ITEM 2 OUR MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
The following discussion
includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
safe harbor protections of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. Statements that include words such as "believe," "expect,"
"should," intend," "may," "anticipate," "likely," "contingent," "could,"
"may," or other future-oriented statements, are forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited
to, statements regarding our business plans, strategies and objectives,
and, in particular, statements referring to our expectations regarding
our ability to continue as a going concern, generate increased market
awareness of, and demand for, our current products, realize
profitability and positive cash flow, and timely obtain required
financing. These forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from anticipated
results. The forward-looking statements are based on our current
expectations and what we believe are reasonable assumptions given our
knowledge of the markets; however, our actual performance, results and
achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied
by, these forward-looking statements. Factors, within and beyond our
control, that could cause or contribute to such differences include,
among others, the following: those associated with our marketing of a
relatively new PDA accessories for consumers in an evolving marketplace,
consumer preferences, perceptions and receptiveness with respect to our
PDA accessories, our critical capital raising efforts in an uncertain
and volatile economical environment, our ability to maintain an existing
relationships with critical customers and vendors, including related
licensing and marketing arrangements, our cash-preservation and
cost-containment efforts, our ability to retain key management
personnel, our relative inexperience with advertising, our competition
and the potential impact of technological advancements thereon, the
impact of changing economic, political, and geo-political environments
on our business, as well as those factors discussed elsewhere in this
Form 10-QSB and in "Item 1 - Our Business," "Item 6 - Our Management's
Discussion and Analysis," particularly the discussion under "Risk
Factors - Substantial Doubt as to our Ability to Continue as a Going
Concern" and elsewhere in our most recent Form 10-KSB for our fiscal
year ended October 31, 2003, as amended, filed with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are urged to carefully
review and consider the various disclosures made by us in this report,
in the aforementioned Form 10-KSB, as amended, and those detailed from
time to time in our reports and filings with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission that attempt to advise interested
parties of the risks and factors that are likely to affect our business.
Our fiscal year ends on October
31. References to a fiscal year refer to the calendar year in which such
fiscal year ends.
INTRODUCTION
We are a marketer and
distributor of various accessories primarily intended for use with PDAs.
Our current line of products principally consists of over eighty
individual accessories for a wide array of PDAs. These accessories range
in complexity and price from simple connector cables with suggested
retail prices starting at $9.99 at the low end to our multi-faceted XELA
Keyboard with a suggested retail price of $69.99 at the high end.
However, during the three and nine months ended July 31, 2004 and 2003,
and as reported herein, our product sales revenues were substantially
attributable to the following principal products (See Item 1. Our
Business - Our Principal Products in our most recently filed Form 10-KSB
for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2003, as amended, for further
details):
DATA INPUT DEVICES:
o Our Keysync Keyboard - We
introduced our Keysync Keyboard to the consumer marketplace in November
1998 as a more practicable and user-friendly alternative to the
traditional PDA stylus for inputting significant amounts of data. Our
Keysync Keyboard has a suggested retail price of $69.00.
o Our XELA Keyboard - We
introduced our XELA Keyboard to the consumer marketplace in March 2003
as another more practicable and user-friendly alternative to the
traditional PDA stylus for inputting significant amounts of data. Our
XELA Keyboard has a suggested retail price of $69.00.
POWER DEVICES:
o Our Travel Kits - We
introduced our first Travel Kit to the consumer marketplace in March
2002. We currently offer fifteen such Travel Kits to accommodate a wide
array of PDAs. Each of our Travel Kits includes an AC charger, a 12-volt
automobile adapter/charger, a USB charging cable, and a synchronization
cable. Our Travel Kits have a suggested retail price of $39.99.
ENTERTAINMENT DEVICES:
o Our pocketRADIO - We
introduced our pocketRADIO to the consumer marketplace in October 2003.
Our pocketRADIO is a FM Stereo card that allows a PDA user to listen to
FM Stereo while simultaneously running other programs. Our pocketRADIO
have a suggested retail price of $49.99.
With the exception of the free
technical support services we provide as part of the one year parts and
labor warranty that accompanies each of our products, the only other
services we performed during the fiscal periods reported herein were
pursuant to maintenance agreements associated with our technical
servicing and support of computer terminals and printers for financial
institutions, which business we no longer actively market or pursue. Our
maintenance service revenues, which constituted 6.5% of our total
consolidated revenues for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2003, will
continue to decrease in future fiscal years.
OUR RECENT
SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS
There are no recent
significant developments.
OUR CRITICAL
ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The following discussions of our
consolidated results of operations and financial condition, including
our liquidity and capital resources, are based upon our consolidated
financial statements as included elsewhere in this filing. The
preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America
requires us to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the
reported amounts and timing of revenue and expenses, the reported
amounts and classification of assets and liabilities, and disclosure of
contingent assets and liabilities. Our actual results have differed, and
will likely continue to differ, to some extent from our initial
estimates and assumptions. We currently believe that the following
significant accounting policies entail making particularly difficult,
subjective or complex judgments of inherently uncertain matters that,
given any reasonably possible variance therein, would make such policies
particularly critical to a materially accurate portrayal of our
historical or reasonably foreseeable financial condition or results of
operations:
o Revenue Recognition for
Product Sales and Related Allowances for Sales Returns and Rebates. In
accordance with SEC Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 101, "Revenue
Recognition in Financial Statements," we recognize a product sale,
including related shipping and handling income, and the cost of the
sale, upon product shipment provided that all material risks and rewards
of ownership are concurrently transferred from us to our customer, the
price is fixed or readily determinable, collection of the related
receivable by us is reasonably assured, and we are able to reliably
estimate appropriate allowances for probable sales returns and rebates
based on our relevant historical experience and future expectations. We
unconditionally accept product returns during the initial thirty days
following the date of sale. We periodically offer promotional rebates of
a limited duration, typically one week, on certain product sales, for
which we outsource the processing and tracking of related customer
submissions. The periodic provisions made by us to establish and
maintain appropriate allowances for sales returns and rebates are
charged to our results of operations via offsets to our gross product
sales. Actual sales returns and rebates realized by us are charged
against the related allowances with any favorable or unfavorable
experience, as compared to our preceding estimates, having a
correspondingly impact on our results of operations.
o Accounts Receivable and
Related Allowance for Doubtful Accounts. In addition to corresponding
reductions made for the allowances for sales returns and rebates, as
discussed above, we further reduce our consolidated accounts receivable
by an appropriate allowance for accounts where doubt exists in our
opinion, based on known specifics or the passage of time, as to their
ultimate collectability. We routinely offer our customers payment terms
that range from 30 to 60 days. We do not access interest on, nor do we
require any securing collateral of, past due customer balances. The
periodic provisions made by us to establish and maintain an appropriate
allowance for doubtful accounts are charged to our results of operations
via increases to our selling, general and administrative expenses.
Actual collection experience realized by us on previously designated
doubtful accounts, including final determinations of uncollectability,
is charged against the allowance for doubtful accounts with any
favorable or unfavorable experience, as compared to our preceding
estimates, having a correspondingly impact on our results of operations.
o Inventories. Our consolidated
inventories, which consist solely of finished products available for
sale, are stated at the lower of average cost or market, reduced by an
appropriate allowance estimated by us for probable obsolescence. We
record an allowance for obsolescence based on our historical experience
and future expectations. The periodic provisions made by us to establish
and maintain an appropriate allowance for obsolescence are charged to
our results of operations via increases to our cost of goods sold.
Actual disposition experience realized by us on previously designated
obsolete inventory is charged against the allowance for obsolescence
with any favorable or unfavorable experience, as compared to our
preceding estimates, having a corresponding impact our its results of
operations.
o Impairment of Long-Lived
Assets. We evaluate, on at least a quarterly basis, each of our
long-lived assets for impairment by comparing our then estimate of its
related future cash flows, on an undiscounted basis, to its net book
value. If impairment is indicated, we reduce the net book value of the
asset to an amount equal to our estimate of related future cash flows,
on an appropriately discounted basis, with a corresponding impairment
charge to our results of operations.
o Convertible Debt Securities.
We have periodically issued debentures that have non-detachable
conversion features. In those instances where the stated conversion
price reflects a discount from the then prevailing market price for our
common stock, we make, at the date of the debenture issuance, an
estimate as to the fair value of this beneficial conversion feature. The
value assigned to the beneficial conversion feature is then immediately
recognized in our results of operations via an interest/financing charge
with a corresponding incremental credit to additional paid-in capital.
OUR CONSOLIDATED
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Our consolidated total revenues
for the three months ended July 31, 2004 ("fiscal 2004 third quarter")
were $79,407, a decrease of $67,038, or 46%, as compared to $146,445 for
the three months ended July 31, 2003 ("fiscal 2003 third quarter"). Our
consolidated total revenues for the nine months ended July 31, 2004
("fiscal 2004 nine month period") were $322,223, an increase of $39,831,
or 14%, as compared to $282,392 for the nine months ended July 31, 2003
("fiscal 2003 nine month period"). Our product sales constituted 97% and
94% of our consolidated total revenues for the fiscal 2004 third quarter
and nine month period, respectively, as compared to 93% and 90% of our
consolidated total revenues for the fiscal 2003 third quarter and nine
month period, respectively. Our maintenance revenues, which constituted
the balance of our consolidated total revenues for each respective
fiscal period, will continue to decrease in future fiscal periods as we
no longer actively market or pursue maintenance services.
Our product sales were $77,116
for the fiscal 2004 third quarter, a decrease of $59,475, or 44%, as
compared to $136,591 in product sales for the fiscal 2003 third quarter.
Our product sales were $301,765 for the fiscal 2004 nine month period,
an increase of $46,816, or 18%, as compared to $254,949 in product sales
for the fiscal 2003 nine month period. We substantially attribute the
preceding increase to sales of our pocketRADIOs, which we began shipping
to customers in late October 2002. Although to a significantly lesser
extent, we also realized incremental fiscal 2003 product sales from our
XELA Keyboard, which we began shipping to customers in March 2003.
Partially offsetting the preceding product sales increases principally
were sales decreases of varying degrees realized in our accessories for
non-PDA hand-held computing devices, the marketing of which we continue
to de-emphasize as we focus our currently limited operating and
financial resources on the PDA accessories marketplace. We also realized
a significant decrease in sales of our Keysync Keyboard which we
primarily attribute to the introduction of competing products into the
marketplace. Sales of our Travel Kits also decreased slightly, which we
believe generally corresponded to the overall softening of sales
realized by the underlying PDA manufacturers. Variances in the average
prices realized by us on products in existence during both fiscal
periods did not have a significant impact, favorably or unfavorably, on
the overall net increase in our product sales for fiscal 2004. It must
be noted that, absent significant contributions from the introduction of
new products, our future revenues will be materially dependent upon
sales of our pocketRADIOs and, to a significantly lesser extent, our
Travel Kits and XELA Keyboard.
We incurred consolidated gross
losses of $39,276 and $76,101 for the fiscal 2004 third quarter and nine
month period, respectively, and consolidated gross losses of $23,531 and
$36,201 for the fiscal 2003 third quarter and nine month period,
respectively. In turn, these consolidated gross losses equated to
negative gross margins of 49% and 24% for the fiscal 2004 third quarter
and nine month period, respectively, and negative gross margins of 16%
and 13% for the fiscal 2003 third quarter and nine month period,
respectively. Our fiscal 2004 consolidated gross losses and negative
gross margins were attributable to gross losses of $17,547 and $59,563,
and resulting negative gross margins of 23% and 20%, on our product
sales during the fiscal 2004 third quarter and nine month period,
respectively. Similarly, Our fiscal 2003 consolidated gross losses and
negative gross margins were attributable to gross losses of $32,079 and
$60,085, and resulting negative gross margins of 23% and 24%, on our
product sales during the fiscal 2003 third quarter and nine month
period, respectively. We principally attribute the preceding gross
losses and negative gross margins on our product sales during each of
the above fiscal periods to our inability, given our continuing modest
amount of product sales, to leverage our allocable direct labor and, to
a lesser extent, overhead.
Our consolidated total operating
expenses were $2,163,642 for the fiscal 2004 third quarter, an increase
of $1,310,478, or 154%, from the $853,164 incurred during the fiscal
2003 third quarter. Our consolidated total operating expenses were
$11,165,418 for the fiscal 2004 nine month period, an increase of
$9,408,781, or 536%, from the $1,756,617 incurred during the fiscal 2003
nine month period.
Our consolidated selling,
general and administrative ("SG&A") expenses were $964,135 for the
fiscal 2004 third quarter, an increase of $515,796, or 115%, from the
$448,339 incurred during the fiscal 2003 third quarter. Our consolidated
SG&A expenses were $2,283,799 for the fiscal 2004 nine month period, an
increase of $1,078,117, or 89%, from the $1,205,682 incurred during the
fiscal 2003 nine month period. We incurred substantial dollar and
percentage increases in our advertising expenses and travel expenses as
a result of
marketing activities associated
with the introductions of our pocketRADIOs and XELA Keyboards, and in
our sales expenses as a result of our transitioning to incrementally
more expensive, yet more variable in nature, external commissioned field
sales representatives. We also experienced substantial percentage
increases in our consulting and legal fees as we continue to pay
consultants and attorneys with common stock in order to reduce cash
outlays . The expenses for consultants and attorneys have increased as a
result of our efforts to expand our business and search for new
opportunities.
During our fiscal 2004 third
quarter, we recognized a $100,000 non-performance penalty incurred by
our sales agent for which the Company is required to provide
indemnification. This penalty relates to the inability to deliver one of
the products requested in the purchase order from a major retailer. (See
Note 4 of our July 31, 2004 financial statements.)
Our consolidated research and
development ("R&D") expenses were $164,226 and $260,152 for the fiscal
2004 third quarter and for the fiscal 2004 nine month period,
respectively. These research and development costs are directly related
to the acquisition of Synosphere and their continuing efforts to develop
new products for introduction in the the PDA marketplace.
During its fiscal second quarter
ended April 30, 2004, the Company advanced a $400,000 deposit
(consisting of $225,000 in cash and the application of $175,000 from the
exercise of an option- see Note 10) to Enterprise Capital AG
("Enterprise") pursuant to an initial purchase order for virtual
keyboards. When Enterprise subsequently failed to perform, the Company's
management filed a lawsuit in Israel against Enterprise, ultimately
resulting in the Company formally terminating its relationship with
Enterprise on June 23, 2004. At such time, the Company requested
Enterprise immediately refund the above deposit. Nevertheless, as it has
been unsuccessful in its subsequent efforts to recover this deposit and
significant uncertainties remain, the Company wrote-off the entire
deposit as unrealizable as of July 31, 2004.
During the three months ended
July 2004, the Company was served with a lawsuit by Ttools, Inc.
alleging breach of contract. The Company has equipment and intellectual
property rights associated with the Ttools product line amounting to
$52,281 at July 31, 2004. Based on this lawsuit, the Company has
determined that the remaining asset value has become impaired and has
written-off the balance at July 31, 2004 (see Note 14).
We have incurred substantial
costs relating to Consulting fees during the quarter and nine months
ended July 31, 2004. We entered into several consulting contracts for
business and management services for various terms. The options were
granted to consultants at a discount from market and based on the
uncertainty of any future value of these agreements; the Company
expensed the value of the options in the period granted. We used the
Black Scholles pricing model, which resulted in a charge to operations
totaling $583,000 and $6,969,186 during the quarter and none months
ended July 31, 2004, respectively.
Our resulting losses from
operations for the fiscal 2004 third quarter and nine month period
fiscal 2003 were $2,202,918 and $11,241,519, respectively. The preceding
compares to losses from operations for the fiscal 2003 third quarter and
nine month period fiscal 2003 of $876,695and $1,792,818, respectively.
Our non-operating other income
and expenses primarily consist of interest expense, including non-cash
charges attributable to the non-detachable beneficial conversion feature
of newly issued debentures, and, to a significantly lesser extent, gains
on settlements of obligations to vendors and miscellaneous other income.
Our interest expense was $30,432 for the fiscal 2004 third quarter, a
decrease of $459,415, or 94%, from the $489,847 incurred during the
fiscal 2003 third quarter. Our interest expense was $172,093 for the
fiscal 2004 nine month period, a decrease of $1,468,406, or 90%, from
the $1,640,499 incurred during the fiscal 2003 nine month period. This
decrease is due to $393,938 and $1,379,077 of beneficial conversion
features of debentures issued during the three and nine months of fiscal
2003, respectively. These charges were not repeated during fiscal 2004.
During the fiscal 2004 nine month period we realized non-cash aggregate
gains of $197,017 on settlements of debenture obligations. The balance
of our non-operating income and expenses items, including interest
income, were inconsequential to our consolidated results of operations.
Primarily as a result of the
foregoing, we incurred losses of $2,230,301 ($0.00) per basic and
diluted share) and $11,186,825 ($0.00) per basic and diluted share) for
the fiscal 2004 third quarter and nine month period, respectively. The
preceding compares to losses of $1,354,095 ($0.00) per basic and diluted
share) and $3,420,058 ($0.02) per basic and diluted share) for the
fiscal 2003 third quarter and nine month period, respectively.
Our future ability to achieve
profitability in any given future fiscal period remains highly
contingent upon our realizing significantly increased product sales
sufficient to leverage our non-variable, likely to be recurring
expenses. For instance, our ability to achieve gross profits and
positive gross margins in any given future fiscal period remains highly
contingent upon us being able to leverage through significant
incremental product sales the significant non-variable direct labor and
overhead components of our costs of goods sold. Similarly, our ability
to realize income from operations is further dependent upon our ability
to additionally leverage through significant incremental sales our SG&A
expenses, the majority of which currently are non-variable and recurring
in nature. To the extent that we incur other less frequent or
non-recurring operating expenses, as in fiscal 2004, we will require
additional incremental product sales in order to leverage them. Lastly,
our ability to realize net income and net income per common share
remains highly contingent upon us being able to leverage through
incremental product sales any significant net non-operating expenses,
such as charges for the beneficial conversion features of any issued
debentures and our interest expense on any outstanding debt.
Correspondingly, our ability to realize significant incremental product
sales in any given future fiscal period remains highly contingent upon
us obtaining significant equity infusions and/or long-term debt
financing sufficient to fund the increased and sustained campaign of
marketing and advertising activities we believe necessary to build broad
consumer awareness of, and demand for, our PDA accessories. Even if we
were to be successful in procuring such funding, there can be no
assurance that we will be successful in our marketing and advertising
efforts, and that we will subsequently realize the significant
incremental product sales we require.
OUR CONSOLIDATED
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Overview
We have historically sustained
our operations through an ongoing combination of trade credit
arrangements, short-term financings, and debt and equity issuances. As
our working capital requirements generally precede the realization of
product sales and related accounts receivable, we routinely draw upon
our existing cash and cash equivalent balances and seek short and
long-term financing to fund our procurement of inventory. We currently
have no established credit facilities in place for future borrowings.
During the course of
transitioning our company over the last several years from our
discontinued computer service businesses to our current business of
marketing and distributing various accessories primarily intended for
use with PDAs, we have incurred substantial operating and net losses, as
well as negative operating cash flows. As of our fiscal quarter ended
July 31, 2004, our working capital deficit was $2,797,058 and our
stockholders' deficit was $2,341,702. Such reflects a decrease from our
preceding fiscal year ended October 31, 2003 when our working capital
deficit was $6,093,514 and our stockholders' deficit was $6,716,685. We
had a nominal unrestricted cash balance of only $5,811 at July 31, 2004,
as compared to $2,140 at October 31, 2003.
We had outstanding convertible
debentures with an aggregate principal face amount of $1,413,675 at July
31, 2004, of which $1,413,675 was to become due and payable during our
fiscal year ending October 31, 2004. During August 2004, debentures
totaling $550,000 were converted into common stock. We had outstanding
convertible debentures with an aggregate principal face amount of
$4,015,837 at October 31, 2003, of which $3,265,837 and $750,000 was to
become due and payable during our fiscal years ending October 31, 2004
and 2005, respectively.
Our Consolidated Cash Flows
Our operating activities
utilized $2,202,529 in cash during the fiscal 2004 nine month period, an
increase of $1,528,136, or 227%, from the $674,393 in cash utilized
during the fiscal 2003 nine month period. Our increased utilization
substantially reflects a $6,781,551, or 294%, net increase in our
non-cash charges, being substantially offset by the $7,714,486 increase
in our net loss. The most significant reductions in our non-cash charges
were a $1,379,077
reduction in the charges
associated with the beneficial conversion features of issued convertible
debentures. This reduction is offset by increases of $1,200,000 and
$6,969,186 in our non-cash acquisition of in-process research and
development and services rendered in exchange for common stock options,
respectively. Partially offsetting these non-cash charge items were a
$50,215 decrease in accounts receivable, a $209,044 increase in
inventories and an $18,603 decrease in accounts payable.
Our investing activities used a
total of $321,299 during the fiscal 2004 nine month period to fund the
acquisition of Synosphere in the amount of $18,833, the investment in
Virtual Devices, $300,000 and the additional patent costs incurred of
$2,466. There was no cash used in investing activities during the fiscal
2003 nine month period.
Our financing activities
provided $2,527,499 in cash during the fiscal 2004 third quarter, an
increase of $1,854,054, or 275%, from the $673,445 in cash provided by
financing activities during the fiscal 2003 nine month period. Our
fiscal 2004 nine month period reflects cash inflows primarily from our
issuances . . .