Q: In your opinion, where is VEE technology headed? Is it possible to see a medical intersect downstream, getting great internal pictures on a nanotech platform?
A: While our current focus for VEE remains smartphones, tablets, and pico projectors, there are other markets that VEE could offer significant performance advantages in. Certainly medical is an interesting opportunity for us, and one that in the future we could see exploring.
Q: Please respond as to your estimate of the number of design wins it would take to reach/sustain profitability
A: QuickLogic sells our products into a lot of varied markets (smartphones, tablets, pico projectors, industrial, data cards, others), each with different overall market sizes, individual opportunity sizes, and pricing expectations. Additionally, all of our products sold have their own unique characteristics which affect the financial implications of each design win. Due to the varied scope of each design win, I don’t believe there is a way to quantify the number of design wins needed for profitability. We continue to put our efforts into the designs we feel are best to achieve our overall business objectives.
Q: I have read that mobile talent is in great demand in China and QUIK has had a nice job opening for what seems like a yr. Do you have enough people there to provide very good hand holding of customers there?
A: Mobile talent is in great demand worldwide, and especially in China. That being said, we have a fantastic technical staff throughout Asia (including China) that are available to provide our customers with the service and support they demand, whether it be in-person or via phone & email, in their language and in their time zone. Our North American-based engineering and technical support groups are also structured such that remote support is regularly provided to our Asian colleagues. The mobile world is not a strictly 9AM to 5PM business, and everyone at QuickLogic, regardless of location, understands that. Finally to note, the job listing shown in China is actually for more than 1 position, which is why you’ve seen the listing up for some time.
Q: Would you comment on your expected net growth in key personnel over the next year and your ability to hire the requisite talent needed to meet the expected demand in the next year?
A: We believe our ability to hire top-level talent has never been better. We have continued to fill our open requisitions with quality employees, and see increasing amounts of interest in working at QuickLogic. Overall, we remain committed to ‘smart’ hiring in key areas based upon expected customer and business support needs.
