Liquidmetal Technologies Inc (LQMT)

[bobroo]

LQMT and Apple, Please Consider:

--The GTAT debacle caught Apple off guard. Before the fallout subcontractors dealing with Apple had to jump through hoops. Apple will never put itself in a position to be burned again. Last September, being a subcontractor to Apple just became much more difficult.

--Apple has tried super durable materials to enclose it's products before. Only about 10 years ago you could buy an Apple laptop made of titanium. Yea, remember those? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-POWERBOOK-G4-800MHz-TITANIUM-A1001-VERY-NICE-/121563744267?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c4dc3880b

--Apple last year bought some 20 small firms outright. Has anyone ever heard of them or their doings ever again??? The good parts were absorbed and the rest stifled. I'm guessing many people lost there jobs.

--Apple using LQMT as a case for a future IWatch edition, particularly one that is RED, seems plausible and realistic. Merely conjecture on my part.

--Apple using LQMT for proprietary fasteners is also plausible and realistic. Very tiny little screws. More conjecture on my part but also mentioned by Jonny Ive last summer.

--In my opinion, two green mystery machines would NOT be able to produce the quantities Apple would require of RED iWatch casings or bazillions of teeny tiny screws. No way baby!

--I think many posters here don't realize just how big a whale Apple is and by comparison how small LQMT is. It doesn't mean they can't tango at some point but there clearly there needs to be growth by LQMT.

--Apple will never allow branding of another company on any of it's products. This isn't NASCAR. Apple will always be about sleek design and about themselves. Apple always tries to keep on the down low that they actually manufacture nothing. Back to my argument that large firms only want collect revenues while deferring any and all responsibility for products they "manufacture"; a classic example.

--I think the Apple/LQMT relationship is more like this: LQMT is something that caught Apple's attention in a department store of future technology. They took LQMT and put it in their shopping cart. It's in the shopping cart but does not mean they are going to buy it. They put it in their cart and are strolling around the technology department store with it and many other items in their cart. It's under consideration but it's in Apples' cart so that another shopper can not take it to the check out.

--I am convinced that Apple engineers and LQMT engineers are NOT in a laboratory together working side by side "trying to get this thing right". Rather, I think the relationship is like this:

Apple: I kinda like what you guys are doing. I'd like to see you guys focus your attention more in these areas.
LQMT: Sure, those types of things could certainly be improved but to focus on your interests costs money and takes us away doing other money making things.
Apple: I understand, we were a small company once too. What if I gave you a dollar equivalent to what you might be earning a year plus some extra to continue research in my preferred areas.
LQMT: I dunno about that....
Apple: How about $20M???
LQMT: Where do I sign?!!! <thinking management will draw large salaries for keeping a few engineers busy doing some things that really propels the company forward anyway, all on Apples dime>
Apple: Report back to me every so often and keep me abreast of what's going on. And don't get involved in anything that may distract your attention from Apple. We don't mind if you do if you do small stuff in other areas, but please keep it on the down low.

--Patents? While it is an indication collaboration and forward movement, does anyone know just how many patents Apple works on a year? The CIP things are or may be important; but in the scheme of things in Apples mind; they are just one of thousands of patents.