Closer Look at the Explosive Potential of UniPixel and Kodak's Partnership

Mumbai, India -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/27/2013 -- The Woodlands, Texas-based UniPixel, Inc. reported on Wednesday that they have been seeing tremendous success in their partnership with Kodak for developing and commercializing next-gen touch screen sensors. They have also co-branded their touch sensor films ‘InTouch Sensors Powered by Kodak’, in light of their coming fourth quarter production ramp and Kodak-supported launch.

Touch screen sensors are used in a variety of applications with popular types being capacitive, resistive and complete touch screen systems. UniPixel’s UniBoss touch panels are found in applications such as smartphones, cameras, navigation devices, tablets, printers, televisions, e-readers, laptops and all-in-one computers.

In April this year, UniPixel had announced that they’ve signed a manufacturing and supply agreement with Eastman Kodak Company for the production of touch sensors based on UniPixel’s UniBoss multi-touch sensor film. The agreement involved the building of a new manufacturing facility in Rochester later this year. The buildout of this facility is currently in progress with Reed Killion, UniPixel’s CEO stating at their Q2 call in August that Kodak now has over 40 full-time employees dedicated to this manufacturing and supply chain. The facility has received a total allocated funding of $24 million from both parties.

One of the benefits they could gain from the partnership would be attaining vertical integration for the UniBoss production process. In other words, this means UniPixel would be able to leverage Kodak's experience and capabilities in supply chain management and quality systems as well as its operational and technical expertise in manufacturing and coating of films. Kodak has been an established player in this particular field for a number of years. UniPixel also plans to use Kodak's lab in conjunction with their newly expanded Woodlands Texas facility. The Woodlands facility has recently grown to over 20,000 square feet thanks to a newly leased 7,500 square foot office and lab space.

The partnership with Kodak would also help them meet requirements from their licensee agreement to produce 1 million sensor units per month by April 2014. Reed Killion had stated that they had already reached equipment capacity of 200,000 square feet per month at the Texas facility and were well on their way to reach 1.3 million by the end of January 2014.

The touch module market has seen outstanding growth, with an expected doubling to $32 billion by 2018. UniPixel’s stock has reflected this trend, touching a high of $19.83 at Sept 4th from $15.65 the day before their Q2 earnings conference call. With demand for touch screen sensors in everyday applications growing, the UNXL would only be headed upwards.

With their combined manufacturing capabilities, both UniPixel and Kodak could capture a significant portion of this market. UniPixel would be releasing their Q3 earnings around November this year when further details on their progress would be expected.