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Strategies & Market Trends : Gorilla and King Portfolio Candidates -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: FLSTF97 who wrote (21752)	3/30/2000 10:01:00 AM
From: John Stichnoth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 54805

INFS-- Hi, FB-- Are any of their patents fundamentally enabling in regards to lowering the weight, or increasing the brightness? Not the patents I was able to scan. My understanding is that none of their projector-related patents are obstructive to others who want to work in the market. The patent search I did revealed a focus on camera focusing systems, rather than things I would think of as projector-related--although projectors have lenses, of course. Worse, if you want to argue for Gorilla status, is that INFS is dependent on another company (TI) for a key part for much of their product line. I am not proposing INFS as a Gorilla. This is a royalty play. The patent search site I referenced only shows 21 patents, but the 10K reports 40 US patents and "numerous" patents pending, so I haven't been able to review all of the abstracts. The MSDW analysts note one patent for "low-cost active-addressing technology" being licensed to wireless phone and PDA makers. These supposedly use less power. I cannot confirm this, since I can't find the patent. There is reference in the 10K to 5 licenses issued, through INFS's joint venture with Motorola. This is not presently material to INFS's activities, but may provide a nice upside surprise sometime. I can confirm that INFS has a reputation for providing the lightest-weight, brightest projectors. When I told my wife, who has spent some time coordinating training at her company, of the purchase, she immediately voiced approval of their product. Some of INFS's sales are OEM--under IBM, Kodak, Toshiba, Boxlight and PictureTel brands. Also, INFS's lightest projector is the LP330, weighing in at 4.8 lbs, in a form factor that would fit in a laptop case. Best, John