Details on $99 Compaq/IDT product . . . IDX/IDT merger . . . costs . . .
As to the $99 peripheral, take a look at this:
identicator.com
It took a while to load for me, but maybe it was just the time of day. It is an optical system (i.e., not a silicon chip or other non-optical device). Although I don't believe the link details this, it uses a CMOS video chip to process the image digitally.
The Identix acquisition of Identicator was for stock, and IDX stockholders were diluted by the purchase by about 20%. However, this was more than made up by the market's reaction to the purchase when IDX stock went from about $7 to $9.50 (and has stayed about there). I agree that the purchase was defensive, but the result is a very strong combination of good quality, higher and lower end fingerprint biometric products. My view of the purchase price was that it was in the ballpark, considering value received, if not somewhat of a bargain.
Your statement about cost of manufacture -- $30 to $40 -- does not answer how much the device would have to sell for. Cost of manufacture is only one component of price, and you probably would see a multiplier of four or five times that base cost in the product pricing, which would put it, roughly, in the $100-$200 range retail (even in quantity). Assuming it works, of course. |
