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I suspect the unexpected delay in announcing contracts has to do with SEE and or Magna taking a firm line on pricing. And/or technical delay in hardware development.

STMicro are producing a new chip that uses less power and operates in IR as well as normal light due to go into production in March 2024. Sounds suitabke for Magnas mirror. And its even odder Magna are not announcing deals fir their DMS mirrors yet. And much less likely they have misjudged the market. The following details are from cnx-software.com

Dimensions – 2.7 x 2.2 mm (smaller than VGA equivalents according to STMicro)

Temperature Range – -30°C to 85°C

The VD55G1 sensor will be found in devices such as AR/VR headsets, personal and industrial robots, drones, barcode readers, and equipment relying on biometrics and gestures, embedded vision, or scene recognition. The global shutter camera sensor will be especially useful in applications where near-IR sensing is important and scenes with movement requiring no shutter artifacts.

STMicro VD55G1 is sampling now, but it’s still at the “preview” stage and pricing is not available. We won’t have to wait that long before seeing it integrated into modules and products as mass production is scheduled to start in March 2024. Further information may be found on the product page and in the press release.

Vd55g1 looks promising. Passage below from CnX-software. Production expected March 2024.

Dimensions – 2.7 x 2.2 mm (smaller than VGA equivalents according to STMicro)

Temperature Range – -30°C to 85°C

The VD55G1 sensor will be found in devices such as AR/VR headsets, personal and industrial robots, drones, barcode readers, and equipment relying on biometrics and gestures, embedded vision, or scene recognition. The global shutter camera sensor will be especially useful in applications where near-IR sensing is important and scenes with movement requiring no shutter artifacts.

STMicro VD55G1 is sampling now, but it’s still at the “preview” stage and pricing is not available. We won’t have to wait that long before seeing it integrated into modules and products as mass production is scheduled to start in March 2024. Further information may be found on the product page and in the press release.

The third ranked story on the Washington Post website at present reports criticism of Tesla autopilot from politicians and regulators.

"Tesla this week agreed to issue a remote update to 2 million cars aimed at improving driver attention while Autopilot is engaged, especially on surface roads with cross traffic and other hazards the driver-assistance technology is not designed to detect.

But the recall — the largest in Tesla’s 20-year history — quickly drew condemnation from experts and lawmakers, who said new warnings and alerts are unlikely to solve Autopilot’s fundamental flaw: that Tesla fails to limit where drivers can turn it on in the first place."

S and P global market intelligence as cited on Market Screener report analysts are forecasting Nanocos eps as 0 in 2024 0.5p in 2025 and 1.4p in 2026. If shareholders receive 10p a share in March and insight into the market placing growing commercial orders with the company by, or in, the August trading statement then investors who pay more attention to the numbers than to the story may begin to buy.

Driver monitoring systems coming in soon. Magna putting them in driving mirrors using Seeing Machines software.

Details below copied from post on Seeing Machines chat. Comparable regulations being introduced in the US. Needed to accompany assisted driver functions.

December 2023

EU Regulation on Advanced Driver Distraction Warning Systems Published

The mandatory fitment of Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) systems is one of the new safety features required by EU Regulation 2019/2144 on "the type approval requirements of motor vehicles and their trailers, and systems, components and separate technical units intended for such vehicles, as regards their general safety and the protection of vehicle occupants and vulnerable road users", more commonly referred to as General Safety Regulation 2 or GSR 2. Within (EU) 2019/2144, Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) systems are defined as "a system that helps the driver to continue to pay attention to the traffic situation and that warns the driver when he or she is distracted".

Note that Advanced Driver Distraction Warning (ADDW) systems are different to Driver Drowsiness and Attention Warning (DDAW) systems, the fitment of which are also required by (EU) 2019/2144. DDAW systems "assess the driver's alertness through vehicle systems analysis and warn the driver if needed", and the technical requirements which such systems must comply with are specified in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1341.

As specified in (EU) 2019/2144, the fitment of an ADDW system becomes mandatory for all new types of M and N category vehicle (i.e. all passenger carrying and goods carrying motor vehicles) from July 7, 2024, and becomes mandatory for all new vehicles falling into those categories from July 7, 2026.

To support the mandatory introduction of ADDW systems, the European Commission have been developing a Delegated Regulation to specify the necessary technical requirements and test procedures for such systems over the past three years. This work culminated with the publication of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2590 in the Official Journal of the European Union on November 22, 2023.

This new Delegated Regulation specifies that the ADDW system must monitor the direction of the driver's gaze, i.e. the direction in which the driver is looking, whenever the system is in operation. To determine when the driver's attention is "distracted", the draft Regulation defines a specific downward vision area, which is likely to include the driver's lap, the passenger footwell, the centre console, etc. The driver's attention is considered to be "distracted" if the driver's gaze if fixed in this area for a prolonged period (refer to performance criteria bullet point below for details on time periods).

https://www.interregs.com/articles/spotlight/eu-regulation-on-advanced-driver-distraction-warning-systems-published-000260

I too was surprised it was the fulfilment of a commercial contract rather than the announcement of a commercial contract that was made yesterday. The response has been muted which I take as a reminder shares in companies that are not cash flow positive are out of favour. Even so I find it difficult to imagine these shares are going to trade at 9p again after 10-12p has been returned to shareholders. The prospects have never been better with the market for sensors that can cover infra red as well as natural light likely, in my view, to make Nanoco a multibagger. But it may still take years. So I will keep my half a million plus shares, follow Nanocos RNSs, take my leave with thanks to Nanonano and others who in past years provided so much valuable research and turn my attention to where to invest the returns from Nanoco. If they do fall below 10p ex dividend I may return.

Nanogeddon

The lie is yours. Nanoco never had a product in commercial production with Samsung or anyone else.

If you hold Nanoco you do yourself no favours by misrepresenting the past. Perhaps you don't.

Not my field so happy to leave to others. Do agree that sensors very promising territory. Any interaction between humans and machines are going to need them, handy to use infra red as well as natural light and QDs appear to offer cost effective way of achieving that.

Nanonano

I am sure there are lots of possible answers to your questions. My front runner is a driving mirror being developed by Magma that incorporates driver monitoring systems. Their introduction is being driven by safety concerns reinforced by legislation in the EC and USA. The timetable slipped because the car manufacturers preferred systems that monitor all occupants of the vehicle. The leading driver monitoring system company, Seeing Machines, has a contract with Magma, a leading supplier to car manufacturers allowing Magma to develop a driving mirror with Seeing Machines software in it to monitor the driver and other occupants of the vehicle. Infra red vision and low power usage would be handy.

I have mentioned Seeing Machines before. They are in a similar stage of development to Nanoco except they have now got some signed contracts in place leading to cash breakeven by July 2025. The CFO is currently investing large sums in the companies shares.

Apple may be using existing technology which uses more energy and costs more than qd options resulting in high cost and short battery life.

Excellent news. The commercial contract expected by the end of the year seems likely to reflect years of development with STMicro. Nanoco now has an equivalent partnership with the unnamed Asian company. And the funds to see it through the further 2 to 3 years work needed to bring that work to commercial scale. So a further derisking of this investment in my eyes. And the upside is enormous. Topped up during the day.

Nanonano

Another excellent find. And a strong candidate. The link to the STMicro QD salesman you posted a fortnight or so ago said Apple were not yet a customer for STMicros QD material which I took as ruling them out of the commercial contract as small purchases would have previously been made. Facial recognition on phones will need to work in poor light and QDs on silicon appear competitive in this area because they use infrared. Would be excellent news if true.

I was just considering when, setting aside the Samsung settlement, Nanoco could be expected to start generating cash. It has two products in validation. The next 2 are in optimisation which, according to the presentation, is 4 to 5 years from production. So when we get the first order, expected by end Dec, the most interesting thing to me will be what are the prospects for sales of the product ST microelectronics is selling to the firm producing the final product. Because that is one of only two products Nanoco have coming to market for a while.

Accruing to each share

Rgm

The Board are most unlikely to target increasing the share price. That is out of their control. A share buy back would increase the proportion of any future profits accruing to that share. The impact on the share price would be determined by investors in the market place. And at present we have a lot of disgruntled shareholders who will presumably sell when it suits them to do so. Not an attractive look for prospective new buyers. The mood will change when the numbers in the audited accounts change. Some way off.

The Board left their options and have not decided. The decision will no doubt be influenced by where the business has got to. If no substantial contract has been announced but the Board continue to believe one will be a share buy back at these levels ( conceivably lower if the US government shuts down as looks increasingly likely) would be attractive to many. It would mean each share remaining got a larger proportion of future profits.

The Nobel Prize in chemistry has been awarded to three scientists for fundamental discoveries in nanotechnology, particles once considered impossibly small to make, with applications in television screens and to instruments that allow doctors to see the vasculature of a tumor.

No Nanoco link. But will raise awareness of QDs potential.

A buy back of shares by the company would increase the share of the company each shareholder owned. Attractive if a contract or two has been signed with the prospect of more to come. Less attractive if commercialisation remains illusive.

Peregrinetrouser

Difficult to understand why you should be surprised noone is buying. Long term investors in Nanoco have had plenty of opportunity to buy at lower prices than currently available. And once they own a substantial chunk of the company it makes no difference to life prospects to buy more. Most new investors will wait for the cash to start flowing. Those interested in speculating on companies which do not have a commercial contract are bound to be deterred by all the mud thrown at the board for months now. Self defeating and damaging for those interested in short term returns. Of no consequence to long term holders.

Https://www.notateslaapp.com/software-updates/upcoming-features/id/1413/tesla-to-improve-driver-monitoring-and-track-drowsiness-even-when-autopilot-is-off

Tesla seem to be doing their own thing on dms.

LordWM

I have copied, with appropriate attribution, your post to the Seeing Machines website. Seeing Machines are one of the leaders in driver monitoring systems. For which eye tracking is crucial. And mentioned in the presentation you linked to.

SEE is a company whose performance has been almost as disappointing as Nanocos but which now appears to be on course for profitability.