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Technology Stocks : Optimal Robotics Corp. (OPMR) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Obewon who wrote (223)	6/13/2000 7:11:00 PM
From: Obewon	Respond to of 325

U-Scan Carousel Pilot by: valuationguy From 6/12 Robert Humphreys morning meeting "In what is clearly a positive first step, Kroger has selected one of its Atlanta stores to serve as the pilot site to evaluate Optimal's U-Scan Carousel. Over this past weekend we observed two U-Scan Carousels in operation at an Atlanta area Kroger. We understand the units became operational on June 9th. Early feedback from store personnel is that customer acceptance has been good. Recall U-Scan Carousel is a higher volume self-checkout solution than the established U-Scan Express due to its six-position bagging capability. Carousel and Express are identical in all functions, i.e. weight security feature, payment options, etc... EXCEPT for bagging capacity. U-Scan Carousel and U-Scan Solo, a low capacity solution, were introduced to retailers at a February tradeshow after being designed in late 1999. This is the first shipment of either of the new products as far as we know. We would suspect that Kroger would be given first shot for the new systems given its position as the largest customer for U-Scan Express. While it's early we believe this pilot supports an expanded market opportunity for Optimal beyond U-Scan Express. Four Express systems are installed at each customer site in the typical configuration today. We would expect a store could mix an order between Express and Carousel, or could opt for four of each devices. We originally estimated a market potential for Express at $3 billion worldwide based on four terminals being installed at a store. Carousel has a greater average unit price than Express which would mean a greater revenue per store than for Express only. However, management of Optimal has not been specific on the price differential between Carousel and Express. As an aside, we would expect Solo to sell at a lower price, but would not be installed alongside Express. Instead Solo would likely be placed at a smaller department in a larger store. We would look for Kroger to evaluate how Carousel fits in its strategy and whether it wants to complete other pilots at different sites. Within the past few weeks Optimal has announced plans for a low cost entry into Europe and installed two Carousels. While we are not changing our forecasts based on this information, these two items separately point to continued momentum for Optimal. We continue to feel confident about our 155 unit assumption for Q2 coupled with EPS of $0.10. We will continue to monitor the pilot in Kroger and look for potential Solo pilots as well. With the express self-checkout market penetrated an estimated 5% and the company apparently improving its leadership position we continue to recommend the stock for speculative investors." Valuation Guy

To: Obewon who wrote (223)	6/13/2000 7:13:00 PM
From: Obewon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 325

U-Scan Carousel Pilot by: valuationguy 6/13/00 7:10 pm Msg: 2021 of 2021 From 6/12 Robert Humphreys morning meeting "In what is clearly a positive first step, Kroger has selected one of its Atlanta stores to serve as the pilot site to evaluate Optimal's U-Scan Carousel. Over this past weekend we observed two U-Scan Carousels in operation at an Atlanta area Kroger. We understand the units became operational on June 9th. Early feedback from store personnel is that customer acceptance has been good. Recall U-Scan Carousel is a higher volume self-checkout solution than the established U-Scan Express due to its six-position bagging capability. Carousel and Express are identical in all functions, i.e. weight security feature, payment options, etc... EXCEPT for bagging capacity. U-Scan Carousel and U-Scan Solo, a low capacity solution, were introduced to retailers at a February tradeshow after being designed in late 1999. This is the first shipment of either of the new products as far as we know. We would suspect that Kroger would be given first shot for the new systems given its position as the largest customer for U-Scan Express. While it's early we believe this pilot supports an expanded market opportunity for Optimal beyond U-Scan Express. Four Express systems are installed at each customer site in the typical configuration today. We would expect a store could mix an order between Express and Carousel, or could opt for four of each devices. We originally estimated a market potential for Express at $3 billion worldwide based on four terminals being installed at a store. Carousel has a greater average unit price than Express which would mean a greater revenue per store than for Express only. However, management of Optimal has not been specific on the price differential between Carousel and Express. As an aside, we would expect Solo to sell at a lower price, but would not be installed alongside Express. Instead Solo would likely be placed at a smaller department in a larger store. We would look for Kroger to evaluate how Carousel fits in its strategy and whether it wants to complete other pilots at different sites. Within the past few weeks Optimal has announced plans for a low cost entry into Europe and installed two Carousels. While we are not changing our forecasts based on this information, these two items separately point to continued momentum for Optimal. We continue to feel confident about our 155 unit assumption for Q2 coupled with EPS of $0.10. We will continue to monitor the pilot in Kroger and look for potential Solo pilots as well. With the express self-checkout market penetrated an estimated 5% and the company apparently improving its leadership position we continue to recommend the stock for speculative investors." Valuation Guy