Vuzix® Corporation (NASDAQ: VUZI), a leading supplier of Smart Glasses, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies and products for the consumer and enterprise markets, announced today the company’s outlook for 2017.
We believe 2017 is already proving to be a pivotal year for Vuzix and the entire Smart Glasses industry. We have a strong focus on the Enterprise markets as the M300 ramps up in production and we continue to ship growing levels of smart glasses into the field. Vuzix has already begun the process to transition our M300 manufacturing line to Asia to expand our margin profile and provide additional flexibility to respond to customer orders. We have over 250 enterprise VARs (value added resellers) and we continue to pursue additional distribution channels to increase our global reach to end customers.
The M300 recently received TELEC approval in Japan and we expect to begin shipping product into this region beginning in Q2. Our M300 is being showcased this week at CeBIT in Hanover, Germany at the KDDI booth located in Hall 4 – A38 (17) until Friday, March 24th. A demonstration video of KDDI Vist@Finder field service application through the eyes of Vuzix M300 filmed at CeBIT can be viewed through the following link.
Link to video: https://youtu.be/a0TNDV9Uc9s
We recently announced $1.1 million development agreement with Toshiba for a customized Smart Glasses device is another confirmation of Vuzix’ solution strengths. This project is progressing quickly through the design phase gates and we look forward to seeing the new product enter volume production this fall. At the same time, we expect to continue previous relationships and bring on additional major OEM partners which should represent significant opportunities for us.
Vuzix’ patent portfolio now totals 90 patents and patents pending, which includes the addition of 11 patents and 16 patents pending over the last year. Vuzix will continue to focus on broadening the company’s intellectual property in 2017, especially in the optics and display engine areas.
The deployment of our automated waveguide replication equipment is in the qualification phase and should be released to the plant floor for full manufacturing operation in the second quarter. This will allow us to not only produce in volume but with improved precision and performance. When our new waveguide based products are released, we should be at the forefront of helping to evolve the world of mobile computing and AR with technology that connects the digital world to the real world through fashionable AR smart glasses. We believe Vuzix is now positioned well on the capital front to execute on our plans in 2017 and grow our business.
Management has outlined the following priorities for 2017:
- Increase M300 production with a goal of achieving 1,500 units a month in Q2, while completing our planned transition of manufacturing to Asia to lower costs and further increase our production capacity
- Broaden our enterprise distribution channels through additional VARs (value added resellers) and other strategic agreements
- Deploy automated waveguide replication equipment that will allow for volume production along with improved precision and performance
- Broaden intellectual properties including the filing of numerous new patent applications
- Prioritize, support and actively engage new interests received from select OEMs
- Manage the growth in operating costs, so that along with our expected increase in revenues we can minimize the funds required for operations as we move towards profitability
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