Intelligent Ultrasound Share Discussion Threads

[thecurrymonster] 11/1/2007 11:00

Wild Bill, Glad to see I'm not alone!

What recent Japanese mission?

I know that they had sales channels established in Japan and Taiwain a couple of years ago, and that they landed an order with a Japanese company NHJ, for camcorders - NHJ went bust, which is probably just as well since at that stage, MED probably couldn't have produced the displays anyway.

The new £2m order is from a "a manufacturer of consumer products in the Far East" - I don't think they've told us whether this is Japan or not.
I know that they have also been involved in the past with a Taiwainese company called Kinpo, but this may have been related to the NHJ deal, as Kinpo used to manufacture some of NHJ's products.

I think that MED would be wise to concentrate on Japan and Korea as early users of the technology - already TV is commonplace on mobile phones there, and it is a common sight to see Japanese and Korean commuters watching TV while travelling to work on the subway - it is a logical next step to wear Eyescreen glasses. A deal with Sony or Samsung could be huge, but I guess they are propably working on their own technology.

As for today's fall, I think it is probably just noise, nothing sinister. It is a problem with this share though, since there are quite large institutional holders who will quite likely know considerably more about what's going on at the company, and dump stock at the first sign of a problem, before retail investors know anything. Just in the last placing along, 60% of the company went to institutions.

I'm happy to hold on to what I have for now, and I will be adding more on any positive newsflow.

Cheers!

[wild bill] 11/1/2007 09:45

CM, this board is on my favourites list - you are not alone, as they say. I was in Scotland yesterday and asked a few questions about the Company. What do you know, if anything, about MED's recent Japanese mission? Also, what's caused this morning's dip - anyone? Frenchie, any ideas?

[waldron] 10/1/2007 12:28

old news different source

MicroEmissive Displays lands £2m supply deal
by Alex Mayhew-Smith
Wednesday 10 January 2007
Scottish microdisplay firm Micro-Emissive Displays has signed a supply contract ahead of the launch of the second version of its display.

Last year the firm told EW potential customer were "biting our hand off" for its product. The £2m deal with a manufacturer of consumer products in the Far East is for the second version of its microdisplay which will be moved into volume manufacturing in the second quarter of the year.

Bill Miller, CEO of MED said: "This contract is an extremely positive start to the order book we intend to build over the coming months." Discussions with "significant OEMs" and global distributors are at an advanced stage, added the company.

MED is setting up its own manufacturing centre in Dresden and said the clean room at the site has been completed. Local staff have begun to be taken on, with recruitment continuing. "Characterisation of the volume toolset will begin in January," said MED.

The second version of MED's display will be capable of 10,000 hours use at 80cd/m2, a lifetime that will allow commercial products such as video glasses to come into being.

[thecurrymonster] 10/1/2007 10:31

Interesting article from last November that I missed:


Also This aritcle from the Guardian states that the new manufacturing facility will be capable of producing 10 million displays per year:


However elsewhere I have read that the new facility will be capable of £50m of displays per year, so it looks like £5 per display is the ball-park price.

So it follows that the recent £2m contract should be for something of the order of 400,000 displays.

Could all be wrong, as it seems way too cheap to me.

Anybody else seen any figures for unit costs and sales prices for the Eyescreen display?

(I know this board is so quiet that I'm probably just talking to myself here!)

[wild bill] 08/1/2007 17:57

I did wonder.....

[waldron] 08/1/2007 17:44

above nothing to do with our med

[ariane] 06/1/2007 05:35

MicroEmissive Displays Group - Medifast CEO transition set for ...............




an ADVFN competitor 19:27 5-Jan-07 ???????????????????????

[wild bill] 05/1/2007 15:23

I think they should 'push the boat out' and get on over to CeBIT, that's the ideal place for this product to be shown, I'm sure they'd get a place on the British sector and some funding, especially being Scottish.

[thecurrymonster] 05/1/2007 15:08

Wild Bill,

I don't think they have really begun marketing the product in anger yet. It's such a unique and interesting product that I guess word-of-mouth, exhibitions and press releases have been enough to gain initial interest.

From the RNS in December they stated:

As previously stated, the manufacturing line will be ready for volume capacity and capable of volume shipment in the second quarter of 2007. Following investment in our sales and marketing channels, the business is gaining strong traction with customers.

So they are obviously stepping up the marketing effort which makes sense if they are to secure more volume orders.

Have a nice weekend!

[wild bill] 05/1/2007 14:41

CurryMonster, I agree (I work for one, one of only three worldwide manufacturing a product that we market and sell around the globe, we're based in Fife) it's just that, to date, I always backed the wrong one.

You've reminded me of a question I thought of earlier today, then forgot to do anything about it, how do they market their product? Direct, agents, distributors? I admit I haven't done any digging yet, can you add anything...

Interestingly, Roy had MED earmarked for his tip but you beat him to it.

ps. How did you know I lived on a farm?

[thecurrymonster] 05/1/2007 11:57

Wild Bill - Not all Scottish Tech companies have been bad - Indigovision and Wolfson have both done OK. I've done very nicely out of Indigovision in the last two years.
Scotland seems to be very good at producing technology spin-offs from universities, and seems to have good infrastructure in place for incubating these fledgling companies - the problems seem to arise when it comes to bringing products to market and producing them. Let's face it, these skills come from years of experience, and it's important for young companies to ensure that they have the right skill set to bring a product to market. Most companies fail trying.
Hopefully MED have learnt from their previous mistakes, and bringing Bill Miller on board has been the turning point.

Whichever way you look at this, there's risks associated with this - it looks a lot less risky than it was 18 months ago, but probably not a good idea to bet the farm at this stage.
I've taken a smallish position for now, and will top-up if everything goes to plan.

[wild bill] 05/1/2007 11:20

CurryMonster - Interesting read, thanks. I'm tempted but Scottish (Technology) Companies have lost me a lot of money. This part from your post, "There is a big risk that the market will not want the product – wearable headset glasses so that you can watch TV on the move could well have a 'geeky' image problem, or then again, they could be the next 'must-have' item" is interesting. Thinking about it, how many people travel on trains, buses, underground etc. with a wire (or two) sticking in their ear(s)? I agree, it could go one way or the other. For example, just look at the amount of peole who stick a bluetooth on their ear and it's never used for hours- now that IS geeky but this COULD be the next 'must have' and I see nothing geeky about watching, say a movie, on a long journey providing you're not the driver.

Curry for Breakfast - you're both animals.....

[grupo guitarlumber] 05/1/2007 10:31

yer marra, nothin wong with curry in the matin

[thecurrymonster] 05/1/2007 10:25

Wild Bill,

Thanks - I'm already a holder of MED, I bought some at towards the end of last year, having had them on my watchlist for some time. They are also my pick for the Fool Pub Share Competition, I posted my review yesterday over there:



I haven't really been posting over here, as there has been little activity on this board - hopefully this will all change this year as the company finally starts producing in volume.

Cheers!

ps. nothing wrong with curry for breakfast.

[wild bill] 05/1/2007 10:08

TheCurryMonster - 5 Jan'07 - 00:08 - 64 of 67 - take a look

[wild bill] 05/1/2007 10:04

Thanks Frenchie.....

ps. Curry for Breakfast?

[bookbroker] 05/1/2007 09:20

Sounds freaky!!!

[ariane] 05/1/2007 07:17

just looking

TCM i hope you don't post often, cause now i have to go
and get something to eat.

your name conjures up a picture of my favourite dish.

enjoy your day and weekend.

[thecurrymonster] 05/1/2007 00:08

Ariane,

The spread is fairly normal for a small cap like this.

Why all of the sudden interest anyway?

[ariane] 04/1/2007 21:12

spread very wide. is this the norm for
a share such as this?.

[ariane] 04/1/2007 20:16

OLED-Info Q&A with Ian Underwood, Strategic Marketing Officer, MED
Submitted by oled on Thu, 23/11/2006 - 12:41.
Ron Mertens from OLED-Info.com recently had the opportunity to interview Ian Underwood, Strategic Marketing Officer and Co-Founder of MicroEmissive Display (MED). Ian is also the co-inventor of its P-OLED microdisplay technology. Prior to 1999 he was at The University of Edinburgh where he carried out pioneering research and development in the field of liquid crystal microdisplays between 1983 and 1999. Ian has recently co-authored a book about microdisplays.

MicroEmissive Displays (MED) was founded in 1999 with the aim of developing and commercialising a new microdisplay technology using P-OLED materials. MED is a public company listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. In september 2006 MED has announced that it has raised over $9 million, and has revealed its plans for a volume manufacturing facility for its polymer light emitting diode (P-OLED) microdisplay products.

Q: First of all, thank you for accepting to do this interview session with us... Let's begin.
Can you give a short description of MED? What it is that you do?
MED develops, manufactures ands sells microdisplays based upon the hybrid technology of P-OLED/CMOS (read as P-OLED over CMOS). A microdisplay is a very-small active-matrix electronic display that is capable of showing TV-quality pictures. Microdisplays are optically magnified in order to produce a viewable image. Microdisplay-based systems have the unique advantage of being able to produce a viewable image that is much larger than the physical size of the unit that produces the image. An additional advantage (particularly for portable and personal electronics) is that microdisplays tend to operate at lower power than the equivalent direct-view display thus prolonging battery life.

P-OLED is the solution-processable polymer version of Organic LED.
Microdisplays are used in two main classes of applications -


Projection
data projectors
rear-projection television
Near-To-Eye (NTE)
Hand-held = electronic viewfinders
digital cameras
video cameras
night scopes (See in the dark)
medical instruments
Hands-free = Wearable displays
Head mounted displays
Video glasses
MED's products address both parts of the NTE market.

Q: How do your products compete with other microdisplays on the market?

The competition to P-OLED/CMOS is two-fold – transmissive miniature TFT-LCD and reflective liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS). Transmissive TFT-LCD does not scale very well to small pixel sizes where overall optical efficiency is small; fill-factor (the proportion of the area of each pixel that lights up) becomes small thus making pixelation artifacts more visible. Only low levels of electronic integration are possible, so more support chips are required. Reflective LCOS, on the other hand, suffers from complicated optics and the system complications of field sequential colour.

Q:What advantages do you get from the P-OLED display?

MED's P-OLED/CMOS technology offers


High level of electronic integration (effectively display system on chip)
No driver chip required (assuming BT656 digital video input signal)
No backlight required
Simple emissive optics (no polarization required)
Ultra-low power consumption
Superior image quality (contrast, pixelation)

Q: Can you comment about eMagin's OLED microdisplays?

With an early stage technology like OLEDs, many customers find it reassuring when there is more than one company developing products.
It boosts their confidence in the generic technology.

Q: Currently your web site describes only one product: eyescreen™ ME3204, a colour QVGA (320x240 pixel) microdisplay. Do you have plans for higher resolution displays?

MED has a product roadmap that will involve the development of widescreen (16:9) and higher resolution components in due course.

Q: You have just announced that you raised $9M to build your manufacturing plant. Can you give more details?

In October we successfully completed a placing of new ordinary shares to raise approximately £5 million of new funds. The proceeds from this placing will help secure the company's planned move to volume manufacturing in 2007 in Dresden, Germany. We believe that this will enable MED to take advantage of what we consider to be significant market opportunities for our innovative product, eyescreen™. Both the Saxony State Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour and the Inward Investment Council for East Germany have been very supportive of MED and our move and have provided us with a letter of intent setting out the availability of material grant funding for the company.

Q: You say you have some customers that already signed letters of intent. Can you name some of these customers or their products?

The first letter of intent was received in June 2006 for volume product to commence in 2007. Discussions with most customers are carried out under mutual non-disclosure agreements, so we can't disclose customer names.

Q: You are a CDT licensee, and seem to have a special relationship with them. Can you give some more info about your cooperation?

MED has a license from CDT to use CDT's IP in its products. I would describe the relationship between the companies as close, cooperative, mutually beneficial and very healthy. MED certainly benefits from its close collaboration with CDT. In particular, the material and device expertise resident at CDT has been of great assistance to MED in developing its own device structure and manufacturing process.

Q: Do you have plans for non P-OLED products? Such as OLED displays?

MED is focusing very much on its core technology, bringing the new product to market and mass manufacturing.

Q: eMagin decided that in addition to selling displays to OEM, they want to sell complete systems (i.e. their 3D visor product). Do you have any plans like that?

MED's core competences include P-OLED device technology and microdisplay technology. MED is focusing very much on its core
technology, the new product and mass manufacturing. Our expertise in systems is being utilized to help our customers develop their
systems so as to maximize the benefits of using MED's microdisplay components.

Q: When do you think we'll be able to buy an OLED TV, or computer screen?

Domestic TV and flat panel monitors for computers are amongst the most demanding of applications, so we will see OLEDs in a range of other applications first such as MP3 players, mobile phones and cameras. MED's P-OLED microdisplays will soon emerge in electronic viewfinders and video glasses. As for large OLED TVs, these have been seen at trade shows over the last few years but it will be some time before they are sold in the shops.

Q: Where do you see OLEDs in 5 years?

Display products based on OLED technology will continue to penetrate the mainstream within the next 5 years. There will be an evolution from smaller to include larger displays and for the emergence of a whole host of non-display applications including OLED backlights for LCDs, OLED panels for lighting, and revolutionary products like OLED sticking plasters for the treatment of skin cancers.

Q: I'm sure there are MED shareholders reading this interview. What do you have to say to them? What does the future hold?

MED has a very promising technology that, even in its current early stage of development, offers clear advantages over mature incumbent technologies. MED's technology is capable of scaling and improvement for many years into the future. The company's current task is to begin to manufacture its new product, the eyescreen™ ME3204, in volume, to generate a significant revenue stream and to establish itself as a volume supplier of microdisplays. Thereafter we will begin to broaden our product portfolio.


Thank you again for your time, I wish both you and MED good luck!

[ariane] 04/1/2007 20:02

Watch for signs of any Substantial Major Shareholder Buys or Sells



understand now why share discounted to 20p due to
no likely major profit before 2008.

[ariane] 04/1/2007 20:01

The Major share holders appear to be


23 Oct 2006 Axa/Framlington 5,285,900 12.11%

13 Oct 2006 Fidelity Int 3,327,000 7.63%

xxxxxxxxxxx Scottish Equity 8,458,649 19,39%

xxxxxxxxxxxx Henderson 1,483,333 3.40%

xxxxxxxxxxx Amvescap 5,495,000 12.59%

xxxxxxxxxxx Aim Realisation 765,757 4.47%
(this one puzzles me)
(regarding % and price paid)

26,350,000 shares were placed on 4th Oct 2006 @ 20p

total shares apparently 43,482,206.

[ariane] 04/1/2007 19:39

Major shareholders are certainly an impressive bunch.