Tag: vuzix

Vuzix to expand, add jobs with $21 million project  

Vuzix Corp. is expanding its operations in West Henrietta, with a $21 million phased expansion of its existing footprint by up to 40,000 square feet. The project will create 66 jobs over the next four years and retain 94 positions.  

Vuzix announces $21 million expansion
Vuzix will expand operations in Henrietta, adding up to 66 jobs over the next four years. (submitted photo)

The expansion will be in leased space located adjacent to its current Hendrix Road location, to accommodate the addition of multiple new waveguide manufacturing lines.  

The company was founded in 1997 and its origins are in the research and development of augmented reality, virtual reality and next-generation head worn defense tactical displays, serving the enterprise, commercial and defense markets. 

Vuzix products include personal display and wearable computing devices that offer users a portable high-quality viewing experience and OEM solutions that support custom wearable displays and augmented reality devices.  

In addition to its Monroe County location, Vuzix also maintains operations in Oxford in the United Kingdom and in Tokyo, Japan. 

Paul Travers, Vuzix president and CEO said, the company’s growing pipeline of OEM business, particularly the interest for its custom optical waveguides for use in third party augmented reality devices, is a leading driver of growth.  

ESD is supporting Vuzix with its expansion by providing up to $1 million through the Excelsior Jobs Tax Credit Program in exchange for performance-based job creation commitments. Monroe County, the Town of Henrietta, RG&E and Greater Rochester Enterprise are also assisting the company with the project.  

[email protected] / (585) 653-4021 

Deal expands reach for Vuzix in the Asia Pacific region  

Vuzix Corp. has received and shipped a volume purchase order from HongKe Technology Co., Ltd., a distributor based in Guangzhou, China. 

Deal expands reach for Vuzix in the Aisa Pacific region
Auto technicians at HongKe customer Porsche in China are using Vuzix smart glasses for on-site work. (submitted photo)

HongKe is a resource integration and technical service provider that works with global partners to provide products and solutions for customers in various industries such as manufacturing, automotive, warehousing and logistics, medical, electronic and information communication.  

The HongKe team has a long-standing committed to the promotion and implementation of AR technology. To date, HongKe has landed more than 30 digital and AR projects. 

The collaboration with Vuzix furthers such efforts, company leaders said.  

“We are thrilled to be working with HongKe, a leading distributor in the Asia-Pacific region, to help their customers gain competitive advantages within their respective industry verticals,” said Paul Travers, Vuzix president and CEO.  

He added that the upgrade the local company introduced earlier this year expanded the number of languages it can support, including Mandarin, Cantonese and Korean, which was critical to supporting HongKe’s customer engagement and distribution efforts in the regions that they serve. 

[email protected] / (585) 653-4021 

Vuzix signs distribution deal with Netherlands company

Vuzix Corp., a Rochester supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality technology, has signed a distribution agreement with Capestone bv, a Netherlands-based distribution company. Vuzix has received its first stocking order for smart glasses from Capestone for immediate delivery.

Capestone has offices in the Netherlands and Germany and is a leading distributor within the Benelux Union in Europe. The company provides 4G/5G hardware and related mobile solution technologies to telecoms and IT resellers, system integrators, service providers and manufacturers within Europe and elsewhere.

“Vuzix smart glasses are complementary to our current portfolio of mission-critical communications and wireless WAN solutions. Vuzix mobility solutions are highly applicable in the industries in which we operate and also ensure that we can tap into a new market of AR technology,” said Capestone Sales Manager ATEX & Rugged Devices Patrick Eijsackers. “We optimally support our customers to get the most out of technology and we see an increasing demand for augmented reality in the workplace and for use in enterprises. Capestone is looking forward to starting the distribution of Vuzix smart glasses and expanding sales all over Europe.

The companies did not disclose the size or dollar value of the order.

Paul Travers
Paul Travers

“Our distribution agreement with Capestone further strengthens our presence in Europe, a region which offers solid growth opportunities for Vuzix smart glasses across many industry verticals,” said Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers. “Vuzix looks forward to an expanding distribution relationship with Capestone that spans all of our current smart glasses products and accessories, as well as future ones.”

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Vuzix reports disappointing second quarter results

Vuzix Corp. this week reported a drop in sales and a bottom-line loss in the second quarter.

For the quarter ended June 30, the smart-glasses and augmented reality supplier posted revenue of $2.9 million, down from $3 million in the second quarter of 2020. Total operating expenses increased from $5 million last year to $9.3 million this year, contributing to a net loss of $8.8 million in the quarter.

Vuzix CEO Paul Travers said 2021 has been and will continue to be a transformative year for the Rochester company.

“We now have roughly $138 million of cash as of mid-year, have expanded our management, R&D and sales teams, established a new SaaS-based Integrated Solutions Business Unit and are aggressively pursuing other strategic initiatives that will strengthen and extend our business model from one primarily focused on being an industry leader in smart glasses hardware to also now becoming a broader solutions provider in various high-growth market verticals,” Travers said in a statement.

Travers said the company spent time reviewing the needs of its largest cornerstone customers during the quarter and making changes to operations based on those needs. Vuzix also has set the foundation for other markets that are showing leadership in broad-based smart glasses deployments.

“We continued to see steady year-over-year growth in our core smart glasses business with second-quarter smart glasses sales rising 21 percent,” Travers said. “The healthcare portion of our business continues to accelerate with our smart glasses now being used in approximately 1,000 operating rooms worldwide for an ever-expanding set of surgical applications, as just one example of utility in healthcare.”

The company’s focus for the remainder of the year will be on developing and delivering against growing enterprise smart glasses opportunities while extending its market participation and its business model.

“To foster these growing market segments, we will focus on strategic initiatives that we believe will both accelerate the adoption of smart glasses in the enterprise market and unlock significant value for Vuzix shareholders,” Travers said. “We will also continue to develop our core technologies and next-generation products that we believe will be vital to enabling broader market adoption in support of enterprise, defense, aerospace and OEM smart glasses manufacturers. Finally, we will further expand our sales channels and deliver hand-to-glove service to our cornerstone customers to support large-scale adoption of Vuzix smart glasses while continuing to pave the way for enabling additional new market adoption globally.”

For the second half of 2021, Travers said the company expects top-line growth in sales as a result of strong smart-glasses demand and the expected return of OEM-related engineering services revenue and initial sales of OEM production units to a Tier-1 defense customer.

Shares of company stock (Nasdaq: VUZI) tumbled on Tuesday following its earnings report but had rebounded some Wednesday to $13.02.

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Vuzix establishes new business unit, names managing director

Rochester’s Vuzix Corp., a supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality technology and products, has established an Integrated Solutions Business Unit within the company.

Pano Spiliotis has been named managing director of the newly created unit and has been granted restricted stock in connection with his appointment. The equity award was granted pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) inducement grant exception as a component of Spiliotis’ employment. His inducement grant includes a stock award of 300,000 shares subject to vesting, including 50,000 shares that may be earned over three years, as well as 250,000 shares that may be earned upon certain revenue and EBITDA milestones over five years.

Spiliotis will oversee the acceleration of Vuzix’ smart glasses in enterprise-focused solutions, including the company’s ongoing software and service subscriptions. He brings strong experience in the high-tech electro-optical field to the role. From 2006 to 2019, Spiliotis served as CEO and co-founder of FluxData Inc., where he created and led a new factory automation business for inline color measurement services.

“Pano has a proven track record of building highly skilled, high-value teams that are able to identify novel markets and quickly help deliver valuable solutions,” Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers said in a statement. “Our new solutions group will develop additional tools and support for current and future partners while helping to explore and identify business opportunity in various verticals. The group will continue to support Vuzix’ digital solutions strategy for its smart glasses customers by helping to integrate the company’s products and services into the entire internet of things. By working with partners and customers to understand their current ecosystem and areas for improvement, we will be able to help deliver higher value, robust solutions. We are excited to welcome Pano to the team and have him head up this new business unit.”

Founded in 1997, Vuzix is a public company with offices in Rochester, the United Kingdom and Japan. The company holds 210 patents and patents pending and numerous IP licenses in the video eyewear field.

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Vuzix reports record smart glasses sales in Q1

Vuzix Corp. this week reported record sales of smart glasses in the first quarter.

Revenues for the quarter ended March 31 were $3.92 million, up significantly from $1.53 million in the year-ago quarter. The increase was driven by higher sales of the company’s smart glasses products, which rose $2.4 million, or 177 percent year-over-year.

Vuzix reported a net loss for the quarter of $6.6 million, or 12 cents per share, compared with a $5.9 million loss in the same quarter last year, or 18 cents per share.

Paul Travers
Paul Travers

“Following further warrant exercises in our first quarter and our late March equity offering, our balance sheet is now stronger with pro forma cash of roughly $145 million as of April 1, which puts us in an excellent position to not only fund projected growth and planned product development, but also to broaden our product offerings through potential strategic initiatives,” said Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers.

Research and development expenses were $2.1 million in the first quarter, compared with $2 million in the same quarter last year. Company officials attributed the rise to salary and benefits increases, as well as stock-based compensation, largely offset by a decrease in external consulting fees related to the M400 Smart Glasses development.

“The reopening of global economies is waking up segments of our business that went dormant over the past 14 months due to COVID, specifically within logistics, warehousing, retail picking and e-commerce,” Travers said. “At the same time, we continue to see acceleration of our business across healthcare, manufacturing and field service.

“Our balance sheet is the strongest in our company’s history and we believe that we are well-positioned to continue to achieve significant year-over-year comparative revenue growth throughout the balance of 2021, thanks to the growing success of our M-Series and Vuzix Blad Smart Glasses,” he added.

Vuzix is a supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality technologies and products for the consumer and enterprise markets headquartered in West Henrietta. The company’s products include personal display and wearable computing devices that offer users a portable, high-quality viewing experience, provide solutions for mobility, wearable displays and augmented reality.

Shares of company stock (Nasdaq: VUZI) have ranged from $2.06 to $32.43 in the last 52 weeks and were trading at $15.85 Thursday morning.

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Vuzix raises $97 million in underwritten public offering

Vuzix Corp. has closed its previously announced underwritten public offering of more than 4.76 million shares of its common stock at a price of $20.50 to the public.

The shares include nearly 622,000 shares pursuant to the full exercise by the underwriters of their over-allotment option. The gross proceeds to Vuzix were roughly $97.75 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions.

Vuzix plans to use the funds from the sale of shares for general corporate purposes, including working capital to accelerate the building of finished goods inventory to address increasing customer demand, new technology development, new product development, purchases of technology, expansion of its software offerings and possible related acquisitions.

BTIG LLC acted as the sole book-running manager for the offering. Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC acted as co-manager for the offering, and Special Equities Group, a division of Dawson James Securities Inc., served as a financial adviser to the company.

Vuzix is a leading supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality technologies and products for the consumer and enterprise markets. The company’s products include personal display and wearable computing devices that offer users a portable, high-quality viewing experience, as well as provide solutions for mobility, wearable displays and augmented reality. It trades as VUZI on the Nasdaq exchange.

Shares of company stock (Nasdaq: VUZI) were trading up more than 8 percent at $26.92 midday Monday.

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Vuzix posts Q3 record sales

Rochester’s Vuzix Corp. this week reported record sales in the third quarter but a weak bottom line.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality technologies and products posted revenues of $2.69 million, up from $1.39 million in the third quarter last year. Operating expenses were down roughly $200,000 for the quarter.

Vuzix posted a net loss of $4.76 million, compared with a loss of $5.48 million in the year-ago quarter. On a per-share basis, the loss was 13 cents, compared with an 18-cent loss last year.

Paul Travers
Paul Travers

“Our third quarter 2020 revenue grew 140 percent over the comparable 2019 period largely due to our core enterprise smart glasses business. The worldwide coronavirus outbreak has impacted the day-to-day operations of many enterprise customers across numerous market verticals, including health care, manufacturing, logistics and field service, and has furthered adoption and overall acceptance of smart glasses within business operations,” said Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers.

The company delivered a record $2.7 million of Vuzix smart glasses during the third quarter, a 156 percent increase from the year-ago quarter, driven primarily by both follow-on orders from existing customers and interest from new customers to support their business operations.

“Health care, including telemedicine and telehealth solutions related to patient care, training and surgery, as well as supporting health care companies like medical device manufacturers that have active equipment installations in hospitals and medical facilities, continued to be an important new business segment for Vuzix in the quarter,” Travers said.

The third quarter also was active in the company’s OEM business group as the company negotiated an engineering services project with a new major defense company in October, as well as phase 2 work with an existing major defense company, Travers noted. The company also is working actively on advancements of its next-generation near-eye waveguide and micro-display technologies.

Shares of company stock (Nasdaq: VUZI) tumbled immediately following Monday’s earnings release but have bounced back some to $3.77 at midday Thursday.

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Vuzix posts improvement in Q1 bottom line

Vuzix Corp. this week reported an increase in first-quarter sales driven by higher sales of smart glasses products.

The Henrietta-based supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality (AR) technologies and products posted revenues for the quarter ended March 31 of $1.53 million, up from $1.37 million in the year-ago quarter. The company reported a $5.9 million net loss in the quarter, or 18 cents per share. That compares with a net loss of $6.8 million, or 25 cents per share, in the first quarter last year.

“In our first quarter of 2020, we received initial and subsequent follow-on orders for our M400 Smart Glasses from a growing number of customers and partners involved in telemedicine, which helped drive our M-Series smart glasses revenue up by 43 percent year-over-year,” said Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers. “We also had demonstrable success with our Engineering Services efforts by entering into an agreement with a second major U.S. defense contractor to develop a customized waveguide-based optics engine. We continued our expense management efforts and successfully reduced our operating expenses by almost one million dollars on a comparable period over period basis as we continue our efforts to achieve profitability.”

Vuzix reported cash on hand of $6.1 million and an overall working capital position of $11.8 million.

“We have made steady progress so far this year to meet our operating goals for 2020, but we have more work to do. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted business operations worldwide, but it has also awakened the enterprise smart glasses industry, particularly across telemedicine, field service and remote support and manufacturing. Since mid-March, when businesses, states and countries began to shut down and work remotely across the globe due to COVID-19, Vuzix began to witness a pivoting of the enterprise smart glasses industry,” Travers said.

Travers noted that Vuzix recently has begun to experience increases in the average order size, number of orders and reorders from customers and resellers of its M400 smart glasses.

“Thus far in our second quarter ending June 30, 2020, smart glasses revenue, along with revenues associated with recently signed engineering services programs expected to conclude before quarter’s end, have already exceeded our 2020 first-quarter revenues,” Travers added. “Additionally, we continue to make great strides in our efforts to develop our next generation waveguide and display engine technologies around MicroLEDs with new strategic partners. Finally, in terms of our cash flow, Vuzix has trimmed its operating costs and will continue to be prudent in our spending while focusing on revenue-generating initiatives that can maximize our cash flow from operations.”

Since reporting first-quarter earnings on Monday, shares of company stock (Nasdaq: VUZI) have fallen from $2.87 to $2.26.

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Vuzix files $80 million lawsuit

Vuzix Corp., the Henrietta smart glasses manufacturer, has filed an $80 million lawsuit accusing a Westchester County stock trader of maligning the company to profit from manipulating the stock price.

New York City attorney Irwin Weltz filed the suit for Vuzix on April 5 in state Supreme Court in Manhattan against Ricardo Antonio Pearson, who operates the websites Moxreports.com and SeekingAlpha.com.

Pearson allegedly published false information about Vuzix on the websites in March, which led to a 30 percent drop in the company’s share price, the equivalent of $80 million in market value, according to the 21-page suit.

Vuzix is traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol VUZI. The share price on Thursday afternoon was about $6.

Founded in 1997, Vuzix makes wearable display devices worn like eyeglasses that feature built-in screens that enable users to interact with video and digital content, such as movies, games, computer data and the internet.

Under Pearson’s alleged scheme, he borrowed shares of Vuzix stock and promptly sold them. Then he drove the stock price down, repurchased the stock at the lower price and returned the shares he borrowed, but at the lower price, thus earning a profit on the difference.

On March 16 and 20 Pearson posted articles about Vuzix on his websites that were “riddled with false, misleading and defamatory statements about Vuzix,” according to the suit.

Pearson wrote that “Vuzix is a stock promotion which shows blatant signs of fraud,” according to the suit.

Pearson also wrote that Vuzix had revenues of $500,000 per quarter in 2017, although the actual quarterly revenues averaged about $1.4 million in 2017, according to the suit.

Pearson also wrote that Vuzix was paying Toshiba $5 million as part of a business deal, but the deal actually calls for Toshiba to place $5 million in orders with Vuzix over 12 months.

Pearson also falsely claimed a Vuzix product called Blade was “a sham” that did not work properly, according to the suit.

In addition to an $80 million judgment against Pearson, Vuzix is seeking unspecified punitive damages, plus expenses.

Pearson did not immediately respond to a request for comment submitted through MoxReports.com.

Vuzix unveils Blade smart glasses

Vuzix BladeRochester’s Vuzix Corp. has officially unveiled its newest augmented reality wearable: the Vuzix Blade smart glasses.

The android-powered Blade will make its first public appearance at CES 2018, a massive gathering and exposition for all variety of high-tech gadgetry Jan. 9 to 12 in Las Vegas. The Blade has so far won four awards from CES in the fields of fitness, sports and biotech, wireless handset accessories, portable media players and accessories, as well as computer accessories. A successor to Vuzix’s M-300 smart glasses, released in June, the Blade aims to pack a litany of features into a more accessible package. While the M-300 features a more cumbersome design with an obvious display terminal affixed to the right lens, the Blade is more subtle, resembling a regular pair of black sunglasses, albeit a bit bulkier.

The result is a prescription-ready wearable device, readily paired with Android or iOS phones, which offers heads-up displays for navigation, hand-free access to phone alerts, point-of-view video and photos and access to apps available through Google Play and the App Store, all designed to be used without your phone ever leaving your pocket.

“The official unveiling of the Vuzix Blade AR Smart Glasses from its production ready tooling is a pivotal moment for Vuzix and for the AR industry as a whole, as it introduces the first truly wearable pair of lightweight AR smart glasses for consumers and enterprise,” said Paul Travers, in a statement.

The goal of the Blade, as Travers describes, is to bring augmented reality in a package consumers can grab onto. While popular in commercial atmospheres, the M300’s appearance makes everyday wear for the average consumer unlikely.

“What differentiates the Vuzix Blade from all existing or proposed AR smart glasses and mixed reality head mounted computers, is that it’s built for today’s user,” Travers said. “With a fashionable form factor, a brilliant display and a broad range of features that allow the user to experience AR at work or play, the Vuzix Blade is the first pair of smart glasses that people would actually enjoy wearing.  Just as important, it is the only AR-enabled pair of smart glasses that work right out of the box, without the need for programming — just connect to your device, customize your settings and go. Either at work or at leisure, the Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses are the most compact and sleek AR-enabled smart glasses available today.”

Vuzix is currently accepting a $495 deposit for reservation of the Blade developer kit, with a total value of $1,997.

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Vuzix signs $5 million deal with Toshiba

vuzix-logoVuzix Corp. has signed a $5 million deal with Toshiba Information Equipment Co. Ltd. to supply the company with smart glasses for a new computing system.

The Henrietta supplier of smart glasses and augmented reality technologies and products in February announced that the two companies had begun a development program with milestone payments totaling over $1 million.

The product will be co-branded as a Toshiba product, powered by Vuzix and is expected to be sold on a global basis by Toshiba’s Client Solutions group, which will bundle the smart glasses unit with a specially designed mobile edge computing system that the company developed for the program.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with Toshiba into the volume manufacturing phase and believe that you will see this relationship transform even further as we continue to lead the way in smart glasses and augmented reality products,” said Vuzix President and CEO Paul Travers, in a statement. “Additionally, this agreement is one more step that demonstrates how Vuzix is leveraging and partnering our industry leading technology with top tier global partners.”

Travers expects the collaboration to be one of many going forward.

The supply agreement has a three-year term, subject to earlier termination under certain conditions. Production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2018. Vuzix agreed to sell the product exclusively to Toshiba for up to 12 months, subject to Toshiba’s submitting a minimum of $5 million in purchase orders.

Last month, Vuzix reported a third-quarter net loss of $5.5 million, despite a 140 percent increase in sales. Travers said at the time that despite some challenges in manufacturing and product availability, the quarter represented the company’s third consecutive quarter of record revenue, and the company expected to produce and deliver higher volumes in the fourth quarter and beyond.

Shares of company of stock (Nasdaq: VUZI) were up more than 4 percent Thursday from Wednesday’s close of $6.25. Vuzix stock has ranged from $4.10 to $7.80 in the last 52 weeks.

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Net loss for Vuzix despite soaring sales

Vuzix Corp.'s flagship enterprise device, the M300 smart glasses.
Vuzix Corp.’s flagship enterprise device, the M300 smart glasses.

Vuzix Corp. on Thursday reported a third-quarter net loss of $5.5 million, despite a 140 percent increase in sales.

For the quarter ended Sept. 30, the Henrietta developer of smart glasses, augmented reality and virtual reality technologies and products posted revenues of $1.41 million, up from $582,549 in the third quarter last year. The increase primarily was a result of the company’s M300 smart glasses sales, as well as engineering services for a version of smart glasses for Toshiba.

Despite those gains, Vuzix reported a $5.5 million quarterly loss. On a per-share basis, the company reported a 28-cent loss. That compares with a third-quarter net loss of $5.04 million last year.

Vuzix ended the quarter with $8.68 million cash on hand and working capital of $10.33 million.

“Scaling up our enterprise smart glasses business in 2017 has come with many challenges, however despite temporary headwinds in manufacturing and product availability, this quarter represents our third consecutive quarter of record revenue,” Vuzix president and CEO Paul Travers said in a statement. “Vuzix now has hundreds of active M300 pilot programs across a variety of industries and continues to see a fundamental shift occurring in the enterprise space from pilot programs moving to commercial volume multi-site rollouts.”

The company’s M300 gross margins continue to improve with its manufacturing process and quality improvements in China, Travers added.

“We are back on track to produce and deliver higher volumes to support our expectations of further growth in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2017 and beyond,” he said. “The stage is set for another record year in 2018 for Vuzix, driven by commercial enterprise smart glasses deployments and higher adoption rates.”

Shares of company of stock (Nasdaq: VUZI) were down slightly Friday at $5.55 from Thursday’s close of $5.70. Vuzix stock has ranged from $4.10 to $8.70 a share over the last year.

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