Hauppauge, N.Y. – Audiovox
expects no financial impact from FLO TV’s decision to turn off direct-to-consumer
mobile-TV service early next year, president/CEO Pat Lavelle said today during
a conference call for analysts.
The company “expects no exposure” to its
financial statements and will work with
“to transition … with no loss to Audiovox,” he said.
On other topics, Lavelle said the company “fully
expects” an International CES launch of the RCA-brand Air Power battery charger,
which wirelessly “harvests” 2.4GHz Wi-Fi energy to charge a connected portable
device.
He noted Audiovox plans
a CES launch of 14 OEM-look in-dash head units for the expediter channel with
multimedia, navigation, satellite-radio and HD Radio capabilities.
And during the
quarter its Zentral Home Command devices, which turn BlackBerrys, iPhones and
iPod Touches into Bluetooth remotes to control home-entertainment systems,
should begin shipping. They were shown at January’s CES along with a product
that turns a BlackBerry into a Bluetooth garage-door remote.
Referring to FLO TV, Lavelle said Audiovox was
disappointed in FLO TV’s decision to turn off service and was a “firm believer”
in the service’s “long-term success.” The decision “will not have a significant
impact on sales” because Audiovox knew it would take time to build the market
and did “not anticipate overly high sales in the first year,” he noted.
Audiovox expects lost FLO TV sales to be
replaced by sales of ATSC M/H products that deliver the signals of local
over-the-air HDTV stations to portable and mobile devices in motion, he said.
Audiovox marketed a FLO TV-equipped portable
DVD player and FLO TV tuners that could be added onto existing car-A/V systems.
As for the Air Power product, shown at the
2010 CES conventions, Lavelle said a patent application is proceeding and
“testing is going well.”
Previous press reports said the device would
charge itself in five to six hours and would recharge a connected portable
device at the same rate as an AC charger. But a spokesman today said the
product has changed since its initial showing and that specifications haven’t
been disclosed.
In the future, the
technology could be embedded in portable devices so they could charge
themselves.
As for additional
company acquisitions, Lavelle said Audiovox has “identified a number of potential
acquisitions” and is “in the process of determining feasibility.”
Earlier this year, Audiovox
Invision, a major supplier of rear-seat entertainment systems to automakers and
car dealers. And in October 2009, it
Schwaiger, a German manufacturer of CE accessories.
Lavelle made the comments during a conference
call to discuss the company’s
second-quarter
financial results
.
