Recently, there has been a great deal of speculation about exciting developments in the laser display industry which the company has now decided to correct or clarify.
What We Do: Arasor is primarily a telecommunications company whose core technology can also be used in the consumer electronics sector for solutions such as laser display and projection. Arasor makes optical chips out of lithium niobate (PPLN) which create visible light in the 3 primary colors – red, green and blue. These chip sets also require a laser source (chips made by companies such as Novalux or Osram) and can be packaged into a light engine by major integrators like Oerlikon or Young Optics. These integrators supply to the major brands and are Arasor’s customers in the consumer space.
Arasor do not make laser TV’s. The concept (and prototype) of laser powered screens have existed for a number of years and are attractive due to the potential for color and intensity enhancement, reduced power demands and extended lifetime. However, they have traditionally been too expensive to produce for the mass market.
Arasor’s experience in applying its chip technology to the telecommunications market is now ready for consumer products – the chip allows integration of a number of discrete components into a single unit thereby reducing cost enough to make the financial model “work.”
ZTE Joint Venture Arasor recently entered a USD$300M joint venture with ZTE Corporation to develop and manufacture laser display applications. With the JV Arasor achieves 3 primary objectives: - large scale external funding from China Development Bank - channel to market (via ZTE itself) - extensive and scalable manufacturing capacity.
Via this deal, Arasor moves from being a component supplier above to being able to control and influence the development of the consumer value chain for display applications.
Industry Developments Mitsubishi Electronics has openly declared its interest, development and potential launch schedule for laser TV as reported by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and reliable press over a number of years. No (or very little) R&D or manufacturing takes place in Australia so the local distribution arms of the major brands have very little knowledge of future product developments.
Question: Does Arasor make laser Tv’s? Fact: Arasor does not make laser Tv’s. We make a component for the light engine and therefore do not control laser TV production or launch schedule. It is our aim to change this somewhat with our new ZTE joint venture.
Question: Why list in Australia? Fact: Before listing in Australia, Arasor had already received in excess of $60M in private capital and needed to become a public company to be ascribed “Certified Wireless Partner” status in China for a major client who is the provider for the Beijing Olympics. The ASX is an excellent, well regulated market in the Asian region where Arasor does the majority of its business. It was a very good alternative to NASDAQ where the management team had previously co-founded and listed a number of companies.
Question: Was Arasor ever “sued by 3 Californian tech companies?” Fact: The Company had been threatened right before the IPO of a lawsuit by a disgruntled former Australian distributor. No lawsuit was forthcoming and the company settled without compensation.
Question: Does Arasor have an office or employees in Australia? Fact: At time of the IPO (& now), Arasor’s registered address is c/o its Corporate Secretary HLB Mann Judd which is common practice. Arasor has 2 fully owned subsidiaries in Australia which employ 45 people. The R&D facility will be partially funded by approximately $4M in grants by the Federal and NSW Governments over the next 4 years. The manufacturing facility is 23 years old and is highly profitable, having previously been owned by BHP.
Question: Has Arasor delayed the launch of laser TV? Fact: Arasor does not make laser TV’s and doesn’t control production or launch schedules. Mitsubishi have stated publicly on numerous occasions that they planned to launch laser TV by Christmas, 2007. Mitsubishi have recently stated an intention to launch laser TV at CES in January 2008 – 12 days later than the New York Times originally reported.
Arasor International is a substantial company with offices across 4 countries and over 400 employees. It has given financial guidance for 2008 of $240M in revenue and $30M in profit. Its founders have co-founded or been involved with 3 previous Nasdaq listings which created billions of dollars of shareholder wealth. Laser TV projections are not included in Arasor’s 2008 guidance but will be added when the market develops and the financial implications are clear.
All of this adds up to a highly credentialed management team employing a conservative and credible path to the future for its investors, key stakeholders and partners.
