I truly believe Google and Tesla and other Giants are in the mix too! Decision has to be made in August at the latest. Deal could be made any day now and at any given moment!.
4 5G Penny Stocks Trading Up: MicroVision, Inc. (NASDAQ:MVIS) Based in Redmond, Washington, MicroVision, Inc. develops laser scanning technology for 3D sensing, image capture, and projection. The company is recognized as one that will not just fuel the 5G revolution but will help others work more efficiently throughout it. (5G decreases latency, which then allows MicroVision's services to run better).
IoT and AI Platforms. AR, VR, Smart Homes, Online Learning, Gaming.
Buyout Due to Microvision initiating contracts with Apple and Microsoft, and the imminent sale of the company, there is much debate on who the company will be sold to. Consensus by an independent tech reviewer claims that Microsoft will buy Microvision in the foreseeable future, due to Apple having interest in the company with their most recent patents. The independent tech reviewer suggests "a Microsoft buyout makes a lot of sense. If you're Microsoft and you've spent a ton of money and effort to build and promote a product you certainly don't want critical parts controlled by someone else especially if that someone else is a possible competitor." [16] To protect Microsoft's assets with the Hololens 2, and to prevent competition from Apple, it is probable that Microsoft will buy the company.[/color]
Microvision: In The Right Markets At The Right Time Jul. 13, 2020 11:19 AM ET|4 comments | About: MicroVision, Inc. (MVIS), Includes: AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, GOOGL, INTC, TSLA Summary Just days after I stated here that Microvision's products serve five future markets, acquisitions from Amazon and Google confirmed this. These acquisitions strengthen the bargaining position of Microvision management with companies that want to buy Microvision or individual product lines and set the bar much higher. The purchase prices paid by Amazon and Google even make the upper fair value of $10 per share I mentioned last time seem very conservative and bring $20 within reach. Investors will now surely realize that no software works without hardware and that the knowledge of Microvision would give them a head start. E.g. software for self-driven cars requires high-resolution and inexpensive, yet very small LiDAR systems e.g. from Microvision, Smartglasses could require all licenses from Microvision. Microvision (MVIS) has always been ahead of its time. Unfortunately, something was always missing for market success, e.g. green lasers in the early days. However, by the time they were available, it was too late for "simple" projectors, as the target markets had changed. This short article now shows that Microvision is finally coming to the market with its products at exactly the right time in the areas of self-driven cars, augmented reality (AR) smartglasses and smart home devices. Just right means for Microvision: They are needed now and other companies should therefore be prepared to pay at least fair, if not strategic prices for Microvision or Microvison product lines in these future markets. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic does not seem to have a negative impact on company valuations, as the following company acquisitions show. After many years of bad news not only for Microvision, but especially for its shareholders, the tide finally seems to be turning for the better. This will be explained below on the basis of real company takeovers and valuations of the last few days. Thus, Alphabet/google (GOOG) (GOOGL) surprised the public on 30 June 2020 with the news that it had taken over North Inc. (unlisted) for 180 million US dollars, which was rumored to be on the verge of bankruptcy due to lack of sales and profits:
SCOOP: Smart-glasses maker @focalsbynorth, once one of Canada's most high-profile startups, is being bought by Google/Alphabet for about $180-million, sources say. We've learned the company likely sold very, very few Focals and was running out of money." A similar situation to the one Microvision is currently in. However, Microvision still has money until at least the end of the year: we believe this cash balance will fund operations through the fourth quarter And: Based on these actions, we expect to have sufficient cash to continue through Q4 2020 as we seek a strategic transaction. That was the situation on 7 May 2020, and since then the situation should have improved further, partly through further share sales, so that the money should last until 2021. However, as is known, Microvision plans to sell itself before then, similar to North: We have shifted our focus to exploring strategic alternatives including a sale of part or all of the Company. Interestingly, Google did not wait for North's insolvency, but took action before it happened. In articles and comments on Microvision here and here at Seeking Alpha, interested parties often say that it would be cheaper and better for buyers to let a company go bankrupt first, and then buy up the assets. Apparently, however, this thinking does not prevail in all top management who decide on company acquisitions of this magnitude. The same applies to the comments that a product is not yet fully developed, as is also objected with regard to Microvision's LiDAR developments. North was a start-up founded in 2012 which was previously owned by Amazon (AMZN) and Intel (INTC) among others and developed and produced "custom-built smart glasses with a holographic display". However, the reason for google to buy North was not the existing product. There was only one. Google stated this itself in the previously linked announcement: North's technical expertise will help as we continue to invest in our hardware efforts and ambient computing future.
So, the reasons were solely based on the technological expertise and knowledge of the company and its employees. Consequently, the company's only product was discontinued just one day later: Focals support and services are being discontinued as of July 31st, 2020. So, only intangible assets such as patents and knowledge were bought. Until the takeover, North developed and produced Smart Glasses (video), which North sold in few own shops from $ 600 per piece, as they had to be individually adapted to the buyer: ? Source: North Inc. A description can also be found here (and in this video). It had a Class 1 laser projector on the inside of the right side of the frame, which projected the image onto the right coated glass. The resolution was about 200 x 200 pixels. Similar to the Bosch Smart Glasses, which, however, did not project onto the glass, but instead also used a Class 1 laser projector to project the image onto the retina of the eye: ? Source: Bosch Sensortec However, North did not achieve commercial success. Nevertheless, the takeover was positively received: I am sure this will help developing the overall market of AR glasses and it will also boost the penetration of laser beam scanning displays as a key driver for performances in near-to-eye projectors. Although North also uses laser projection, it is not known that this company paid royalties to Microvision. Microvision should finally explain what features are covered by their patents instead of just announcing the number of patents. Then shareholders would also know whether Bosch or Bosch customers would have to purchase licenses when Bosch Smart Glasses entered the market.
After all, this is a market that could encompass hundreds of millions or even billions of glasses in the near future. Bosch smartglasses, like earlier Microvision glasses, use a MEMS to project images directly onto the retina by laser. According to reports, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) also seems to be pursuing a multi-stage plan at the moment, which in the first stage, rumored to start in 2021, could include glasses similar to the North Focals or Bosch Smart Glasses and could possibly require licenses from Microvision, before "real" AR glasses such as the Microsoft HoloLens 2 could come onto the market in the second stage from around 2022. This was the one company takeover in the last few weeks. The second one is also quite spectacular: Amazon Speeds Towards $1.2 Billion Self Driving Black-Led Car Company Zoox Amazon made the following statement: We're acquiring Zoox to help bring their vision of autonomous ride-hailing to reality Zoox (unlisted), like North, was also in a similar situation to North and Microvision: Zoox, like so many others, had been struggling in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and had been seeking a sale since May. Like google with North, Amazon did not wait until the company was insolvent, but bought it up before. Further proof that hardly anyone in top management positions risks letting an interesting company and technology that is needed for the future go bankrupt, but rather buys it up in good time before. Valuation: In June 2020 Zoox had 800 employees. The company was founded in 2014, so it existed for about six years. Assuming an average of 800 employees per year (details are not available to me), Zoox has in six years spent roughly 6 * 800 employees = 4,800 employees/year on development. Microvision, on the other hand, has invested about the same amount of development time in 25 years with about 100-150 employees. Although Zoom wants to build complete cars, but currently still uses Toyota cars, the focus is probably (only) on software development, but Microvision develops hardware (including) software.
Not only the valuation of the company by Amazon with $1.2 billion US dollars is exciting here. It is also interesting that this company is similar to many others, e.g. Waymo (unlisted), a subsidiary of Alphabet/google. This and many others are specialized in software for autonomous driving. However, none of these companies has a really useful LiDAR system that is small enough not to compromise the aesthetics of a car:
Automotive 3D LiDAR Sensor Compact Perceptive LiDAR For HD Mapping and Active Collision Avoidance Integrated hardware and software module that incorporates MicroVision Perceptive 3D LiDAR sensor with real-time object classification. Small size enables preservation of automobile aesthetics. Because it's based on the consumer LiDAR, it is cheap enough not to significantly increase the cost of a car, and especially powerful enough to detect small objects in time as the Microvision LiDAR: ? Source: Microvision This is the consumer LiDAR (product brief). ? ? Source: Microvision The automotive LiDAR will be similar: ?
Source: Microvision Microvision's CEO promised among other things: I believe MicroVison's future lies in developing our Perceptive Automotive Lidar products and entering partnerships with automotive Tier 1 suppliers. Since 2019 we have been actively engaged with presenting our technology roadmap to automotive OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers, and have continuously received positive feedback on our products and potential partnership structures. We are currently developing our first Automotive Lidar samples targeted for OEM demonstration in Q4 2020. I believe our Perceptive Lidar products will bring true solid-state Automotive Lidar capable of an operating range greater than 200 meters with perceptive edge computing in full sunlight first-to-market. My desire to relocate to Seattle four and a half years ago and join MicroVision was rooted in what I knew would be possible with our core technology applied to Perceptive Lidar products. For more details please see my last article. While Tesla (TSLA) only uses cameras for object detection and wants to have a level 5 system for autonomous driving ready for series production by the end of this year, LiDAR is considered indispensable outside of Tesla, along with camera systems and radar. Tesla's progress in development is massively increasing the time pressure on all competitors and suppliers to also come to market with a level 5 system in order not to be completely left behind. To do this, they need a LiDAR system, which only Microvision currently has almost market-ready with the required resolution, price and size. There are also many companies in the LiDAR market, including Waymo itself, that develop their own LiDAR systems. However, none of the competing systems seem to be able to keep up with Microvision in size, price and resolution. Microvision can offer them this. So, in the last few weeks, google paid about $180 million for a company that was about to go bankrupt. Amazon even paid $1.2 billion for a company in a similar situation.
Waymo, the Alphabet subsidiary that operates in the same business as Zoox, was rated even higher So what's the valuation? Well, there was no disclosure on this. But a report from the Financial Times estimates that it is about $30 billion or so. in March: A Look At Waymo's Mega $2.25 Billion Funding Microvision has many more product lines than North. Microvision has invested as much development time as Zoox. Zoos does not even seem to be a market leader, if Tesla's announcements are true. Microvision, on the other hand, is the market leader with all product lines (e.g. automotive LiDAR) and, unlike Zoox, has many patents. For both Alphabet/google and Amazon, Microvison would be an ideal addition, both of which have smart speakers, smart home devices and software for self-driven cars on offer or in development. The same applies to Bosch as a supplier for these products. If you take these company valuations and try to transfer them to Microvision, they should be based more on Zoox than on North. That's about $10 a share. However, since Microvision is not, as both companies claim, only active in one market, but in five mass markets (AR, Smart Glasses, Interactive Projectors, Consumer LiDAR and Automotive LiDAR), a higher valuation than Zoox seems possible. In addition, only Microvision offers this extensive product range, which enables synergistic effects between the company's divisions and significantly reduces time-to-market as developments are completed or almost completed as the CEO said in May at the Annual General Shareholder Meeting 2020: With the help of our investors, over the last 20-plus years, we have developed the deepest body of work in laser beam scanning from MEMS, ASICS to full system modules. The high-risk core technology development is complete. We stand at an inflection point where we expect to -- and now a potential acquiring company could launch products with our technology and monetize the long investment path. It should be noted: A car using software from Zoox or Waymo will certainly need several LiDAR sensors, probably from Microvision. Thus, Microvision could generate similarly high profits with the LiDAR systems as the software manufacturers, even if Microvision would only serve 10 - 50 % of the market of approximately 70 million cars per year.
The competition for software for autonomous cars seems to be much higher than for hardware, which the companies probably want to/must buy. This is a chance for Microvision to be taken as a supplier for many car manufacturers, while the software manufacturers can probably only win one Tier 1 car manufacturer as a customer, since the software is supposed to be a differentiation potential, but LiDAR systems such as headlights are to be purchased. The same situation exists for augmented reality and smart home devices. In the end, only the possible future profits are decisive for a company valuation, if it is only a strategic purchase to open up or secure a market. In both cases, Microvision could receive a similar or higher valuation than the manufacturers of the software for autonomous driving. This described acquisition does not only show possible company valuations, it also shows especially which markets and technologies are currently "in" and in demand. Microvision is active in exactly these markets. Now. Again, the CEO in May at the Annual General Shareholder Meeting 2020: I've talked about my personal belief that long term, MicroVision technology will unlock billions of dollars of market revenue for us and our OEM partners. The value of the company is now largely dependent on what sales can actually be expected in the future and how high the profit margin could be. 50 % as with Apple or only 20 % as usual. No outside shareholder can know this, but it will be the decisive valuation criterion in the negotiations. 50 % of sales in the billions could also be billions in profits. Which company can demonstrate competence, patents and products for AR, Smart Glasses, Smart Home Devices and autonomous driving? Please see the company video for details: Microvision product & application segments Microvision is thus represented in some important future markets at the right time. In each case, Microvision is a technological leader or holds patents (details unfortunately unknown; a non-exhaustive list can be found here).
? Source: Microvision Microvision shareholders can therefore continue to hope for $10 per share plus $X. Perhaps $MVIS
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