By Simon Keane, Shares Magazine
DDD Group (DDD:AIM), which makes software used to create ‘glasses-free’ 3D displays in televisions, is likely to see the full benefit of its £500,000 mobile phone deal this year.
Last week, the £4.8 million company revealed it had signed an agreement with an unnamed phone manufacturer to develop a 3D mobile phone screen.
Management said it would definitely receive £150,000 this year. But analyst Carl Franklin from house broker Bridgewell believes the full amount will probably be recognised before the December year end. DDD generated just £322,000 of sales last year.
Franklin, who is yet to publish forecasts for the company as he belies it is too early, says: ‘The deal is a breakthrough for DDD, being its largest contract to date and its first in the mobile phone market.’
Under the agreement, DDD will integrate its DDD Mobile™ software into a new handset allowing photos, animations and movies to be viewed in 3D format. The software creates ‘stereoscopic’ images that appear to have depth without the need for special spectacles.
This will not be the first time 3D screens have been used in phones. Japanese mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo has already launched models. DDD has also signed a two-year licensing agreement with the mobile phone maker.
This means it receives a royalty every time a handset is sold, although Franklin says the indication is that the manufacturer is the type that will test the market by first producing small numbers of the new handset and ramping up production in subsequent models.
