Interesting shareholders meeting report from nekos on RB.
By: nekos $$$
Reply To: None Wednesday, 15 Nov 2000 at 12:41 PM EST
Post # of 534330
Another SHM report:
Hi all...got back yesterday from the left coast and while there, attended the shareholders' meeting. I won't have time to go through all of the past SHM reports on RB and other boards, but will provide my own thoughts and impressions on what transpired, as well as what might not have been previously posted. I apologize for any repetition to what's already been posted.
The Treo and Maycom presentations were great---especially the Treo and how small it is. I feel the dataplay technology will make a big splash at the CES this coming January. With all of the partners and corporate investors in this techmology, it should be prominent at the show. EDIG will get exposure from it also, as well as whoever else is associated with this platform.
I'm sure Fred & co. would have liked to tell us more than just our Samsung agreement as a customer of ours. This in itself is very significant, but again, one can tell their impatience as well as our own that announcements have been, and continue to be delayed. This should work itself out shortly.
I didn't get a cahnce to go to Comdex while in Las Vegas, although I was registered for it. From what I've been reading today from posters and the reviews trickling in, that we are getting more exposure than previously planned. I was under the impression prior to the SHM that the Treo would not be at Comdex, but am glad it is. Again, I think the CES will unveil a whole range of products and technologies that we've known for awhile here, but still unkown to the general public. EDIG and other companies should get a lot of exposure from this...in a way to wake up the investing public. What will be unveiled at CES should bring us revenue streams for the first and second quarter for products we do know about; and possibly revenues for products no yet announced for maybe the third and fourth quarter of next year. On a side note...the last month or so Fidelity Investments has been running many radio ads here in the northeast for two new portfolios specializing in internet infrastructure companies and internet appliance companies (like EDIG). This is a great sign.
For those of you I didn't get a chance to meet while on my trip, hopefully we can meet next year. But I was the one who asked Robert and Fred the two part question about the cell phone accessories and the later MicroOS application for onboard cell phone flash memory. The latter is still a little bit off, and will probably be in future generation cell phones; my guess is the second half of next year. The great part is the aftermarket cell phone accessories to play music and do voice recording, similar to aftermarket car stereo products that have been available for years. My guess is this type of technology may be introduced at the CES----what better place to launch it? Again, just my guess, but this could be a very lucrative market on its own merit. At least the mystery of what a cell phone accessory is is now solved.
The next day, I did go to the open house. Again, not to repeat what others have reported, but I did notice that the lab equipment that was in sight (oscilloscopes, microscopes and such) were newer and relatively up to date. I do have an electronics background from my military avionics technician days and have the impression these engineers have the right tools to get the job done...and this stuff ain't cheap either. About 20 shareholders were given a Maycom demo in the conference room by Wendy. I didn't hear the unit myself with the headphones on, but I could hear the fidelity and volume drivers when someone had the unit cranked up. As per Wendy, this has been a chief complaint among consumers who have bought units currently on the market. The Maycom unit can probably cause ear drum damage if so desired (not recommended though). The unit was demoed with a flash card, and Wendy stated it could be outfitted to play dataplay disks or whatever platform an OEM chooses. What great flexibility! I asked about unit profits of the Treo, and she stated around $50-$60 profit per unit to EDIG (her estimation). I followed up with what if a PC manufacturer bundled the unit, would those numbers decrease as the number of units increased. She stated that could be the case, however, if a technology or product is hot and in high demand, EDIG could be in the driver's seat and actually make more per unit, based on how bad the OEM wants it, the consumers wants it, and who can provide it (EDIG). We'll see how it goes. Anyway, my last question to her was about the "Puck" design and if any OEMs were going to use it. She stated that at this point, it is available to be licensed, but has been around for a long time now, and OEMS are looking for newer and fresher designs---but it did serve a great purpose in showcasing EDIG's technolgy to OEMs. So a production version of the Puck seems unlikely at this point.
On the way out of the building, I had a chance to speak with Robert, and realizing he was in a rush, just asked him about e-books. With all of the press out about this technology almost everywhere, that I was surprised it wasn't mentioned at the SHM. His reply was that we're definately in the thick of things in regards to e-books. That's all of the time I wanted to take from him and thanked him for a nice SHM presentation.
So, whatever product wasn't mentioned in the meeting, but was mentioned in Fred's letters to shareholders in the past year is probably still in the works. We just have to wait (did I mention CES yet?---just my guess).
So, to wrap up this opus, I want to thank all of the great people I met (and those I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet) for your generosity and spirit. We are in the right place, soon it will be the right time also. Just hang tough. My thanks go to Trillium for arranging a very nice dinner the night before, and I had a blast sitting with who I call the "Oregon Mafia"---Seaquestor and her husband, TerryPar and his guests (sorry, I'm bad with names). The following day after the SHM, I had a nice lunch with Chik, Donna_V, Huntington LI and JPumper---thanks gang, it was great. It was a plesure meeting those I had a chance to meet such as packers1, MaryinRed, LateBrakeU2 and others. I did have an opportunity to talk with Mark (LateBrakeU2) after the SHM for about 15 minutes. The EDIG car is still being sponsored and may continue in the future. We didn't get into specifics on when and where, but he and the company do have an on-going relationship (which is why he doesn't post here much). He did say that even with engine troubles and not being able to race when the PR came out about it, the car and the company got a lot of exposure out of it anyway, so it wasn't a wasted effort. He stated that the car garnered a lot of interest and the company is heavily known in the Southern California area. He remains extremely confident in what this investment is all about, and is comfortable with the compnany's future, as am I, and as you all should be.
Just a little more time folks...
nekos |
