Crown Electrokinetics Issues Letter to Shareholders

Rhea-AI Summary

Crown Electrokinetics Corp. (NASDAQ:CRKN) has reached a major milestone in its Electrokinetic Film division and has made significant progress in its Fiber Optics division. The company has successfully created the largest and highest quality master in its history, a critical step in the production of its smart window insert. Additionally, Crown has expanded its customer base in the Arizona market and has been onboarded with multiple customers, marking the first time the company has been selected as a prime contractor.

Insights

Market Research Analyst

The recent updates from Crown Electrokinetics Corp. suggest significant advancements in both their Electrokinetic Film and Fiber Construction Divisions. The mastering of a larger and higher quality embossed microfluidic design is a noteworthy development, as it directly relates to the company's ability to scale production for their generation 1.0 smart window insert. This product could potentially disrupt the smart glass market, which has been forecasted to grow substantially due to increasing demand for energy-efficient building solutions.

Moreover, the expansion of the Fiber Optics division, particularly in the Arizona market, indicates strategic growth in a region with burgeoning tech and industrial sectors. Crown's transition to a prime contractor status and the optimization of construction processes for profitability are positive indicators for potential investors, signaling a maturing operational model that could lead to improved financial performance.

Financial Analyst

From a financial perspective, Crown's progress in mastering the electrokinetic film production process and the expansion of its fiber optics division are likely to have considerable implications for the company's revenue streams and margins. The ability to produce larger embossing masters and to optimize the production process for their smart window inserts could lead to economies of scale, reducing costs and potentially increasing the gross margin.

Additionally, the move towards becoming a prime contractor in the fiber optics sector could result in more significant contracts and higher revenue consistency. Investors should monitor the company's upcoming financial reports for changes in revenue and margins, as these operational updates could translate into tangible financial improvements. However, it is important to consider the capital expenditures associated with scaling production and the risks inherent in the adoption of new technologies.

Technology Analyst

The technological implications of Crown's achievement in creating a larger and higher-quality master for electrokinetic film are considerable. This mastering process is a sophisticated technique that involves creating a precise embossed pattern for holding nano-particle based ink, which is crucial for the functionality of smart glass technology. The ability to stitch these patterns effectively allows for larger production scale and could give Crown a competitive edge in the smart glass industry.

Their proprietary and patent-pending stitching process is a significant technological differentiator that could lead to intellectual property-based moats around their business. As the market for smart glass expands, driven by trends towards sustainable construction and energy efficiency, Crown's technology could capture a substantial market share if the product meets industry expectations in terms of quality and cost-efficiency.

Electrokinetic Film Team Reaches Major Milestone on Mastering

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / January 11, 2024 / Crown Electrokinetics Corp. (NASDAQ:CRKN) ("Crown" or the "Company"), a leading smart glass technology company and an expert in constructing fiber optic networks, today released the following letter to its shareholders.

Dear Fellow Shareholders,

This letter is an update to our shareholders regarding Crown's operational updates in both the Electrokinetic Film and Fiber Construction Divisions.

Within the Electrokinetic Film division, we have reached a major milestone. In conjunction with our tooling vendor, we have created the largest and highest quality master in the company's history. The "mastering" process is a critical step that creates the embossed microfluidic design within our film to hold our nano-particle based ink. The creation of the master for our production line is the last major hurdle or Crown to finalize prior to production of our generation 1.0 smart window insert.

Each week, we have seen improvements in design and process that has allowed Crown and our vendor to produce an embossing master that measures seven inches by nine inches in size. Crown can produce negative pattern stamps from the master. Utilizing Crown's proprietary and patent-pending stitching process, Crown is able to tile the master pattern to create the necessary tooling that we believe will allow us to produce 12-inch wide electrokinetic film sufficient for first product launch.

With this significant step forward in our mastering capability, our current plan and schedule projects first-generation smart window insert will be availability in the mid-second quarter time frame. We appreciate the patience that our shareholders have had in this challenging, market changing process and are happy to report that with each passing week, we are closer to finally reaching the goal of production-quality electrokinetic film. We will have more to report on our mastering process in the coming weeks, as well as refining our schedule for product launch.

Crown's Fiber Optics division has been focused on growing its customer base in the Arizona market and specifically, the Phoenix region, including both Mesa and Chandler. Over the last few months, since entering the Arizona market, Crown has executed multiple MSA's and been onboarded with four different customers and is expecting to be a prime contractor with our fifth customer in the coming days. This marks the first time that Crown has been selected as a prime contractor. Of our existing four customers, we have already started construction with three of them and expect to commence with our fourth customer and eventually our fifth customer within the next 30 days.

While signing up customers has been an obvious goal of Crown Fiber, we have also been focusing on refining our approach to fiber construction with a goal of achieving profitability as quickly as possible by successful mixing our horizontal directional drills with our micro trenchers for our existing customers and revenue-generating projects. We remain highly focused on aligning our equipment and personnel with a process that ensures profitability on each project that we onboard at Crown Fiber. This optimization of our process is ongoing and these configuration changes are expected to impact both our revenue and margin levels.

While we aim to provide as much visibility to our shareholders as possible, often times our customers prohibit us from disclosing their name and the value of the purchase orders, as was the case with the recent Chandler project we just announced. When permitted by our customers, we will disclose as much information as allowed about the amount of work, the value of the work, and the name of the customer.

We have also previously posted videos of our crews working in the field and will continue to post videos to our various social media channels and to our website.

Within the next month or so, Crown will have an investor call, in which we will provide another shareholder update and also hope to be in a position to provide revenue guidance for the fiber business. We will provide details for the call in a press release approximately a week before the investor call is to occur.

Sincerely,

Doug Croxall
Chairman and CEO

About Crown Electrokinetics
Crown is a smart glass technology company and the creator of our Smart Window Insert and an expert in both designing and installing distributed antenna systems (DAS) and constructing fiber optic networks.

Safe Harbor Statement:
Statements in this news release may be "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements that express our intentions, beliefs, expectations, strategies, predictions, or any other statements relating to our future activities or other future events or conditions. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our business based, in part, on assumptions made by management. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may, and are likely to, differ materially from what is expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this news release and Crown Electrokinetics Corporation undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news release.

This press release does not constitute a public offer of any securities for sale. Any securities offered privately will not be or have not been registered under the Act and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements.

Crown Electrokinetics
IR Email: info@crownek.com
www.crownek.com

SOURCE: Crown Electrokinetics

View the original press release on accesswire.com

FAQ

What is the latest update from Crown Electrokinetics Corp. (NASDAQ:CRKN)?

Crown Electrokinetics Corp. (NASDAQ:CRKN) has reached a major milestone in its Electrokinetic Film division and has made significant progress in its Fiber Optics division.

What milestone has Crown Electrokinetics Corp. (NASDAQ:CRKN) achieved in its Electrokinetic Film division?

The company has successfully created the largest and highest quality master in its history, a critical step in the production of its smart window insert.

How has Crown Electrokinetics Corp. (NASDAQ:CRKN) expanded its customer base?

Crown has expanded its customer base in the Arizona market and has been onboarded with multiple customers, marking the first time the company has been selected as a prime contractor.