U-blox Reports Increased Revenue for 2021
Company predicts strong automotive and industrial markets in 2022
Seeing strong future growth, Thalwil, Switzerland-based u-blox [UBXN] this week reported a 24 percent increase in revenue for fiscal year 2021. The company said it had a 71 percent increase in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) and operational cash flow of 97.7 million in Swiss francs (CHF).
In a recent earnings call, company CFO Roland Jud said that the automotive segment experienced a higher demand for navigation and infotainment applications, especially for electric vehicles. “And we are able to support this rebound in demand after a strong decline in 2020, which leads then to growth on the automotive side of 41 percent compared to 2020,” he said.
Jud said the electrical vehicle market is particularly strong in EMEA and China. “In the industrial sector, we see relative similar importance as before, the growth was what we made as a company--about 24 percent--and interestingly again, across the many different application areas,” he said.
In the earnings call, u-blox CEO Thomas Seiler said that China represents a very large market for the company. “On the other hand, we also have competitors, but this is not a new situation. It was always so that we had local competitors in China and we are able to compete,” he said. “We have very good products, very good customer loyalty and enjoy also broad diversification of applications in the industrial and automotive space.”
Last year, the company purchased full ownership of Sapcorda and launched the PointPerfect GNSS correction service for mass markets. The service is based on the intellectual property acquired with Sapcorda, the company said.
Overall, the u-blox predicted the fiscal year 2022 guidance to see strong revenue growth of between 21 to 32 percent. The company proposed a dividend payment of [CHF] 1.30 per share.
Some Location Companies Stopping Russia Sales, Others Waiting
While several location industry companies have made announcements denouncing Russia, and stopping all sales activity in the country, for its recent invasion of Ukraine, it remains unclear whether other companies are electing to take a “wait-and-see” stance by continuing operations there.
Trimble Navigation [TRMB] said it is stopping the sale of products and services in Russia and Belarus. “Our primary focus continues to be on the welfare of our employees and partners in Ukraine and Russia. Through the Trimble Foundation, we are also contributing to urgently needed humanitarian relief for displaced Ukrainian citizens,” the company said in a statement.
While not making a statement on the war, Geotab said its employees have donated more than $30,000 Canadian dollars to relief organizations helping in Ukraine. “We want to thank all of our employees who have donated as we continue to monitor ways we can support the citizens of Ukraine during this difficult time,” the company said in a statement on LinkedIn.
Gurtam, which has a 50 percent marketing share in Russia with 1 million vehicles connected, announced the decision to suspend sales of Wialon and flespi products in the country. “I am sure there’s nothing more important than human life. Any business can be restored, but those killed will never be back,” said CEO and chief architect Aliaksei Shchurko, in a statement. “That’s why, having decided on our leaving the market of Russia, I’m not trying to take anyone’s side. Instead, I assert myself to reviving peace and standing against violence.”
Other statements on the Ukraine conflict include:
TomTom: “As a global company, we have employees based in both Ukraine and Russia. We also have many employees based in other parts of the world who have family, friends and close connections in Ukraine. Since the war’s beginning, our crisis team has been offering ongoing support to those impacted.”
Quuppa: "Quuppa fully supports the sovereign country and people of Ukraine during these devastating times. As a company, we comply with applicable sanctions and restrictions. We are currently not delivering to Russia. We will closely monitor and analyze the developments of the war before any other decisions are taken."
NavVis: “We’d like to make it clear that we vehemently condemn and stand against violence, war, and any other form of unnecessary, unprovoked conflict that leads to the destruction of communities or the loss of life. As a company with over 60 nationalities represented, any kind of hardship towards one of us affects all of us. We will not calmly standby as we watch what is happening to our neighbors, friends, and loved ones across borders.”
Slovakia-based Sygic has disabled live traffic information in Ukraine on its Sygic GPS Navigation and Sygic Truck & Caravan GPS Navigation application to protect Ukrainian users, the company said.
John Deere: “Two weeks ago, we suspended shipments of machines to Russia and then subsequently, Belarus. We continue to monitor the situation closely while we fully abide by U.S. and international sanctions. The John Deere Foundation has additionally been working directly with a number of organizations, including multiple UN agencies, to mobilize resources to support Ukrainians impacted by the crisis.”
Geotab Partners With Free2Move for Telematics Product
Geotab has announced a partnership with Free2move, to deliver a telematics product for Stellantis [STLA] brand vehicles in North America, including Ram, Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler. Free2move, the fleet, mobility and connected data company of Stellantis, will used embedded telematics to enable the integration of data from Free2move servers into the MyGeotab platform, the company said.
The deal, announced at Work Truck Week 2022, will also combine a telematics dashboard so that fleet managers can generate reports and measure key metrics to help optimize fleet performance and improve mobility, the company said.
The company said the telematics product, which will be available in the United States, will be compatible with eligible connected Stellantis brand vehicles to include a few 2018 and newer models. The company said plans for a global product rollout are still in the future.
“We are focused on innovation and improving mobility. With the new solution for Stellantis vehicles, we are delivering unique value by merging traditional fleet management with enhanced mobility solutions,” said Benjamin Maillard, Free2move North America, general manager, in a statement.
In other company news, the Geotab Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) business unit has announced it will be providing governments insights to improve their transportation networks through a partnership with the Eastern Transportation Coalition as a vendor for its Traffic Data Marketplace project.
The Eastern Transportation Coalition, a partnership of 18 states and Washington, D.C., selected Geotab ITS as a provider for origin-destination data and freight data, both of which use the Geotab ITS Altitude platform, the company said.
Contact: Taylor Barker, Geotab Inc., pr@geotab.com, www.geotab.com.
Other Location News:
News tip? Send them to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
😉 Waze Gets a Special Navigation Voice, New Car Icons, All Courtesy of Christina Aguilera. “Thanks to a partnership between Waze and Christina Aguilera, users can now enable new navigation voices and pick from a lineup of four new moods within the app.”
😒 DJI Denies Deliberate Action to Downgrade Aeroscope Drone Detection in Ukraine. “DJI is being accused of giving Russia preferential access to its AeroScope drone detection platform, while some units of the same system provided to Ukraine are reportedly malfunctioning.”
🛩 US Army Will Demo Offensive Drone Swarms. U.S. Army is preparing to demonstrate an offensive drone swarm capability through a $14 million partnership with BlueHalo.
😧 Pony.AI to Issue Recall of Autonomous Driving Software. “Autonomous vehicle startup Pony.ai will issue a recall for three vehicles following an October crash in California, according to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA).”
🛰 America Needs GPS Backup. “In November Russia destroyed one of its own satellites, and warned that it could destroy the 32 U.S. satellites that produce GPS signals.”
👍 Mapbox Adds 3.6 Million Kilometers of Maxar Imagery. “We just added over 3,600,000 kilometers of current satellite imagery from Maxar, including significant updates in the UK, Italy, Finland, Japan, India, and China.”
✈ How San Francisco Is Cutting Ground Noise With Enhanced GPS. “San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has been given FAA approval to use new landing technology, known as Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS).”
😮 Velodyne Says Founder David Hall and Wife Marta Slash Stake to About 10 Percent…and Submits Business Proposal to Remove Chairman Michael Dee for Cause. “Over the past sixteen months, as the Company’s stock price has declined nearly 90 [percent], we have been deeply troubled by certain directors' anti-stockholder actions and have made it a point to raise these concerns publicly.”
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Location Industry Briefs
Send your news releases to kdennehy@driverlessreport.com. Go to www.locationbusinessnews.com for more news and an archive of stories.
Inova Uses Quectel Module to Track Farm Animals
Brazil-based Inova Farm has selected the L96-M33 IoT module from Quectel Wireless Solutions to obtain animal positioning information in fields. Using an ear-ring, which works by emitting signals via satellite, allows farmers to trace and track their herds.
The L96-M33 module, with 33 tracking channels, features an embedded chip antenna and external antenna interface. The module supports concurrent reception of as many as three GNSS systems (GPS, GLONASS and Galileo).
The company also announced that its automotive LTE-A communication module AG521R-NA has been certified for operation on Verizon’s 4G LTE-A network.
AG521R-NA, based on the AEC-Q100 Qualcomm SA415M chipset, is designed with an integrated positioning solution to support L1+L5 dual-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS, PPE (RTK).
Contact: Quectel, www.quectel.com.
Satelles Endorses Act to Protect PNT
Satelles has announced that it endorses the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (H.R. 2471) passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Biden. This action allows the U.S. government to implement alternative forms of positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) that will protect critical infrastructure in accordance with Executive Order 13905 on the responsible use of PNT, Space Policy Directive-7 on space-based PNT, and the National R&D Plan for PNT Resilience.
Satelles said it “is encouraged by the actions of the [Congress] and the [President Biden] to secure $15 million in funding for the U.S. DOT” to establish a program that will lead to the wide adoption of alternative PNT technologies.
Contact: Kirk Vespestad, Satelles, (703) 282-1800, kvespestad@satelles.com.
Sygic Partners with Samsara to Enable GPS Navigation
Sygic has partnered with Samsara to integrate its GPS navigation routes into the Samsara Driver App. Samsara, using the Connected Operations Cloud, allows fleets to streamline driver experience with features that optimize dispatching and compliance, the company said.
With this integration, customers can now launch Sygic Professional GPS Navigation routes directly from the Samsara Driver App, the company said. Drivers now have access to turn-by-turn navigation solely on routes compliant with the vehicle and its cargo, the company said.
Contact: Sygic, 421 2 3211 5350, urgentsupport@sygic.com.
New u-blox Antenna for Bluetooth Direction Finding, Indoor Positioning Apps
Thalwil, Switzerland-based u-blox [UBXN] rolled out its ANT-B10 antenna board for Bluetooth angle of arrival (AoA) direction finding systems. It features eight patch-antenna elements.
It measures the angle of an incoming Bluetooth Low Energy radio signal, and in conjunction with at least two more ANT-B10 boards and positioning engine software, it can determine the precise position of a BLE device in an indoor environment, the company said.
Contact: Natacha Seitz, u-blox, 41 76 436 0788, natacha.seitz@u-blox.com, www.u‑blox.com.
BlackBerry Integrates Fleet Management Tech
BlackBerry Limited [BB] has announced that its BlackBerry Radar has been integrated within the ISAAC Instruments Open Platform to deliver a fleet management product to commercial fleets. The company says that fleet managers will now have an aggregate view of current tractor and trailer operations in a single console. Titanium Transportation Group [TTR] is deploying the integrated solution on its fleet of trailers and commercial vehicles.
Contact: BlackBerry, (519) 597-7273, mediarelations@BlackBerry.com.
Sensata Partners With Ossia for Charging Solution
Sensata Technologies [ST] has announced that the Sensata | Xirgo OTAC (Over the Air Charging) Tracker Solution allows users to simultaneously charge and store as many as 400 compatible asset trackers per charging station.
Sensata | Xirgo integrated Ossia’s Cota Real Wireless Power transfer technology to enable the monitoring of high-value remote assets where power is unavailable, the company said.
Contact: Leila Briem, Sensata, (805) 452-2165, leila.briem@sensata.com.
New Update Allows GPS Location Changes for Gamers
Tenorshare has updated its iAnyGo to V3.0.0, which can help users change GPS location on different iOS devices at the same time. The company said users can change the GPS location on as many as 15 IOS devices at the same time.
Many iPhone users wish to change multiple locations when there are several gamers, the company said. Some users have more than one iPhone and wish to change multiple iPhone locations when they play Pokemon Go, the company said..
Contact: Tenorshare, www.tenorshare.com.
Spire Global Partners With Sierra Nevada
Spire Global [SPIR] has partnered with Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) on a space services program for radio frequency (RF) collection and analysis. Spire’s four 6U satellites enhances SNC technology that detects and geolocates objects based on targeted RF emissions, the company said. The program provides insight into how military and government organizations can better manage RF emissions and safeguard against RF and GPS interference, the company said.
Contact: Hillary Yaffe, Spire Global, Hillary.yaffe@spire.com, www.spire.com.
Navistar Standardizes Telematics Devices
Navistar has standardized factory-installed telematics devices on all new truck builds, including electric models. The factory-installed and warranted telematics device broadcasts data to OnCommand Connection, Navistar's connected services platform, which has more than 30 telematics partner integrations, the company said.
The standard OnCommand Connection service package provides customers access to GPS and geofencing for asset tracking, vehicle health monitoring and over-the-air software updates. The data insights are viewable through the OnCommand Connection and the International 360 portal via desktop or tablet, the company said.
Contact: Navistar, www.Navistar.com.
RTLS Tech Delivers Room-level Accuracy
Cognosos Inc. has integrated what it calls the LocationAI location engine into its asset tracking platform for hospitals and healthcare facilities. The technology allows room-level accuracy, without disturbing clinical workflows or complex installation processes, the company said. The company’s patented RTLS technology combines Bluetooth Low Energy with artificial intelligence.
Contact: Cognosos, www.cognosos.com/hospitals.
DPL Telematics Rolls Out Asset Management Platform
DPL Telematics has launched its B.E.A.M. (Bluetooth Enabled Asset Management) platform. B.E.A.M. leverages Bluetooth radios embedded in DPL Telematics existing wired and battery powered solutions.
The company's AssetView Max now doubles as a Bluetooth gateway as well as a GPS tracking and telematics device, the company said. When operating as a gateway, the devices automatically detect and identify five new Bluetooth tags offered by DPL Telematics.
Contact: Tony Nicoletti, DPL Telematics, (650) 965-1636, 313406@email4pr.com, www.dpltel.com.
Comtech SmartResponse Gets RapidSOS Designation
Comtech [CMTL] has announced that its new SmartResponse solution is now designated “RapidSOS Ready.” RapidSOS, a partner network with an emergency-response data platform, links life-saving data directly to emergency service providers and first responders, the company said. SmartResponse combines location data with caller information, live traffic, weather, routing, POIs, and DOT camera feeds in a single Common Operating Picture, the company said.
Contact: Comtech, (800) 557-5869, ent-sales@comtechtel.com, www.comtechtel.com.
3Dtracking Integrates Teltonika ADAS
3Dtracking has integrated Teltonika’s Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) into its telematics service platform. The Teltonika ADAS solution and its road safety features are designed to prevent accidents with technologies that alert drivers of potential collisions, the company said.
The details of each road safety event captured by a Teltonika ADAS camera are transferred to the 3Dtracking platform over a cellular network via Teltonika Telematics tracking device installed on the vehicle, the company said.
Contact: Tony Miller, 3Dtracking, (617) 418 3024, tony@3dtracking.com, www.3dtracking.com.
Sonitor Demonstrates Indoor Positioning Systems
Sonitor and its software partner ZulaFly demonstrated the company’s RTLS and Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS) at HIMSS22 in Orlando this week. The company offers its SenseClean module to track personnel hand hygiene compliance; and Forkbeard, Sonitor’s technology for cloud-based indoor positioning of mobile devices
Contact: Sandra Rasmussen, Sonitor Technologies, (877) 477-9767, sandra.rasmussen@sonitor.com, www.sonitor.com.
People
NextNav [NN] has named Ed Mortimer as Vice President of Government Affairs and Robert Lantz as General Counsel. Mortimer served as the Vice President of Transportation and Infrastructure for the United States Chamber of Commerce. Lantz joins NextNav after supporting the company through its merger with Spartacus Acquisition Company.
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