Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. and Fisker Automotive Inc. could be heading for a legal showdown.
Anaheim-based Fisker recently informed the Lake Forest-based auto-parts supplier it intends to use other suppliers for certain software components, ending an exclusive relationship with Quantum. Fisker contends the cost of the components supplied by Quantum is too high.
“We notified Fisker Automotive that its assertion is without merit,” Quantum said in a regulatory filing. “If Fisker Automotive resources any of the components we are currently supplying, we will take whatever actions we deem necessary to defend and enforce our contract rights.”
The issue—disclosed in Quantum’s recent third-quarter financial report—involves Quantum’s hybrid-control software and its maintenance. Quantum said in the filing that the defense of its contract rights could include restrictions on using the software in Fisker’s Karma, the company’s flagship hybrid luxury sedan.
Fisker accounted for 24% of Quantum’s $17 million in revenue from its Electric Drive & Fuel Systems segment through the first nine months of the year.
The software components aren’t Quantum’s only business with Fisker. The company also supplies Fisker with hybrid drive systems. The company in October secured a contract from Fisker for advanced product development on the Karma, the only car the automaker has in production.
Fisker recently announced that it has suspended production of the Karma due to low battery supply as its supplier winds through bankruptcy proceedings. Fisker said it expects to restart production of the Karma, which sells for about $100,000, once a buyer is found for Waltham, Mass.-based battery maker A123 Systems Inc.
Auspicious Start
The numbers are in, and Cyber Monday sales easily beat last year’s figures. And that should bode well for Orange County’s bevy of technology and consumer electronics companies.
Sales topped $1.98 billion on the busiest online shopping day in history, up 17% from last year, according to Adobe’s running digital index that will keep tabs on consumer shopping through the holiday season.
Several OC companies, including flat TV sellers Westinghouse Digital LLC in Orange and Irvine-based Vizio Inc., are in line to see upticks, as the companies have several of their products on deep discounts leading up to Christmas.
The fourth quarter is typically the strongest for consumer electronics companies. Sales in last’s year’s fourth quarter accounted for about 30% of Vizio’s annual total of 5.2 million flat TVs in the U.S., according to Englewood, Colo.-based market tracker IHS Inc.
Mobile shopping is gaining prominence, with more than 21% of sales on the Monday following Thanksgiving made via tablets and smart phones. Sales via tablets were up 110% while smart-phone buys increased 100% from a year earlier.
The mobile segment accounted for $1 of out every $4 in sales on Black Friday, according to Adobe data.
Broadcom-Nintendo
Irvine-based chipmaker Broadcom Corp. has partnered with Nintendo Co. to develop several new technologies on the Japan-based company’s new Wii U system.
System additions include Wi-Fi capability billed to improve video and audio transmissions between the console and the GamePad controller, Bluetooth support, and near-field communications that aims to better the gaming experience.
NFC allows communication over short distances, sometimes just a few centimeters. A user can put a smart phone or other device near an NFC tag and immediately process a payment, connect to a website, dial a number or launch an application.
The added features allow gamers to seamlessly switch from playing a game to watching TV on the big screen while continuing uninterrupted game-play on the GamePad for specially designed games.
The new Wii U system garnered more than 700,000 unit sales globally in its first week of release last month.
IHS predicted the gaming console would eclipse 3.5 million units sold by the end of the year. The base system sells for about $300.
The original Wii has sold more 75.9 million units in its first four years.
