Has anyone considered the competition?
The investors on this thread act as if Gentex has a monopoly. Nobody has even mentioned that their biggest competitor is Donnelly!
Gentex and Donnelly have each won a round in court. Donnelly can't use a liquid solution between the glass plates, but they can use a solid film. See the appeals court decision at ll.georgetown.edu.
Donnelly made the following statement in their Q2 earnings release at corporate-ir.net.
The second quarter also held a number of important new business wins for Donnelly. They included major wins for supplying interior electrochromic (EC) mirrors on two key North American light truck programs and a large order for complete outside mirrors on a third light truck program in North America. Both are high-growth product lines for Donnelly, and in each case Donnelly unseated established competitors to win the business.
A Donnelly shareholder on Yahoo received the following from investor relations at post.messages.yahoo.com@m2.yahoo.com.
In response to your inquiry, the new business wins for EC mirror business that we referred to in our second quarter earnings release did represent take-away business from Gentex. Given the dynamic nature of automotive supply, competitors will always be taking new business from one another, but we felt that the importance of these light truck programs was such that we wanted to let our constituents know about the win. Our market share for EC mirrors is continuing to grow.
Donnelly also made the following statement in their 10-K at sec.gov.
The Company's GLAREFREEtm electrochromic mirror technology offers several advantages over competing technology. The Company's GLAREFREEtm electrochromic mirrors have been purchased by Ford, Jaguar, Range Rover, Audi, PSA, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Renault and Honda. These purchase agreements represent a significant step forward in the Company's positioning as a strong player in a global market for electrochromic mirrors that industry sources expect to grow to $1 billion. With strong technologies to offer and having favorably settled the patent issues that have hampered its ability to compete in recent years, the Company has set ambitious goals for increasing its electrochromic mirror market share in the years ahead. |
