financially sound company with a technologically feasible product line. Microvision has now partnered with some world class technology companies [including Motorola and Corning] to commercially bring the most disruptive [and paradigm shifting] product line to the market that consists of billions of potential users worldwide.
That’s a mouthful, so let’s break it up in order to make some logical sense and explain where I am going with this…
Microvision’s core PicoP technology is weaved into five product offerings…
- Vehicle Displays: for better driving experience and safety in automobiles. http://www.microvision.com/vehicle_displays/index.html
- PicoP Projector Displays: brings big screen to small devices. Project up to 80” HD color projection for applications such as streaming video, movies, digital TV, high resolution photographs, and surfing the net. http://www.microvision.com/pico_projector_displays/index.html
- Wearable Displays: a see-through, high-resolution display platform that enables lightweight and fashionable eyewear displays for mobile devices. Color Eyewear platform allows mobile users to access their personal content and services while keeping their vision of the outside world free and clear, letting mobile users stay on the move. http://www.microvision.com/wearable_displays/mobile.html
- Military Displays: is used across various branches of the U.S. Military including the U.S. Army, Air Force, and U.S. Army Reserve. http://www.microvision.com/wearable_displays/military.html
- Barcode Scanners: features a patent-pending, low-cost, shock-resistant, silicon MEMS scanning mirror engine. http://www.microvision.com/barcode/index.html
The second rule [first being “killer apps”] to investing in emerging technology is simple: “Do your homework and your own due diligence. Before you invest, analyze the entire industry and the company carefully—and don’t buy the stock just because it’s the next big thing.”
The PicoP display engine can be embedded in hundreds of different products representing a huge market share for entire product line-up. It has the potential of adding billions of new dollars to Microvision—expanding what I like to call the “halo effect” from the PicoP display modules to the rest of Microvision product line. That’s why I’m so excited about the PicoP Projector code named SHOWwx that is getting ready for release in 2009…and that it will have a major ripple effect for the rest of Microvision products.
In summary…
Microvision has “killer apps”.
Each of the five commercial products that Microvision is offering [or will be offering soon] use at its core the PicoP display engine technology that has the potential to cause massive paradigm shift in its own space of product applications.
Anant Goel
http://www.wealthbyoptions.com/
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