8/30/2004 9:35:00 AM
BOTHELL, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 30, 2004–Microvision, Inc.,
(Nasdaq:MVIS), a leader in light scanning technology, announced today
the first sale of the Nomad Expert Technician System to the fleet
management segment of the automotive maintenance, repair and overhaul
market. The initial sale of three units was made to a Florida county
which has the need to attract and keep good service technicians to
maintain a very diverse fleet of 4,000 vehicles.
According to the Automotive Fleet Fact Book, there are over 20
million vehicles in US fleets and over 14,000 commercial fleets with
25 or more vehicles. “The fleets represent a very large market segment
for our Nomad sales efforts,” said Andrew Lee, Vice President of sales
for Microvision. “Many of the fleet operations share the same
challenges as automotive dealerships: the shortage of trained service
technicians, high cost of training, and the need to get the job done
right the first time. Somewhat unique to fleets are the financial
losses suffered from vehicle downtime. The trucking and construction
sectors, for example, face significant financial losses for vehicle
downtime and require tools for rapid access to vehicle testing and
maintenance procedures that reduce repair times and work errors to a
minimum. Fleets also often encompass a high variety of vehicles,
especially in the government sector, and therefore have the particular
need to bring productivity enhancing tools into the maintenance
process to help technicians unfamiliar with specific vehicle types.
“The Nomad Expert Technician System provides important
functionality and benefits to fleet managers facing these kinds of
problems. As we add to the size and capabilities of our sales force,
we are beginning to extend our marketing efforts into the fleet
segment. We believe the Nomad can be very useful to those fleets that
do their own maintenance and are very sensitive to downtime costs,
operate complex equipment or have to service many makes and models of
vehicles. This would include many of the fleet operations in business,
as well as federal, state, and local government operations.”
The Nomad Expert Technician System is a wireless computer with a
head-worn, see-through display that provides service technicians with
hands-free access to online repair and maintenance information while
they work. Using data superimposed in their vision, service personnel
can provide the faster, more accurate service and repairs necessary to
keep fleet operations running smoothly.
About Microvision: www.microvision.com
Headquartered in Bothell, Wash., Microvision Inc. is the world
leader in the development of high-resolution displays and imaging
systems based on the company’s proprietary silicon micro-mirror
technology. The company’s technology has applications in a broad range
of military, medical, industrial, professional and consumer products.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this release, including future
product benefits, market opportunities and product applications are
forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and
uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected in the company’s forward-looking
statements include the following: our ability to raise additional
capital when needed; market acceptance of our technologies and
products; our financial and technical resources relative to those of
our competitors; our ability to keep up with rapid technological
change; our dependence on the defense industry and a limited number of
government development contracts; government regulation of our
technologies; our ability to enforce our intellectual property rights
and protect our proprietary technologies; the ability to obtain
additional contract awards; the timing of commercial product launches
and delays in product development; the ability to achieve key
technical milestones in key products; dependence on third parties to
develop, manufacture, sell and market our products; potential product
liability claims and other risk factors identified from time to time
in the company’s SEC reports, including the Company’s Annual Report on
Form 10-K filed with the SEC.
CONTACT: Microvision, Inc., Bothell
Matt Nichols, 425-415-6657 (media)
Brian Heagler, 425-415-6794 (investors)
SOURCE: Microvision, Inc.