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Now, say thank you! Obducat customer inks "breakthrough" agreement |
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Apr 16, 2008 at 03:17 PM |
The odd press release issued by Obducat last week and blogged about here, in which the Swedish nanoimprint lithography (NIL) company took the unusual step of announcing a pending order agreement that hadn't been signed yet, has been trumped by today's news that the customer company and tool supplier have closed the deal.
The unnamed major hard-disk drive (HDD) manufacturer will issue a purchase order by the end of the month, with the Sindre volume production system scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2009.
After stating how the deal "represents a major breakthrough for Obducat," CEO Patrik Lundstrom noted in the prepared remarks that "the underlying potential in this agreement is of significant magnitude..the global market potential within HDD industry exceeds 300 Sindre HDD systems within the next five years." That's 300 tools, not 30 or 60, so we're not talking about an insignificant market sector for Obducat or the other NIL suppliers targeting the HDD space.
Hype and press releases go hand in hand, but in this case, the term "major breakthrough" actually has some validity, given the market possibilities and the monetary amounts that Obducat cited in today's announcements. The company said the deal for the first system would be worth 36 million Swedish krona (SEK), or about $6.1 million at current exchange rates. The customer also has signed on for an option to buy an additional Sindre HDD tool as well as an e-beam recording system, which would result in an additional 30 million SEK, or $5.1 million, meaning the total package has a value, if all goes well for Obducat, of $11.2 million.
A comparison to the company's 2007 financials shows that the 36 million SEK exceeds Obducat's revenues for all of last year, which were just under 33 million SEK. If the other 30 mill SEK gets thrown in, the single deal will effectively double the company's revenues in one fell swoop. No wonder the boyish Lundstrom and his team are so excited!
When you look back at that potential market of 300 systems and do a little simple math, a back-of-the-envelope calculation of $1.5 billion (figured at roughly $5 mill per toolset) emerges as a ballpark figure of the sector's worth. Even if Obducat were to score only a portion of the market share, it represents a growth opportunity of at least a few orders of magnitude.
The latest development is also likely to attract the attention of some bigger OEM or equity investor fish, who've been biding their time, waiting for NIL to break out in a meaningful way into various micro/nano industries before snapping up one or more of the strongest players.
For Obducat as an up-and-coming capital equipment supplier, it's the proverbial rubber meets the road time: Will the company execute its gameplan and deliver that first Sindre tool on time and on budget, in a reasonably production-ready fashion? Along with the status of its penetration of the LED and display markets, the company's HDD success or failure will speak volumes about nanoimprint's future as a prime-time alternative-litho manufacturing approach.
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Comment by GUEST on 2008-04-18 11:35:27
The agreement is for the customer to place a PO by the end of the month. Why does an agreement for a PO need to be made 2 weeks prior to the PO? Why not just issue the PO unless there is an issue? Most companies do not press non-binding MOUs and this appears to be a transparent ploy to create interest in their convertible debt offering, which has received a cool reception to date. | Comment by GUEST on 2008-04-18 11:35:03
The one million dollar question is what are the other HDD industries going to do now?
One major HDD believes in nanoimprint to make the future format: DTR and BPM !
The others then ?
If they do not intend to get off business then they should also buy a bite of the future !
Obduister |
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