John, I'd like to see the expansion, too, in a carefully planned manner. Product demand is definitely seasonal with them, peaking in the 3Q when their channels stock for Christmas. I think that's what I recall anyway. The less expensive ETX's are terrific Christmas gifts. In theory, the built up interest translates into larger purchases later. Plus there is more opportunity for software based products than ever, tho I haven't noticed anything real aggressive in that area. If the platform has lots of add-on options for after-market, that's great. I'm not sure everything is being done to leverage the "platform" approach, frankly, but it's not a bad start.
The Terrabeam deal has them as a supplier of optical components only, as I recall. The thing with Terrabeam is who knows if that concept is going to work. So I think Meade has partitioned off all income projections for this for now. Their projections are therefore clean, which makes them a very attractive company, I think. Market leader, making good money, innovating. But they are certainly vulnerable to superior marketing, I think... that is my major concern. |
