3SOF

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/116859.asp

Very interesting blog - MSFT is jeopardy for IMMR:

June 2007

Microsoft sues Immersion over Sony agreement

INTERVIEW-Immersion sees Nokia deal adding from 3rd quarter
Thu Jul 19, 2007 1:00PM EDT


By Vivek Seal

BANGALORE, July 19 (Reuters) - Immersion Corp. (IMMR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) chief executive said the company's licensing deal with Nokia Corp. (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research) would add to revenue from the third quarter, but shot down reports on a pact for the iPhone.

Immersion's technology simulates a keystroke-like response in touchscreen-based devices and there have been media reports that Apple Inc. (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) may have licensed it for the iPhone that combines cell phone, music player and Web browser.

"We have no agreement with iPhone," Chief Executive Victor Viegas said in a telephone interview from the company's San Jose, California headquarters.

Since the launch of the iPhone, Immersion shares have risen 44 percent to a life-high of $20.68 last Friday.

The shares fell almost 16 percent on Monday after brokerage firm Thomas Weisel Partners downgraded the company citing high stock price. In afternoon trade on Thursday, the shares were trading at $17.09 on the Nasdaq.

Earlier this month, Nokia acquired the license to use Immersion's VibeTonz tactile-feedback technology to use in its handsets sold worldwide.

The Nokia deal provides for annual minimum payments from the No.1 mobile handset maker for the initial integration of the technology into handsets, Viegas said.

Nokia has not yet started shipping phones with Immersion's technology, Viegas said.

The deal with Nokia follows similar contracts with other handset makers such as South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research).

PROFITABILITY THIS YEAR

The company, which gets about 50 percent of revenue from providing simulation technology for medical and surgical training, expects the mobile segment to make an impact on its results beginning 2009.

The mobile segment contributed just about $100,000 to the company's 2007 first-quarter revenue of $6.4 million.

Immersion's technology is also licensed to game consoles including Sony Corp.'s (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) PlayStation and PlayStation 2, Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s (7974.OS: Quote, Profile, Research) Gamecube and the Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Xbox and Xbox 360.

Viegas said he expects Sony to launch tactile capability soon on PlayStation 3.

In March, Sony had settled a patent dispute with Immersion and licensed the technology for about $150 million in cash.

The settlement helped Immersion to post a net profit in the first quarter after posting losses for several quarters.

Viegas said the company expects to utlize that cash to buy back stock and launch new products. He also reiterated Immersion would become profitable "some time this year."

PATENT DISPUTES

Viegas said Nintendo could have infringed some of Immersion's intellectual property with the launch of Wii as they have not entered into any licensing agreement for the top-selling console.

"We have not communicated, disclosed or discussed that

(infringement) situation. We are looking at our options including working with Nintendo," Viegas said.

Immersion is also facing a lawsuit filed by Microsoft last month. Microsoft claims that its video-gaming sublicense agreement with Immersion entitles it to a percentage of any settlement amount with Sony.

But Viegas said Immersion did not owe Microsoft any money as the Sony settlement was as per a court order.

"If we had settled with Sony ... an out of court settlement ... we would have been obligated to pay Microsoft some money."

((Editing by Anil Kumar; Reuters Messaging: vivek.seal.reuters.com@reuters.net; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 4135 5800)) Keywords: IMMERSION INTERVIEW/

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Thanks for your work in IMMR nexta

I think the key part of this latest article is the following:

«The deal with Nokia follows similar contracts with other handset makers such as South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. (066570.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.KS: Quote, Profile, Research).»

The problem is I can't find information for the specifics of these deals either, not even the press releases. No information on the 10-Q or 10-K either.

There are some bearish sentences in that interview, for example:

Quote"We have no agreement with iPhone," Chief Executive Victor Viegas said in a telephone interview from the company's San Jose, California headquarters.

We didn't expect one either.

QuoteThe company, which gets about 50 percent of revenue from providing simulation technology for medical and surgical training, expects the mobile segment to make an impact on its results beginning 2009.

Just 2009? Somewhat late, given the company's current market cap of $445 M.

QuoteHe also reiterated Immersion would become profitable "some time this year."

Sometime this year means the next quarterly earnings release will show a loss.

The basis for my investment in IMMR is the fact that the company now has a very strong balance sheet (due to the settlement with Sony), so probably there won't be any dilution, and eventually, probably in 2009, the company will report very strong profits, because it will earn something for each mobile phone sold in the world (from Nokia, LG and Samsumg) using its technology - I figure it will be about $1 for unit sold.

Between now and then probably there will be some more good news (other applications and sectors for the technology), so I think the stock should rise. But I'm afraid, in fact I'm absolutely certain now that I'm losing 14% in IMMR, that I bought the stock somewhat expensive in relation to what it is known now. I'll probably experience some more pain here, as the good news of the future are, at least partially, priced in.

I hesitate but I'll keep holding IMMR some more time, I need to think and investigate more about this stock.

Hi David, thanks for your work.

I agree with your opinions, interview from 19.7.07 is bearish, but I am quite satisfied with answers  CO IMMR - he doesn´t look like a liar or pumper.

to iPhone:
3SOF realy didn´t expect any contract IMMR*iPhone, but on the false rumour about agreement with iP Apple jumped IMMR up over 20 USD/share, just when we have bought it...  it´s because CO disclaimed it in interview.

Here is big and risky volatility. I hope, PPS will rise with more news about their technology, which is useful in the wide area and which is not sci-fi in the present.

just fyi:
IMMR: Short Interest UP 104.1% to 4.9M in Jul 2007
Tuesday , July 24, 2007 16:18ET

According to new short interest data from NASDAQ, short interest for Immersion Corporation (NasdaqNM: IMMR) INCREASED 104.1% to 4,912,526 shares for the month ended mid-July, 2007.

SYMBOL     JUNE            JULY          CHANGE       %CHANGE        DAYS/COVER
--------   -------------   -------------   -------------  ------------  ----------
IMMR    2,407,107       4,912,526      +2,505,419      +104.08%           3

Based on IMMR's 20-day average daily share volume of 2,019,010, it would require approximately 3 day(s) of buying to cover this short interest.

Nothing new to say about IMMR except that bears love to short a stock that has been going up, instead of the ones that are going down. A high short interest will probably help the stock move higher or sustain a possible additional fall.

I don't know about today, the open is setting up to be pretty ugly, we'll see where it closes.

I'll keep holding IMMR.

There are 4.9 million IMMR shares shorted:

IMMR: Short Interest UP 104.1% to 4.9M in Jul 2007

However, IMMR isn't the best stock to be short, since yesterday it didn't fell all that much. Of course, one day doesn't mean anything and the stock still went down 2.8%, which isn't nice for the bulls like me, but ... a momentum stock like IMMR should have fallen 5% plus yesterday to be "right" from a bear's perspective. They should buy to cover all the way back to $20-$21.

I'll continue holding IMMR.

IMMR's relative strength on Thursday really didn't mean anything, since the stock went down 4.66% on Friday.

I've been thinking that the talks IMMR is having with Nintendo can be a big issue, because that WFii thing clearly uses the same technology we saw in the TZOO video, which belongs to IMMR.

It's a different technology from the tactile feedback and can also be an important revenue source in the future. Allowing machines to recognize our movements can be very useful. For example, I would like to turn up the sound on my TV making a gesture, not always looking for the damn remote control under the sofa. It could be useful for other things, like the Nintendo interactive games.

But just Nokia and its 400 million mobile phones sold per year, if they pay $1 for each one to IMMR, will make IMMR be worth at least $4 B, that is, 10 times more than what it is worth now.

My wife has a Motorola mobile phone with the numbers on the screen, but she doesn't like it much because she never knows if she really clicked the button or not ... Motorola needs IMMR's technology.

I'm aware that IMMR won't have many revenues and may even post a loss over the next few quarters, but two years from now it can be a company worth 10 times more than today, it has that potential. So I'll bear the short term risk, looking for the long term profit.

I'll keep holding IMMR.

IMMR will perhaps wait to touch the 50 days SMA support before bouncing back strongly. That moving average is standing at $14.62 today. I wish I had waited for a pullback before buying. But I would definitely buy it here, so I'll keep on holding.

IMMR's 2nd quarter earnings will be release next Thursday and expectations are quite low, just $7.9 M in revenue and EPS of -0.02:

TABLE: Confirmed Earnings Expected Thursday, Aug 2

That's priced in, that is, nobody is looking at this quarter's earnings, but to the future. I wonder when will we get another bombastic news, like for example, Motorola licensing IMMR's touchsense  technology, or Nintendo paying royalties for each Wii sold

The future seems bright because the technology is useful and needed. People need small mobile phones with big screens. So mobile phone manufacturers need to take out the keyboard and leave just the screen. The screen will have buttons, and we'll want to feel something when we touch those buttons. I believe all mobile phone manufacturers will have to have this technology to remain competitive and innovative, and they won't bother paying IMMR $1 or so for each unit sold.

The beauty of this is that IMMR's cost of sales will be almost $0, hence the net profit margin can be higher than 50% (not more because of SG&A costs, R&D costs and taxes).

I'll continue holding IMMR.

I might be wrong, but it looks like IMMR closed the gap...

I might be wrong, but it looks like IMMR closed the gap...

Quote from: Amarens on August 01, 2007, 02:23:01 PM
I might be wrong, but it looks like IMMR closed the gap...

It still left a bit open between $13.85 and $14.08. But the candlestick left on the chart gives us a signal of a short term reversal in trend, from bearish to bullish. Let's see if we get confirmation today. Also nice test to the 50 days SMA, closing above the key support level.

I must admit that I felt a bit shaky on IMMR at start, but now that I thought more about the company's business, I'm fully confident that it is a great long term holding for the patient investor. Of course, I would have preferred to buy it now, on the dip, instead of buying it so overbought, but ... the past is something we can't change.

I'll continue holding IMMR.

Quote from: Garoh on July 18, 2007, 03:18:58 PM
Very nice company ...

for now we could see another low probably around 15.8 will be a good buy for me ...

It's unbelievable too see a stock go down 16% just because of a stupid downgrade 

I'm in at $15.70  after I saw a very nice technical signs 


What I expect now that it will open with a gap up tomorrow and  this is going to lead it to at least $23 
But we should expect the worest to happen as long as we are in a stock market 

Immersion Corp 2Q Rev $8.60M Vs $6.65M, +29% >IMMR