eMagin - Page 13

eMagin announced that it has received a follow-on order for OLED microdisplays (SVGA+ OLED-XL) worth $3.1 million from the US Army. This contract is under the existing U.S. Army Remote Viewer Program. Deliveries under this contract have already begun, and all the microdisplays are to be delivered prior to the end of 2012.

An eMagin OLED microdisplay

This OASIS program initiated in 2008, deliveries under the original contract began in 2009 and are expected to continue into 2013.

eMagin reported their financial results for Q4 2011. Revenues were $8 million and net income was $1.2 million. In 2011 the company had generated revenues of $29.9 million (down from $30.5 million in 2010) and a net profit of $5 million. The company now has about $14.3 million in cash and investments.

An eMagin OLED microdisplay

eMagin also reported that they expect volume orders for their new digital VGA OLED microdisplay in the second half of 2012. They are developing a commercial display produce for the electronic viewfinder (EVF) market - and have already began to supply panels for a high end electronic viewfinder. eMagin also says they expect to receive funding from the US military to develop high-brightness color OLED displays that will not use color filters (which are used in eMagin's current microdisplays).

eMagin has been awarded a $1.12 million SBIR seven month project from the US's Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to optimize emagin's WUXGA (1920x1200) full color OLED microdisplay for mass production. There's also a six-month option to extend the project further for $435,000.

An eMagin OLED microdisplay

The microdisplay is already available as an engineering sample, and this project will enable eMagin to mass produce it at an affordable price. It was originally funded by the US Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), and features over 10,000:1 contrast ratio and consumes less than 350 mW.

MicroOLED was founded in 2007 - to develop and produce OLED microdisplays. The company had plans to release their first product towards the end of 2009, but these plans were scrapped. Last month the company announced that they are about the ship their first-gen product in 2 months, and already received orders for over 10,000 microdisplays. MicroOLED's first-gen display is a 9.6mm 800x480 (WVGA) OLED microdisplay that uses white SM-OLEDs and RGBB color filters. Power consumption is 25mW for 60Hz video at 150cd/m².

Eric Marcellin-Dibon, MicroOLED's co-founder, CEO and head of strategy and biz-dev was kind enough to answer a few questions we had. Eric has more than 20 years experience in the field of high technologies and consumer electronics. Previously director of the display strategy and general manager of the strategic sourcing group at Thomson, Eric held several management positions in France, Germany and in the UK.

eMagin reported their 3Q 2011 results: the company matched their best quarter ever in revenues ($8.3 million, same as in 3Q 2010) and operating income was $1.6 million. Net income was $4.1 million.

eMagin also updates us that the new deposition machine that was shipped in October 2011 has arrived at their production facility, and they began to install the equipment. They expect it to operate in the first quarter of 2012. This new machine will increase deposition capacity 10-fold and will also improve the yield. The company said during the conference call that the cost of this new machine is $4 million.

eMagin announced their financial results for 2Q 2011. Revenues were $7.4 million, operating income was $623,000 and net income was $3 million. The company says that production has improved - and so has gross margins. They also say that the business continues to expand, and that they begun shipments to their new high-end camera customer.

The company also announced that this filing will enable them to regain compliance with the NYSE/Amex listing continued requirements. They are still optimistic that they will meet their 2011 revenue guidance of $29 to $33 million. The new OLED deposition machine is on its way - which will result in improvements in capacity and yield. Investors seemed happy with this report - and the stock climbed 37%.

eMagin announced that SNU Precision shipped their new, proprietary OLED deposition machine. It is scheduled to arrive at eMagin’s production facility in Hopewell Junction, New York, in early November. eMagin signed the agreement to build this machine back in August 2010, and the original plan was to install it in Spring 2011 - so this is a delay of about half a year. The machine costed $4 million and replaces eMagin's existing Satella OLED deposition machine, an R&D tool adapted and used by eMagin for both R&D and production since the Company’s inception in 1996.

The new OLED deposition machine is expected to increase OLED microdisplay deposition capacity by approximately tenfold, to increase yield, and to contribute to a substantially more efficient, automated process with lower maintenance requirements and greater utilization.

eMagin reported their 2Q 2011 results - in line with expectations. The company had $7.4 million in revenue (37% higher than 1Q, but lower than 2Q 2010). Operating income was $623,000. The company changed their accountant and will have to take some more time to complete the full Q2 earning release. They are also still experiencing yield and production issues.

The company is still on ytack to bring a new seal machine and next-gen OLED deposition machine online during the second half of 2011.

Update: It seems that there's not OLED back-display, only an OLED viewfinder, see translation below

Update II: eMagin says that Sony's viewfinder does not use their technology.

Back in March there were rumors that Sony's upcoming Alpha A77 DSLR will have an OLED viewfinder. That camera is not official yet, but Sony did submit it to a design contest - and from that page (which was taken down in the meantime) we can see that indeed it has an XGA OLED electronic viewfinder (or Tru-Finder as Sony calls it). We're not sure, but it also mentions a second OLED display - perhaps the 'normal' camera back display will also be an OLED (if someone can translate the Japanese text below, it'll be great).

The viewfinder resolution (XGA, or 1024x768) is rather a disappointment - as it was rumored that this will use Sony's 720p (1,280x720) resolution. There were also some rumors that eMagin is behind that OLED microdisplay. While eMagin do not have an XGA product, they have mentioned that they are working with a customer on a special 'commercial' microdisplay, so this may be it (disclose: I'm holding some shares in eMagin...).

eMagin says that they expect revenues of about $7.4 million in 2Q 2011 - as the company's production output still did not meet the target level. The Company continues to take the necessary steps to increase production output (adding extra shifts, preventive maintenance and new equipment). They say that production should show improvement in the second half of the year. In addition, capacity and yields are projected to improve further in 2012 - when the next generation OLED deposition machine will be on-line.

Due to the lower than planned production output coupled with the delay into 2012 of two military programs totaling approximately $6.0 million in revenue, eMagin is now projecting revenue between $29.0 million and $33.0 million for fiscal 2011. That's lower than the $35 to $40 million guidance issued in March 2011.