Despite the $200M interpretation of what ‘big boy’ could refer to (which I think is valid), I did find that statement a little bit comical as well. digEcor has basically bought/inherited their leadership role in handheld IFE thus far.

Somewhat related, I also got a little chuckle out of this statement from another recent article:

"Branded the "Mezzo Player," the handheld unit now being offered in limited numbers on selected Jet2 medium-haul flights is in fact the eVU from e.Digital. The Californian company is thus the fourth handheld IFE supplier, following digEcor, IMS and Panasonic, to see its hardware enter commercial service with an airline."

Well, actually this Californian company was the first AND fourth handheld IFE supplier - but we wouldn’t want to nit-pick over such trivialities.

But back to the matter at hand, I also found this part interesting:

"The proof of the pudding, as always, will be a launch order from an airline. Phantom hopes to be able to show ink on the bottom line before the end of the year. But, cautions Stuart, "the timetable’s being driven by the pace of negotiations. In the past vendors have launched new systems by more or less giving them away. We see no point in doing that - we have a healthy core business that doesn’t depend on a sale, so we can bide our time if necessary.""

Two thoughts:

1. Since we’ve launched with Jet2, I guess that makes our pudding proven (again).

2. Timetable’s being driven by the pace of negotiations? I assume by that he means SLOW? Well, it’s nice to see others suffer from the same malady. Sometimes I think it’s a wonder that ANYONE can make any sales in this competitive market. You could have the best product, be the low-cost leader and I bet you’d STILL have to work pretty hard to convince an airline to sign on with your solution. I sure hope WB is a persuasive fellow.

- Sinkman