Cellular Modem Plan to Palm Pilot Makes Option Turn Handsprings
By Thomas Mulier at Bloomberg News
08 October 1999
Option International NV shares surged 16% after the Belgian modem-card maker said it agreed with Handspring Inc., a U.S. maker of hand-held computers, to develop wireless modems to connect Handspring's products to mobile-phone networks.=Palm Pilot coverit on netshops.
The companies will develop modules that can be plugged into Handspring computers, allowing users to transmit data through mobile phones. The companies didn't say when such a product will be ready for sale. Option's shares soared $1.70 to $12.20.
"It's good they have a deal with a product from people with a very good name in the market, but they still have to show the sales volume," said Dirk Saelens, an analyst at Bank Degroof who said he's maintaining his "neutral" rating on the stock.
Concern about slumping sales has led Option stock to plunge as much as 70% so far this year. It's the fourth-worst performing stock this year out of the 49 companies on Easdaq, a Brussels-based pan-European index for technology companies.
"They need to do more to convince investors they're no longer passe," said Bank Degroof's Saelens.
Option already makes Snap-On, a modem for 3Com's PalmPilot and FirstFone, a modem card for laptop computers that includes its own mobile-phone unit. The company said in May demand for its existing products slumped as it faced increasing competition from cards already embedded in computers and mobile phones.
That led to a net loss of 1.67 million euros ($1.8 million) in the first half of this year compared to a profit of 420,000 euros a year earlier. Sales fell 45% to 5.5 million euros. Handspring is a closely held company formed by Jeffrey Hawkins, the inventor of 3Com Corp.'s PalmPilot hand-held computer, and Donna Dubinsky, who did marketing for 3Com. Handspring unveiled a new hand-held computer last month, the Visor, which it says costs less and does more than 3Com's electronic organizers.
totaltele.com Option Rises on Lower 4th-Qtr Loss, China Contract (Update2)
-Old news on Option>
-seems they are able to produce ceelluylarradiomodems and even ceelphones> -witch is suprise to me=Nokia fan->
Option Rises on Lower 4th-Qtr Loss, China Contract (Update2) (Adds closing stock price.)
Brussels, Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Option International NV rose 10 percent after the world's biggest maker of modems for European-standard mobile phones said its fourth-quarter loss narrowed. The company also said it won a $7.5 million contract from the Chinese government.
The shares rose $3.00 to $33.00 on the Easdaq exchange. More than 288,000 shares were traded, compared with a daily average of 25,000 shares. ''This contract is a good indication that Option's technology has been accepted,'' said Eva Noels, an analyst at Generale de Banque.
Option said it had a loss of 28.8 million Belgian francs ($80,000) in the fourth quarter of 1998, from a loss of 47.8 million francs in the year-earlier period. Fourth quarter sales rose to 187.4 million francs from 169.6 million.
The company said it won a contract to design and produce a so-called GSM mobile phone for the Chinese government, which is supporting the creation of a Chinese mobile phone industry through Xiamen Overseas Chinese Electronic Co. Ltd.
Chinese-made mobile phones are expected to take a 30 percent share of the Chinese mobile phone market within three years, Option said. ''The GSM voice market is booming in China,'' said Jan Callewaert, Option's chief executive. |
