Research Frontiers Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 3, 2023

There are 8 speakers on the call.

Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Research Frontiers Investor Conference Call to discuss the Q2 of 2023 Results of Operations and Recent Developments. During today's presentation, all parties will be in a listen only mode. And following the presentation, the conference will be opened for questions by pressing star 1. This conference is being recorded today.

Operator

A replay of the conference call will be available starting later today in the Investors section of Research Frontiers' website at www.smartglass.com and will be available for replay for the next 90 days. Please note that some of the comments made today may contain forward looking information. The words expect, anticipate, plans, forecasts and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking statements. Statements that are not historical facts are forward looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions that are part of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements reflect the company's current beliefs and a number of important factors could cause actual results for future periods to differ materially from those expressed.

Operator

Significant factors that could cause results to differ from those anticipated are described in our filings with the SEC. Research Frontiers undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward looking statements to reflect new events or uncertainties. The company will be answering many of the questions that were emailed to it prior to the conference call either in the presentation or as part of the Q and A session at the end. In some cases, the company has responded directly to e mail questions prior to this call or will do so afterwards in order to answer more questions of general interest to shareholders on this call. If you find that your question has been substantially answered as a courtesy and to allow time for other shareholders to ask their questions, Please remove yourself from the queue by pressing pound 1.

Operator

Also, we ask that you keep your questions brief in the interest of time. I would now like to turn the conference over to Joe Horary, President and Chief Executive Officer of Research Frontiers. Please go ahead, sir.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Jen, and welcome aboard. Hello, everyone, and welcome to our Q2 of 2023 investor conference call. First, I want to welcome Eyal Peso, the Chairman, CEO and Co Founder of our licensee and strategic investor, Gauzy Limited, to our Board of Directors. Eyal and I have worked together closely now for about six and a half years since December 2016, And we share the vision of how smart glass can be done right. Gauzy has invested significant dollars not only in Research Frontiers, of new factories and business development teams around the world and cutting edge R and D relating to SPD technology.

Speaker 1

They continue to break ever increasing performance records set for themselves, and it is an honor and a pleasure to have Eyal Peso officially on our Board of Directors. Turning to the numbers. We had good revenue growth in the Q1 of 2023 and this growth continued in the Q2 of 2023. As noted in our 10 Q filed earlier this afternoon, total fee income for the Q2 of 2023 Was up over 116% compared to the Q2 of 2022. Most of this was from even higher percentage growth in the automotive market as well as growth in the aircraft market.

Speaker 1

For the first half of twenty twenty three, revenue was also up compared to the first half of last year, once again driven by triple digit percentage growth in the automotive and aircraft markets. We continue to drive down expenses. Compared to the same period last year, expenses were down $131,000 for the 1st 6 months ending June 30, 2023 and 118,000 or 14.3 percent for the Q2 of 2023. Between higher revenues, lower expenses and higher investment income, Our net loss for the Q2 of 2023 was $0.01 per share, which is about $250,000 or 33.5 percent lower in the Q2 of 2022 and for the first half of this year was $0.03 per share, which was about $414,000 or 30.2% lower than the same period of last year. Let's talk now a bit about Some of the other developments since the last conference call.

Speaker 1

In automotive, Ferrari's Purosangue are being delivered to customers with our SPD SmartGlass We expect that deliveries of the SPD SmartGlass roof for the Cadillac Celestiq will start in the second half of this year. Looking towards our

Speaker 2

expectations for

Speaker 1

the future, more models are either specifying SPD or switching to us from other technologies. Also since our last conference call, we made substantial progress on landing 2 new OEMs, and one of which has 3 models targeted for SPD. And while we can't always give specifics until the customer has spoken, I could give you some guidance as to places to look To give you a better idea of what's coming. Simply put, even if you can't say something directly, you can look to see what other people are saying and doing. For example, if you look at the patent literature, a number of companies have filed patents for new and interesting innovations using our SPD materials for various applications, mostly in automotive.

Speaker 1

Looking elsewhere, sometimes you could find proud statements about their SPD projects on social media by people who work at these And sometimes you can understand where a company is going and where they see their market and business opportunities by looking at how and where they are hiring. For example, Gauzy has about 70 job postings for new positions in key industries that we currently service. This is about Double the positions they were hiring for just a short while ago. Let me also help you try to put Some of the events that you might see in the near future in context, so you can understand their significance. Research Frontiers and our licensees exhibit and Speak at many industry conferences about the benefits of smart glass.

Speaker 1

Sometimes this has a very direct impact. For example, The Cadillac Celestiq came directly out of an automotive glass conference that I spoke at in Detroit several years ago. Based upon our discussions with GM, we expect multiple cars from General Motors to use our SPD SmartGlass. These conferences also serve to educate the industry as to the benefits of SmartGlass and help them cut through the marketing clutter, claims and other noise made by other technologies. This is beginning to bear fruit for us.

Speaker 1

Some automakers that have selected other switchable technologies and even put them into production have now come to us and our licensees because of dissatisfaction with The performance and durability of these other technologies. We became the gold standard through hard work and helping to educate the industry as to the differences in smart glass technologies. As we have noted many times on these conference calls, not all smart window technologies are created equal. These automakers are coming to us and their glass suppliers from a position of knowledge and a better context. Don't be surprised that the placeholders they have set with other switchable technologies ultimately get satisfied with SPD SmartGlass.

Speaker 1

And in addition to the 2 new automakers I referred to above and their 4 different new car models targeted for SPD, In this latter category, another 2 to 3 automakers currently using other smart glass technologies are seriously Considering switching to SPD. And why not? We have better performance and proven durability. Sales also continue to grow and expand to various models of aircraft. Many of you saw announcements by our licensee Vision Systems that they are now supplying SPD electronically dimmable windows on 2 very large aircraft from Airbus, the ACJ A319neo with AMAK Aerospace and the ACJ220 with Comlux.

Speaker 1

My closing remarks today will have some Very exciting further developments in aerospace. Deployment of SPD on trains and boats continues and for architectural applications as well. Now I took some of the questions previously sent in by our shareholders and incorporated them into my presentation. Let's take some additional questions. First question came from Jared Albert.

Speaker 1

This was in New York 1. Extreme heat can reduce EV battery range by 31%, as study shows. Jared mentioned a 2019 study from the American Automobile Association found that EV range dropped 4% at 95 degrees, that's become a timely with the heat wave going on here, without using air conditioning and 17% when AC was running. Think about that. Your range dropped 4% when it gets hotter and 17% when you have to turn on the air conditioning.

Speaker 1

And our Secretary of Energy actually was In an interview and started fanning herself because her staff had turned off the air conditioning to increase the driving range and combat the speed up the charging of the car and the stop recharging. To help combat range loss, recurrent, this is the AAA study, recommends pre cooling your car while it's plugged in as well as using sunshades or Parking in the shade to help reduce heat. The initial cool down of a car takes more energy than maintaining it at a comfortable temperature, the study said. This is something we've been talking about for years. Most air conditioning systems are 4 to 6 times bigger than they need to be Because of the need to make people comfortable.

Speaker 1

And if you have an internal combustion engine vehicle. That's not such a big deal. You just run the air conditioning. But when you get into an electric vehicle where you want more of the car's battery going towards Driving it and less towards cooling it, we can reduce temperatures by about 18 degrees Fahrenheit. So instead of getting in the car and being 90 degrees at 72 before you even turn on the air conditioning.

Speaker 1

So that initial cool down is actually done by our smart glass. Another question came from Mr. Claire Houghton. Why is research if SPD film is cost effective commercial and residential building or is SPD film cost effective for commercial and residential buildings. And if so, why is Research Frontiers not experiencing more revenue from that area?

Speaker 1

And to answer the question, it wasn't until recently that we had film that's available in 1.5 to 1.8 meter widths. Now that that's happened, I'm happy to say that Gauzy and their development team have landed some pretty big contracts for architectural, including some high visibility ones, Which I'll mention again in my closing remarks. Second question for Mr. Houghton. The Lucid car has a large sunroof and they're complaining about the interior heat.

Speaker 1

Is any of Research Frontiers' licensees approaching the OEM about SPD as a solution? Thanking you for your response. Well, thank you for your question, Mr. Houghton. To answer your question directly, yes.

Speaker 1

Research Frontiers, myself personally actually, have had presentations with Lucid and our licensees have also worked with them. And a lot If carmakers are beginning to wake up to the fact that when they go to a panoramic roof system where it's all glass, you need to Have an effective way of cooling it and sometimes they forget about it until a mid year or mid model Problem arises when we get enough complaints, and I think you'll start to see more and more of that. There are cards with large blast roof areas Are going to need a switchable solution. And because we have the most effective heat reduction, I think that the trends are pretty favorable there. Mr.

Speaker 1

Nelson says, any new potential uses for SPD identified or exploring? One of the nice things about this businesses that I look at Research Frontiers as actually having 250 patents on a basic materials, sort of like if you had a Patent on stainless steel or titanium. People figure out new and interesting uses for it. And even just this week, we've seen New uses for this in the automotive area that hadn't previously been done. So yes, the answer is yes.

Speaker 1

There's Constant work with new innovative activities and of course, the bread and butter like sunroofs and other areas of a car Where a plane or a boat or a building are out there. This question came from Mr. Albert. You said that STD pricing is a quarter to 1 third of when it started. Is that nominal or real?

Speaker 1

And is it etcetera or SLK? What do you mean by that reference is are we going back to the 1990s with the first vehicle, which was the Cetra luxury bus by Mercedes? Where we're going to later on when Mercedes put this into series production in the SLK. The answer to your question is, I haven't calculated the real reduction in cost, but the nominal and when you consider that most of that period Inflation was 2% or less. It really hasn't been that of a cumulative effect.

Speaker 1

But it is the nominal reduction of to 1 quarter to 1 third of where we started with the SLK. So Yes, a substantial deduction and that's made this possible for even mid level cars. And people keep asking me, are we still on target for the Asian carmaker with a mid level car and the answer is yes, as we said in today's press release. What I'll do now is we've answered all of the questions that have come to us by e mail. I've incorporated them into my presentation.

Speaker 1

I'd like to ask our operator, Jen, now to open up the conference to any additional questions people participating today might have that we haven't already covered.

Speaker 3

Thank

Operator

You'll be placed into the queue in the order received. Please be prepared to ask your question when prompted. And our first question will come from Jeffrey Harvey, Investor.

Speaker 3

Hi, Joe.

Speaker 4

Hey, Jeff.

Speaker 3

I've asked you this Before, I just wonder, Technoglas is a big installer of windows with different Laminations. I just wonder, is that a company that Gauzy is approached or is that a potential customer?

Speaker 1

We both know them and Every glass laminator out there is a potential customer, but we know Technogloss very well. And As you could gather from maybe some of my earlier remarks that the quality of knowledge about Smart Glass Technologies and what they can and can't do is definitely increasing. And a lot of that is because of our efforts to educate people. In some cases, PDLC is perfectly fine for privacy and an interior application. But when you start moving to the building envelope, the outside of Building, which is at least 10 times the size of the market.

Speaker 1

People are realizing that you need something that actually can Reduce seed and actually provide shading and not just light scattering. And it's nice to see that they're beginning to realize that there are these differences.

Speaker 3

One other thing that I think, I don't know if you thought about this, but in like in the state of Maryland, you're allowed to Black out your side windows, which I think is very unsafe for a policeman. If they had a SPV on the side window, you could Still block the sun and yet the policeman could see inside the car. So I would think there ought to be some effort to Obviously, cost is compared to whatever film they put on cars now, I'm sure cheaper. But From a police enforcement thing, I think that would be a great alternative to having blackout windows.

Speaker 1

100% agree, Jeff. And as someone who cares about law enforcement, it's not the Safety of the driver that they're worried about with window tint. It's the safety of the officers during traffic stops. Exactly. And we've learned over the years, and I tell my kids and my grandkids this now, if you're stopped, of course, be respectful.

Speaker 1

It's not the place to argue. Take your keys, put it on top of the roof, so they know you're not going anywhere and put both hands on the steering wheel and be very respectful. Officer safety is very important. And I think that in an age when you start having more and more side windows become switchable, Anybody that doesn't untimped their windows when approached by a officer during a traffic stop is going to get approached with Maybe a hand on a gun and a lot of caution. So Yes, that's what I'm asking.

Speaker 1

And we could also

Speaker 2

Yes, there is.

Speaker 1

And I think you'll start to see that on side windows of cars. And what you could do in most in Europe, You can do whatever you want behind the B pillar, so it's not an issue there. The B pillar is the area between the front and the rear of the car. In America, you can do whatever you want on a B pillar and an SUV, which is more than half the vehicles on the road. So we're really when you want to get Into the other areas, you're talking about 30% to 40% of the vehicles that are not SUVs on the road.

Speaker 1

And we've had discussions and our licensees and their customers, more importantly, have had discussions about what should the regulations look like in a world of switchable glass where you can now alleviate that safety concern. And it's something that we haven't really talked about in-depth in the past, so I'm glad that you raised it.

Speaker 3

Thank you.

Operator

And our next question will come from Leonard Bledsoe, Investor.

Speaker 3

Hey, Joe.

Speaker 1

Hi, Len.

Speaker 3

I think I just have a couple of questions here. Are there any real contracts with redo to windows on buildings that are there because now we know You don't have to put scaffoldings and things outside. You can do it from the inside. And with the heat wave we're having and Everybody getting bent out of shape. It would seem like if there was anything there, we would be hearing about it relatively soon.

Speaker 3

That's question number 1. Question.

Speaker 1

And the answer to that the answer, by the way, let me just take that is that there are architectural projects in the works That I think will become very visible and very nice for SPD and they use a lot of glass. I'm sorry, and your second question?

Speaker 3

The second question is now that you're cutting expenses and things are perking up and there's other people looking at putting it on, I think We're pretty close at the crossover point to actually becoming profitable by the end of this year. Is that a possibility?

Speaker 1

Well, I don't want to put a time frame on it because it never is a good idea. But I will I appreciate the fact you recognize that we've done A lot of very continuous cost cutting. And if you go back over the last 7 years, almost every year has been Lower expenses than the prior one. And as I mentioned earlier, our expenses were down fairly substantially again this quarter and for the first half of this year. And the idea is exactly that.

Speaker 1

We want to basically hit profitability sooner, cash flow positive sooner. And if you look at that we've been very, very careful about how many shares that we've been issuing, We also want we're planning for a day when the Board of Directors will declare a dividend to our shareholders so that We can reward shareholders without them having to sell any stock. So that's always been our goal. Yes. That's always been our goal and we've been very careful to do that.

Speaker 1

Some of our competitors, and I promise people I won't talk about it, have done 60 to 1 reverse stock splits because they would have over 1,000,000,000 shares outstanding right now. And we've always just Felt that you'd be very prudent on how you spend money, make sure that every project makes economic sense so that We and our licensees can make money on this and achieve profitability sooner. So that's always been our goal and We've been sticking to our knitting and I think we're well on our way. Thank you very much. We all appreciate that.

Speaker 1

It's back over. Thanks, Len.

Operator

And we'll hear next from John Strobel, Investor.

Speaker 5

Hi, Joe.

Speaker 1

Hey, John. How are you?

Speaker 5

Yes, thanks. I got two questions. The first is a couple of weeks ago, a political blogger changed it from Global warming to global heating, a huge jump in the concept of the problems going on in the world. Last week, UN Security General Antonio Gutierrez says it's no longer global warming, it's global boiling. Given what's happening in the last couple of 3 months, everywhere in the world, it's Down in South America right now, it's winter time and temperatures are in the 100.

Speaker 5

Is RFI Gauzy and our OEMs Going to have a concerted effort to point out that FPD is a wonderful way To fight the effects of global warming on the individual and of course architecture It certainly will be a very big part of that.

Speaker 1

Yes. Thanks, John, for the question. First of all, we're all in this industry because there's environmental benefits to using our technology. And one environmental benefit, of Of course, is that we can substantially reduce the heat inside a building or inside a vehicle. The other benefit is that we're reducing CO2 emissions, And that's very important as well.

Speaker 1

So if you look at the regulations in Europe, they have certain CO2 emission targets for auto manufacturers for their fleet of vehicles and for every gram per kilometer that they go above that, they're going to have a penalty of €95 Times the number of cars they sell in Europe. That's quite a bit of a penalty. We can reduce CO2 emissions by 4 grams per kilometer. So And that's a message that isn't just something recent. We've been talking about this at conferences For many years now because I think the data is very compelling.

Speaker 1

But yes, I mean, in an area also we have high energy prices, Conservation of energy becomes very, very important. So in the Middle East, for example, You have a lot of sun, a lot of glass, and you want to make sure that things are going as efficiently as possible.

Operator

And our next question will come from Francis Cotrigo, Investor.

Speaker 4

Good afternoon, Joe. Hey, how are you?

Speaker 1

Pretty good.

Speaker 4

On the previous call, you had mentioned something you don't want to put a timestamp on profitability. The last conference call, you put a timestamp on shareholders getting rewarded in the year 2023. The only 2 ways I could see that happening is share price appreciation for dividends. And as of today, I don't see any of that happening. So if it's to occur in the year 2023, this should happen within the next quarter, correct?

Speaker 1

Well, we have 5 months left in 2023, But my point, I think, is, 1st of all, dividends, we're going to consider declaring dividends when we have a comfortable cash position and Steady revenue. I think that's just a prudent thing to do. So I think having said that, you could probably See our expectation that it's the share price appreciation that is the way that we hope shareholders are rewarded this year. And as things become more visible and as people understand The progress that has been made not only by us and our licensees, but by the industry itself in understanding the differences between Different Smart Window Technologies. I think you're going to start to see we rise to the top.

Speaker 1

So we still have an expectation And we've always operated the company for the benefit of shareholders.

Speaker 2

But the

Speaker 4

only way I could see that occurring is if there were major announcements

Speaker 1

I can never predict yes, I can never predict what is going to move a market. In our history, we've had minor announcements that moved our stock a lot and major announcements that didn't. The only thing I know how to do is focus on our business And everything else will take care of itself. Okay. Thanks.

Speaker 1

Thanks a lot.

Operator

And we'll move to our next question from Jared Albert, Investor.

Speaker 2

Hi, Joe.

Speaker 1

Hey, Jared.

Speaker 2

I had a single question. It's kind of an orientation question. So let me just set the stage for the question, which is back in 'eight at the annual meeting, We identified some of these getting bigger, which turned out to be a good prediction and the goal was to get SPD in today's systems to get the price down. And then I went into Mercedes and approved the work and then it Came out of Mercedes and was thinking that it was price and just kind of a difficulty with Hitachi. And now and then Gauzy came on board And it's taking them kind of whatever their timeframe was, but they've been able to pass the OEM level testing that Ferrari requires.

Speaker 2

This is maybe 3,000 cars a year with fairly, I'm guessing fairly large margins, but probably given the exclusive light We'd like to really probably really wanted it to work. We didn't want to go through that again.

Speaker 1

So, right.

Speaker 2

So now so that's the stage we're at now As far as I can tell. And we know that the EV9 was shown in the investor presentation last March with side windows that were called smart glass. We know Hyundai is an investor in And we know that the Celestiq is coming out the end of the year presumably and I assume it's Gauzy's SPVs. So my question is having kind of been in this thing through 3 waves of production, through 3 film waves, I'm not going back to the Lipan Chemical Boardroom in 1988. I'm talking about film production where it could be put on rolls and shipped.

Speaker 2

Now you haven't mentioned Hounde and I am concerned because the Glander was going to be like the big model. And maybe you don't want to mention it, but the point is, is are we now at the stage where SPD is going to go into Cars and we're going to see a revenue ramp or are we still kind of stabbing around in the dark where we can only get into the super high end vehicles. And despite price reductions and everything else, there's some other Issue. There's some optical clarity issue. There's some adhesion issue.

Speaker 2

There's something else because what I have seen The backdrop to this has now been driven by high temperature PDLC. They have been able to come in with these systems that survive on horizontal surfaces Absolutely just penetrate this market all the way down to cars that are in the 30s. And we've seen the Ambilight product. Now granted that hasn't yet Shipped outside of China and Vietnam. But VEACR is going to start selling a product in England this year and I don't know if that reaches this one or not.

Speaker 2

But the point is that they're starting to sell in markets outside of China, they have a competitive product at this point. So That's my open ended question. PDFC may be the pioneers with arrows in your backs. They have opened the idea To switchable greens and for the mass market, but it seems like now is the opportunity to come in with a better product at a reasonable cost. View has crashed and burned.

Speaker 2

They've been totally distorted the pricing market. I assume PD is still too expensive for architectural, but the idea was to go into after production, get the price down. Okay. So that's my You're now in

Speaker 1

your prepared remarks. Okay. I did in our press release today and I think earlier talked about an Asian manufacturer, and I think that that's about as far as I can go at this point. It's always I did mention that you have to look the customer go first, but Take a look at what's going on around you, and I think it's pretty clear. The I think your question, though, sets up a really great scenario here, which is there is a greater awareness of switchables.

Speaker 1

People have tried cheaper PDLC. Yes, it could survive perhaps, although our experience in automotive testing is Really, it's a very, very vigorous environment, and they may think it's surviving. And the fact that some of the people that are putting these in, And I think this is maybe an interesting takeaway. If you think back to what I said earlier in the call, there's 2 to 3 manufacturers that are using a different switchable technology that Are actively and seriously considering switching. You have to ask your question, the question, why would they be doing that?

Speaker 1

And I think the answer is, Whatever it is that they're being promised, whether it's cost or durability or performance, it's just not happening. And then you have us where costs have come down. We've talked about it and your question was an excellent one that you emailed in. And you have performance that has been proven and you have adoption that's been expanding. And I don't really think PDLC has made great inroads.

Speaker 1

I mean, they got into some visible vehicles, but not in high volume. And the fact that these Vehicles are considering changing tells me a lot of what I need to know. So yes, I think you set the table right that this is A nice time in our history because there is great awareness, there is a great need. There have been some mistakes made by Competitive technologies and by automakers using it and they're beginning to realize it and starting to remedy it. And that's where we come in.

Speaker 1

So as I said earlier, don't be surprised if the placeholder is the other technology and the way you satisfied is SPD.

Speaker 2

Let me ask you just a follow-up. If in 2 years we're listening to these kinds of conference calls and we switch seats, would it be time to get out? Because it's clear that for whatever reason, we're just not getting the adoption that we need, given the incredible tailwinds that switchable glazing is experiencing in sunroofs right now.

Speaker 1

I expect 2 things to happen in the next 2 years. I think there is going to be a shakeout in the industry. Some people that are here now are not going to be here even 6 months from now, there is going to be a shakeout in technologies because as the Limitations of certain technologies become better known and sometimes it's by trial and underlying error. People stop putting that in. And I think Ferrari is a great example of this.

Speaker 1

Ferrari had a single band electrochromic roof years It was a disaster for the Super America. And now Ferrari has an SPD roof. Mercedes had a PBLC roof years ago and they switched to SPD. Well, now they have a couple No, they have nothing. Well, there's still sales going on of Magic Sky Control, but it's mostly out there in existing vehicles.

Speaker 1

So what you have is a constant education. So on the one hand, you can Technologies that are being tried now that are going to be proven not to be good. And if you go on the Andalite website, for example, and I'm not going It's a trash thing because there's no real data on that site. But if you go on their website and look at the samples that they're showing, these very small samples of amblyte And look how dark they get. That's not going to move anybody's needle in terms of heat rejection or light rejection or glare control.

Speaker 2

Yes, nobody is

Speaker 1

a pressure

Speaker 3

on the ambulate that I am. I mean, they

Speaker 2

could turn it to 11 and it would be basically like reefer At a really late setting. No, I understand all that. And yet they're selling all over China. Okay. I mean that was my question.

Speaker 2

At this point, in 2 years,

Speaker 1

I think that you're going to see some major changes in the industry. I think also you're going to see Some of the strong players get even stronger and stronger. And when that happens, Katie bar the door, as Bob Sachs used to say.

Speaker 2

All right. Okay. All right. Thanks, Jeff.

Speaker 1

It's a fair question. Thank you.

Operator

And we'll move next to Art Brady, Investor.

Speaker 6

Hi, Joe. Art Brady here.

Speaker 1

Hey, Art.

Speaker 6

So in the past, at certain of the annual meetings, You used to have a display by Lincoln on the Lincoln cars. And I'm wondering What the status is, we never hear a word about Lincoln. Are we still talking to them? Or is there

Speaker 1

We are, and we're talking to their parent, And we're talking to their competitors in the U. S, too. And I think that with every car manufacturer, there's a continuum of when things Just like Mercedes put it on the SLK first because that was the car that was ready that needed it First, even though the S Class would have been a more logical first choice for them, right? So you have to look at kind of A whole panoply of reasons why a manufacturer put something in or not. In Lincoln's case, we were very honored to be put in the Continental when they were trying to rebrand it.

Speaker 1

They just, for whatever reason, and I don't want to go into more detail, Weren't able to get their act together in terms of series production. And I don't think it was because of us At the time, that doesn't mean that things haven't vastly improved where it's much easier now to get this into a vehicle because if you think about it, Back then, you had one manufacturer that would have it in series production. Now you have at least 3 laminators that are doing it, actually 4. It's much easier to get this into series production, SPD that is, now that you have 4 major players that have experience in crafting the code on getting SPD into series production.

Speaker 6

Any timeframe as to When we could hear some kind of an announcement from that group?

Speaker 1

Not that I could share.

Speaker 6

Put that on, go ahead. Yes,

Speaker 1

remember, it's up to the customer to speak first. And sometimes, They'll allow us to say things on social media, but not in press releases. Sometimes they'll allow you to say something on a conference call, but not in a press release. Yes. They have their reasons, and we respect them.

Speaker 6

But there is some communication continuing?

Speaker 1

Yes, there is. Very recent, as a matter of fact.

Speaker 6

Because Another question that I have is, it's so hot all over the world That your phone should be ringing constantly in that regard. And if we can't shows some very tangible results with this kind of an environment. I don't know where we would have a better opportunity.

Speaker 1

Well, I think it's yes, and I appreciate the question, Art. I think it's not only our phone that's ringing off the hook, it's our licensees too, and that's good. And the number they have a lot of phones there because All of our key licensees have expanded dramatically their business development and customer service teams. So Yes. And remember, I said, look at where people are hiring, okay?

Speaker 1

Look at the regions of the world and look at The industry they're hiring for, and you'll see a pretty clear picture of where things are going. And I did mention Car makers that are additional car makers that are coming on board with multiple models in some cases For SPD, I mentioned an architectural initiative that is bearing fruit. So all these things are happening.

Speaker 6

Okay. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Thanks a lot,

Operator

star 1 at this time. And we'll move to our next question from August Furman, Investor.

Speaker 3

Good afternoon, Joe.

Speaker 1

Hey, Doctor. Berman. How are you? I'm good. I know I always get a laugh out of you when I say that because You're an impressive, but I know personally modest person, and I know that I could get a reaction out of you when I do that.

Speaker 7

Love it, love it. Appreciate it.

Speaker 3

Just a couple of questions from me. First thing first, I know a couple of conference calls There was a mention of an aftermarket film resistant product. Is that still 17% or about in 20

Speaker 1

Yes. The audio broke up a little bit, but I think your question is it's still coming out and the answer is yes. And that's something that we're very excited about because It totally transforms the way that smart glasses delivered to a building. You don't have to put up scaffolding. You don't have to get landlord approval.

Speaker 1

Just a whole panoply of benefits from doing that. And also it gives you this very big market because a lot of the government buildings have initiatives To increase their energy efficiency, but they have monolithic glass. It's not even laminated glass anymore. So if you can tap into that market and create Super Energy Efficient window. The government being on the GSA schedule is a huge, huge market.

Speaker 3

Okay. I'm sorry, you said that was it's going to be coming out in 'twenty three, so or is that something we're kind of looking at into the future?

Speaker 1

We haven't put a time frame on it. I don't see any showstoppers in why it couldn't come out tomorrow if it needed to. And I think that We're all pushing to that because I think we all understand that in the architectural market, it's a game changer.

Speaker 3

Okay. And then you had referenced that I think you mentioned GM versus Cadillac were interested in bringing additional models off as they said last week.

Speaker 1

Yes. Is

Speaker 3

there a period of time where Cadillac wants to see or GM wants to see technology first before introducing it to another vehicle? The reason I ask is because I have kind of my sights set on the Escalade IQ coming out next week in terms A vehicle that seems to fit the price point and would be an awesome function to have. So anything you can do in terms of

Speaker 1

It would be an awesome function for the Escalade. It probably will be an awesome function in the Escalade. It probably won't be next week when it comes out, but I think you start getting penetration on different SUVs out there because remember SUVs have a lot of glass and you also have more flexibility because the requirements on an SUV are different than on a passenger car. So it's a little bit more relaxed in terms of tints on mostly side windows in the back and things like that as well. So yes, I mean, look, we're going to we're not stopping with what we have.

Speaker 1

Let me put it here that way.

Speaker 3

Okay, great. Thanks, Jeff.

Speaker 1

Thanks. Take care.

Operator

And our next question comes from Tom S, Investor.

Speaker 7

Yes. Hi, Joe. Are you there?

Speaker 1

Hi. I'm here.

Speaker 7

Hi, Joe. Yes, you mentioned the expected Asian car, at least 1, maybe more than 1, last conference call, this conference call. Is that can you speak to if that's an EV, a gasoline? And is it mid priced? I know you're not releasing what car is, but I think you'd be able to share something on that.

Speaker 1

It has a mid price and it has a luxury edition. And in terms of ICE versus EV, I think it could be on both depending on how it sells. Not our feature, but the drivetrain itself.

Speaker 7

When you say it could be on both but not our feature, you're saying not SPDM? No, no,

Speaker 1

no, no. What I'm saying is Thanks for clarifying. Now what I meant to say, and I apologize if I wasn't clear, is it can be on both, Both in ICE and in EV, okay? And there's no reason why it could be on 1 and not the other. Whether they choose to introduce it on both is really a business decision on how the cars, the ICE CE versus the EV is selling for that model.

Speaker 1

Has nothing to do with SPD being Better or not, it's good for both. Okay. So, it's On an ICE, yes, yes.

Speaker 7

It's nothing you could say. It's definitely going to be 1 or the other. It could be both. But when you say expected, you're confident it's going to be a mid priced Asian car, one or the other? Or you're just not sure at this point?

Speaker 1

I'm confident it's going to be a mid priced Asian car. And I think that it's up to the manufacturer and they may not even decided yet what the blend is between EV and ICE on that vehicle. Okay.

Speaker 7

So it sounds like you're talking about saying it's going to be at least one, either ICE or EV, could be both.

Speaker 1

Yes. I'm confident it's going to be on the vehicle. The question is what are they going to put out first. And I don't see that. And they don't know it either.

Speaker 7

And then we're thinking for timeframe, the models were being released in what, September, do you have an idea on November or Tollver, any idea on time frame when we might hear anything?

Speaker 1

Not that I could share. Not that I could share. I'm sorry.

Speaker 7

We're going from history when cars are released, What are we looking at for months usually from your past experience?

Speaker 1

Every carmaker has a different kind of introduction schedule. It used to be a little bit more rigid. So you knew, for example, when Mercedes was doing the mid model changes and things like that. Now it's pretty much across the board. I think one of the things that kind of changed this a little bit was The Tesla Model S is still the Tesla Model S.

Speaker 1

And what they said is, if we have An improvement that we want to put in that vehicle and it's ready today, we'll put it in today. If it's ready next month, we'll put it in next month. And if it's ready next year, we'll put it in next year. So they've kind of Change the way that automakers think about upgrades on the vehicle to be almost like a continuous improvement, which I think is a good thing. I think it's a good thing that, I mean the marketing guys may like the fact that they had more predictability as to when new features are coming out if you're Selling a car, but I think that for the consumer, you want the car that you go to the dealership to buy to be the best it can be at any given time.

Speaker 7

Last couple of things on this. The wording is expected. Can you give like an idea on confidence level? Are you talking 99 10% or 80% also. You think an option or maybe a trend package?

Speaker 7

I know you probably say you don't know, but anything you could share on these two questions.

Speaker 1

So you kind of have a continuum here also. Something could be quote an option, But beyond 80% to 90% of the cars. For example, sunroofs are on over 80% of premium cars. It's an option usually. Why?

Speaker 1

Because the carmakers make more money on options than they make on standard equipment, Hi.

Speaker 7

So that's So it

Speaker 1

has nothing to do with what you'd expect kind of an economic decision to be made. It's more like What is the carmaker going to make more money on?

Speaker 7

And then the other one, last one, qualifying the expected. Can you get into that a little bit on We're talking 99% or 60%. Do you have any thoughts on how confident that level is?

Speaker 1

I'm very confident, but I've seen things that look like they're starting to happen and the Continental, for example, was a very good example of something that, I mean, you had the CEO of Ford going on CNBC and talking about our smart glass roof As a key feature of the car and it didn't make it into production. So you could be 100 percent I mean, to the outside observer, If I saw that, I saw Mark Field say on TV, hey, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread and we're really excited about it. And then it doesn't make it into production. You're never 100% certain about anything. Yes.

Speaker 1

I'm sorry, again.

Speaker 7

That's all right. With that said, it sounds like you're pretty confident you're either 90% or something in that realm of confidence.

Speaker 1

I'm very, very, very, very how's that? Fort varies without putting a number on it, confident. Yes. Okay.

Speaker 7

Well, thank you for taking the questions.

Speaker 1

Sure. My pleasure. Thanks for asking. Bye bye.

Speaker 7

Thank you. Bye.

Operator

Your next question comes from Arnold Kornblatt, Investor. And Mr. Kwanblatt, your line is open. We're not able to hear you, sir. If you have a mute function, can you check to see if that's engaged?

Operator

And Mr. Harari, it appears there are no Further questions, I'll turn the call back to you for any additional or closing remarks.

Speaker 1

Okay. First of all, as a reminder, look, if we didn't get a chance to get to your question or if you feel we haven't fully answered it, Feel free to call or e mail us. We're happy to do the best we can to make sure that everyone gets their questions answered. A couple of closing remarks. First of all, as you can tell from the lead into this, it's been a very exciting year for us.

Speaker 1

Part of that excitement is The success we've had that people know about and part of that excitement is what's coming. And Let's talk about what's coming. What will the future bring? Certainly, continued penetration in our 2 largest markets, automotive and aircraft, It's something that we have very good visibility on. And The way that this progress is happening is also very important to understand.

Speaker 1

In automotive, we know about McLaren, Ferrari, Cadillac and the Asian automaker coming out with SPD Panoramic Groups in their vehicles. In addition to them, today I also mentioned 2 new automakers besides them and their 4 car models, as well as a reasonable expectation in another 2 to 3 automakers currently seriously consider switching from an alternative switchable glass technology to SPD. We're clearly seeing the benefits of switchable technology being better understood by the automakers. We're also seeing that they're getting more aware of the strengths and the limitations of different switchable technologies. And as the best performing smart glass technology with proven durability, in a very stringent requirement that it be on the heat Clamping roof of a car.

Speaker 1

This will help us continue to win more business in the future in automotive. Another item, Some pretty exciting architectural projects with high visibility are in the works. And the way that decisions are being made, it's evolving for our benefit as well. We spoke about more educated decision makers. The other thing to understand is the locus of that decision making is also changing For our benefit.

Speaker 1

For example, in some industries, the manufacturers call the shots. However, in others, it's the customer who makes the decisions, If the manufacturer allows them the free will to do so. So what you want to do is you want to make sure that the customer is able to make a decision because If you see SPD compared to anything else out there, and I'm not just bragging, it's what we've been told, there's no comparison. So letting the customer decide what they want is important. And in an area Where the customer makes the decision, but heretofore, it's been the manufacturer that might be preventing that from happening clearly.

Speaker 1

One good example of that is the airline industry. And when you start to see airlines themselves and not just the manufacturers You will understand the important sea change that has already occurred. So stay tuned for a little while longer here. There's approximately 150 airlines out there and they're competing with each other using the passenger Experience primarily to win the business and to distinguish themselves from others. Research Frontiers, our licensees And most importantly, our investors will all benefit from all of this.

Speaker 1

And I look forward to sharing these developments with you and thank you all for your support and encouragement.

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Earnings Conference Call
Research Frontiers Q2 2023
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