Well, Eric, I know better than to take the bait when you say that I know more than you about something. <g> Actually, in this case I am somewhat familiar with Lifeshirt, although much of my information is confidential and can't be repeated here in a public forum.
Concerning Cyber-Care, I defer to your judgement in the previous post. It is pretty clear their target is the home-bound population which could make them attractive to hospice and home health agencies - depending on the cost and usability of the equipment. I can't imagine where they could possibility impact Stayhealthy's plan as it relates to the health and fitness oriented clients. Purely a play on the chronically ill as you said.
On to Lifeshirt. If they are successful in working out the kinks in the durability, it would seem to me the shirt is a viable product that will generate significant interest. However, I doubt seriously it is a device which will be marketable (at least in the short term) to the general public. There is an assumption the unit will eventually be priced low enough to attract the general public ($100 plus $150 for the attached portable computer). Even if they can, the real cost to the consumer would be in the nearly $30 per DAY to upload and monitor the data collected from the shirt. That's up to $900 per MONTH for subscription services - way beyond what the general public will pay. However, certainly that range is within reach for institutional users which would most likely be a significant market for them.
To the extent that their market is primarily institutional, I suspect that LifeShirt and Stayhealthy could peacefully co-exist in the marketplace. And, in my opinion, there is no doubt there is a marketplace for all three companies. It would seem to me the only question is which firm assembles the best and brightest management team capable of implementing their long-term business plan.
CyberCare will probably hold a strong, albeit somewhat limited, niche market. LifeShirt and Stayhealthy would then be left to fight it out for the truly web-enabled product field. It seems to me LifeShirt will risk being a "one-product" company with all the associated risk from having all your eggs in one basket. By developing a much broader line of products with an accompanying broader base of users, Stayhealthy would appear to be the stronger of the companies in the longer term. And, of course, the more comprehensive the product line the more likely there will be accompanying strategic partnerships - resulting in a much broader potential revenue base.
Finally, let me say I think the real question is which of the big players come into the fray (most likely through a buy-out of one of the three). Firms like Agilent, General Electric and others will likely be looking to enter the lower end health related device field. Moving into this new arena would be a nice complement to their already established medical device and equipment businesses.
Just a few random thoughts. I admit my knoweldge in this field is very limited. Certainly there are others out there with thoughts on the matter and I would certainly welcome any feedback.
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