Hello RK & thread,
I haven't posted here (or even lurked recently), but I've recently purchased some HAUP on expectations that they will sell a large number of TV tuner/encoder solutions and satellite devices for the next wave of Media Center PCs.
As you may know, Microsoft launched Windows XP Media Center Edition last year with a number of OEMs (HP, Gateway, Alienware, Samsung in Korea, etc.) A large number of the systems sold used Hauppage TV tuner solutions, which is one thing that offset Hauppage declining sales in Europe and Asia, as per this report:
"Ken Plotkin, Hauppauge's Chief Executive Officer, stated, " Our revenue for the quarter was negatively impacted by poor economic climate in Europe. Our domestic revenue showed some growth over the third quarter of fiscal 2002, but it was not enough to offset the declines in Europe and Asia. On a positive note, products introduced during fiscal 2002, such as our Digital Entertainment Center series for the European digital TV market and our Personal Video Recorder product used on an OEM basis to personal computer makers for use in their Windows XP Media Center Edition systems, continued to increase as a percentage of our sales."
biz.yahoo.com
Microsoft's set to release the next version of their system, and this time, they've not only added Sony and Dell to their OEM list, they're also planning to release in other geographies. I don't know what percentage of the Media Center PC's will have Hauppage solutions, but all three of mine do and they have excellent quality.
news.com.com
silicon.com
Hauppage had about $10MM in revenue last quarter. I don't know exactly how much OEM's pay for each PC, but I's guess it's in the $20+ range, and I do know that worldwide, consumers purchased over 40MM PCs last year. Media Center PCs are targeted squarely at consumers and are meeting with good acceptance in the market. With all the major consumer PC manufacturers promoting Media Center PCs (not sure which ones use Hauppage, but I'm assuming it's significant), Hauppage could see a real boost in its revenue. Combine that with their new MediaMVP product, and I'm betting they could do VERY well:
biz.yahoo.com
I wouldn't be surprised to see significant growth in revenue and profit. For a small company (~$26MM market cap) with a solid balance sheet, I think that potential growth could translate into significant share appreciation.
I've also noticed that HAUP is not heavily traded, and I don't believe I see a lot of sellers. Some new volume that came in today on the sell side had the look of people shorting after seeing the recent jump, but of course, I can't know that. Anyhow, as long as we stay down in this range, I may be tempted to buy more.
Any comments / opinions?
Thanks,
Mike |
