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Microsoft to sell fuel cells
April 13, 2007 - by Dallas Kachan, Cleantech Group
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Microsoft is to soon start offering a fuel cell-based power pack product for powering personal electronics, its OEM partner revealed today.
Medis Technologies of New York (NASDAQ: MDTL) said it has delivered its first shipment of special Microsoft-branded versions of its Direct Liquid Fuel Cell (DLFC)-based "24/7 Power Pack" product.
While the company wouldn't specify the quantity of the initial shipment, or of the contract's total volume, business development manager Andrew Udis told the Cleantech Group the ultimate unit commitment was expected to be "in the millions."
A Microsoft spokesperson would only acknowledge that the company made "a small purchase" from Medis, but Udis confirmed Microsoft intends to offer the devices to the public.
"They've branded the product and plan to sell these around the world."
Shares of Medis were up $2.60 today, almost 15%, trading at $20.99.
"This is an historic moment for our company," said Robert K. Lifton, Chairman and CEO of Medis, in a statement.
"It marks the first commercial sales of our 24/7 Power Pack product and indeed, the first commercial sales in quantities of any consumer fuel cell product. We are pleased to be able to serve Microsoft as our first customer."
The Microsoft deal may be the first, but Medis' Udis told the Cleantech Group other companies have come forward with volume orders for its 24/7 Power Pack.
"We have an agreement with a distributor called ASE to put it in drug stores and supermarkets in U.S. and Canada. The agreement is for seven million units over two years. A Microsoft vendor called Quasar has committed to one million units over one year. And Northwest Power is going to sell it business-to-business, and has committed to 250,000 to start."
Udis said Medis was also "talking to all the leading mobile operators in the U.S., Europe and Asia and other OEMs."
The first Power Packs for Microsoft were produced on Medis' semi-automated line.
A fully automated line, which was built by Ismeca in Switzerland, is in the process of being dismantled and shipped to Ireland where it's to be managed by contract manufacturer Celestica.
Medis Technologies' primary focus is now on direct liquid fuel cell technology. Its strategy is to sell its products to end users through retail outlets, service providers and to the military and other markets.
Medis has developed medical products in the past. The company also claims to have other technologies in varying stages of development.
Copyright © 2007 Cleantech Group LLC. All rights reserved, including right of redistribution.
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Microsoft's "trade show giveaway" claim
Submitted on April 19th, 2007 by Dallas KachanThis week, Microsoft started asserting to the media that it has only ordered a small quantity of Medis' fuel cells as trade show giveaways.
This flies in the face of what we were told by Medis itself, as quoted above, which, when specifically asked, emphatically maintained that Microsoft was ordering these in large quantities ("millions," he said) for resale.
As the one who performed the interview with Medis, let me confirm that this is indeed what we were told by the company.
Also for the record, a Medis executive, upon seeing our article, called Inside Greentech to suggest the Microsoft order was substantially smaller in size than what the company's spokesperson had told us. No contrary numbers were given. Nor was any suggestion made that these products weren't intended for resale.
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