The Q3 conference call was fairly short but provided some very positive news on the future of Microvision. While I thank Mr. Tokman for acknowledging current shareholder frustration, I felt a lack of confidence during his presentation. I kept expecting bad news but was surprised to hear a lot of very positive information, however, what concerned me the most was what happened at the end of the conference call. With a falling share price, but in turn, a positive increase in media exposure due to several products such as the HUD, OmniTouch, and 3D Prototype, I became very concerned when only one caller was available to ask questions. With all the questions being posted on this forum and the overall speculation that surrounds the future of Microvision, I thought there would be a significant question and answer period. The conference call could have gone better, but I found some very positive information Tokman presented on the future of Microvision.
The green laser is the one of most expensive building materials within the Picop display engine. In order to address the demand from the consumer and automotive market, Microvision requires a low cost and high manufacturing volume of direct green lasers which is currently being developed by a handful of global suppliers. Direct green laser suppliers are ready to supply Microvision in the first half of 2012. One of the most positive notes from the conference call is that Microvision will only need to develop one display engine which will be capable of using a variety of direct green lasers. The new Picop display engine is currently being tested internally by Pioneer and Microvision. Once they are both satisfied with the performance, it will be available to customers for evaluation. Microvision is also on track to deliver their prototype to an unnamed car manufacturer. Unfortunately, the name of the car manufacturer is unknown, however, the positive outlook is that no matter who the car manufacturer is, if successful, it will be a major achievement and revenue stream for Microvision. The ShowWX+ HDMI being the first PicoP projector offered by RIM is very positive news. I completely agree with Tokman’s statement, that the current supply chain (Apple, Intel, RIM etc) is being used to validate Pico Projection products before major investment is provided for the integration of PicoP engines into their own products.
The future seems very bright for Microvision, the direct green laser along with a plug and play PicoP engine will significantly reduce cost while improving overall performance. Microvision is onboard with Pioneer in testing the new PicoP engine who is also a customer due to the development of the HUD. The most significant news, as Tokman stated, the leading indicators (3D, Gaming, HUD, etc) have shown increasing market demand for Picop products. The big players (Intel, RIM, Apple) through their supply chains, have currently chosen Microvisions technology in order to determine the future of Picop products. However, whether or not Microvisions becomes the preferred technology is remained to be seen but the positive news is the big players (Intel, RIM, Apple), at this time, are interested in Microvision.
