It was a prompt, detailed and useful response from Eric.
Q1/2 this is the first time I have heard it referred to as a "proof of concept". It was good to understand this. It pushes back my estimate of when NRE will occur and increases the likelihood of another CR being needed in the future. The proof of concept makes sense In terms of the long term plan (revenues in 2021). I have seen this with other stocks where potential customers need pilots or proof of concepts before they sign agreements involving payments. It is just how the market is at the moment. One benefit of WBT working on the module without NRE is that it will be more usable for demonstrations to other customers. If they were paid NRE, then I assume it would involve something like exclusivity rights or other restrictions. It is good that we are engaging with a customer and building something to their specifications. Each customer module is unique, but the experience of building a customer module makes it easier to build others and to engage other potential customers. Once you have one module other customers will no longer see themselves as a "guinea pig".
Q3 nice to know. I have been very impressed with Weebits return of investment in terms of deliverables. Unfortunately, that hasn't translated into the share price yet.
Q4 makes sense. It is good to know the background context. Instability of the market is probably another reason for raising earlier rather than later as market conditions could make raising later more difficult.
Q5 this means that we shouldn't expect much in terms of directors buy in for this entitlement offer. I would have liked Coby to have bought more in the sophisticated investors offer.
Q6 As expected, good to know that there are no issues expected with this.
Q7 ASIC requires two Australian directors and Fred/Ashley fulfill this role.
Questions that I think would be good to ask at the AGM
The biggest issue I have with Weebit is its performance on the ASX which is related to it being unable to secure enough long term investors whose interests are aligned with Weebit. Long term this issue should automatically resolve itself as Weebit continues delivering and getting closer to productisation, but it does mean that as early investors we have had to suffer more dilution from the cash raises and that it has been a frustrating stock to hold. From the AGM, I would like to find out more about the strategy for handling this going forward. This has been Weebits weakest point. I believe the answers before on previous videos have been that it is a complex domain and the Australian market doesn’t have much experience with the semiconductor industry.
Other questions I will send to Eric
Along with the questions from @jsbuser and @Fatman8, I will write a few more to get some information on the below topics:
- what the recent patents mean. I couldn't understand exactly what they mean from the announcement https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/ann-wbt-leti-file-2-new-patents-optimising-reram-performance.4810279/
- an estimate of when any work from the letter of intent would start and if that would involve NRE. Would this work happen after the proof of concept is completed or is it possible that it could start before that is finished https://hotcopper.com.au/threads/ann-wbt-xtx-technology-sign-letter-of-intent.4902499/
(20min delay)
