Kopin in Talks to ‘Spin’ Solos, Whisper Businesses, Will End R&D Spending on Both
Only a quarter removed from teasing investors about the development of a new Solos augmented-reality headset for “general” consumers (see 1905070010), microdisplay maker Kopin is pulling the plug on that and its Whisper audio-solutions businesses, said CEO John Fan on…
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a Q2 earnings call Thursday. It’s “engaging” in negotiations to “spin” both segments to a group of Kopin employees and outside investors, said Fan. “If the transaction is completed, we expect to receive equity and royalties in the new company in exchange for the transfer of intellectual property, inventory and equipment,” he said. Kopin also expects to maintain the rights to “utilize and sublicense” the current Whisper technology, plus “any future enhancements,” he said. Kopin expects to close the transaction by the end of Q3, at which time it will “eliminate all spending on Solos and Whisper technology development,” he said. Kopin struggled for years to find sufficient Solos distribution through fitness retailers and even tried selling Solos products from its own dedicated online store. Fan acknowledged failure on the Q1 call in May, saying Kopin would write down the remaining unsold Solos inventory, but let slip plans for the new Solos AR headset targeted to a broader consumer audience than the limited cyclist demographic from before, using a mainstream go-to-market strategy. The product and the strategy never materialized. Kopin says Whisper “voice extraction” technology, introduced at CES two years ago (see 1612160058), “dramatically” improves “far-field voice quality” in smartphones and wearables, boosting voice control in noisy outdoor environments where it doesn’t function as effectively as in quiet homes. Kopin shares closed 1.9 percent lower Friday at $1.06.