To: Starlight who wrote (6126 ) 1/21/1999 9:44:00 PM From: bob Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 8581
Patriot Scientific - A Completely Unknown Company with Cutting Edge Microprocessor Technology Computers are taking over to an even greater extent than most people realize. By now many folks know that a microprocessor controls many functions in their car - but not many know that current cars can contain a half-dozen or more processors. Simple microprocessors (computers on a chip) are now in microwave ovens, washing machines, even toasters. That's just the beginning. Eventually, these tiny computers will not only run machinery and appliances but communicate, perhaps over the internet. Trouble with the appliances could be diagnosed automatically by a service company. That's in the future, but there are obviously applications right now in manufacturing, transportation, and communications. It happens that a tiny company has a big lead in microprocessors that work with the Java language, making them ideal for communications and some other applications. Patriot Scientific is a very small company with a potentially big product. This is a speculation, but some of the hardest work has already been done. Now it's mainly a matter of gaining market acceptance. The most important product is the PSC1000 family of 32-bit RISC processors. RISC (reduced instruction set) processing and other features keep the chip small, simple, and cheap. But the big thing is that it runs the Java language "natively". That is, there's no need for the chip to translate another operating language into Java. This also adds to speed and simplicity and makes the chip ideal for certain applications - Java being the burgeoning language of the Internet and other communications apps. Management says it is six months to a year ahead of all the others working on Java microprocessors. Even when competing chips are ready, the company believes its version will remain the cheapest and simplest by the nature of its design. (The Patriot chips are expected to sell for $10 in quantity). Other chips may eventually have more capacity, but Patriot is aiming at market niches where it can be the leader. The PSC1000 is meant for embedded system applications - all those appliances plus communications devices including cell phones. The market is expected to reach $27 billion by next year. The microprocessor line represents the future of the company but Patriot has a couple of other products. Providing small but steady (and potentially growing) cash flow is a line of networking "cards" for computers. Patriot is in transition from an R&D company to an operating firm. Cash has always been tight and still is. Management intends to raise some money, but at higher stock prices. Meanwhile cash flow from current sales should be enough to fund operations. Sales for the fiscal year ended May 1998 were $1.9 million. Management projects a jump this year to as much as $10 million, and double that next year. That's just on the basis of business currently in sight. New contracts could produce much larger numbers (and profits) for fiscal 2000. The stock is a true speculation but it's selling at only a quarter of this year's high and it's even further below last years peak. Any substantial order for the microprocessor should put PTSC alot higher. The stock trades actively, but not always in large volume, and there is more of a spread than we like to see between the bid and the asked prices. Use limit orders and pay no more than 3/16 (spread).