Tell us something about Lantronix, its origins and its product portfolio.
Lantronix, Inc. is a global leader of secure communication technologies that simplify remote access, management and control of any electronic device. Its solutions empower businesses to make better decisions based on real-time information, and gain a competitive advantage by generating new revenue streams, improving productivity and increasing efficiency and profitability. Easy to integrate and deploy, Lantronix products remotely connect and control electronic equipment via the Internet; provide secure remote access to firewall-protected equipment; and enable remote management of IT equipment over the Internet. Founded in 1989, Lantronix serves some of the largest security, industrial and building automation, medical, transportation, retail/POS, financial, government, consumer electronics/appliances, IT/data center and pro-AV/signage entities in the world. The company's headquarters are located in Irvine, California. Lantronix offers products in three principal areas: Network enablement (both embedded and external solutions, wired and wireless), remote IT infrastructure management, and remote access to firewall-protected equipment.
How long has the company operated in Europe. You recently moved to new headquarters in the Netherlands, why was that?
We started our Lantronix EMEA operations in the year 2000 and have recently opened our new EMEA Headquarters located in Breda in the Netherlands. Breda is more centrally located for the majority of our customer base, making the Netherlands the logical choice.
2009 was a tough year for the electronics industry. How did Lantronix come through the year?
It stands without reason that a variety of industries have been struggling to move their business forward as a direct result of the world-wide economic crisis. Lantronix showed strength throughout the economic crisis with a strong positive business attitude focusing even more on core values such as product development and customer relationships.
I am very excited to be part of this new era where, ‘the journey is the reward.' Our focus leads us to an impressive outcome where we have recently released amazing new products to our portfolio such as our Xport Pro (Linux platform), our Spider Duo (KVM-IP) and our just recently announced wireless product PremierWave ENTM. PremierWave ENTM provides high-performance wireless connectivity for securely transmitting medical, financial, customer or other vital information across enterprise networks. PremierWave ENTM features a wide variety of fast data interfaces and support for new wireless network frequencies, like those being used to connect vital equipment in hospitals today. Its powerful processor and ample memory can actually take on the task of primary processing, saving customers considerable product costs.
How much of the business is direct to customers and how much goes through distribution and resellers?
Lantronix is a global company with customers and distribution partners throughout the world. Our European sales headquarters in The Netherlands serves partners throughout the UK, East and West Europe, the Middle-East, and Africa. We sell around 90 per cent through distribution channels. We have over 40 distributor partners in the EMEA region.
How important is the distribution network in Europe. Which companies have you teamed up with in Europe and why?
Our pan-European and regional distribution channel partners play a significant role in our success where they represent and own excellent skills and know-how in their specific playing-field and/or specific country/area. One must never underestimate the importance of having a highly qualified network of local staff working on projects and developments within the boundaries of local language and culture.
What are the biggest challenges to the company in the embedded networking market?
Our embedded networking market shows continued strength. Pricing pressure is one of the challenges we face if our products just add basic device connectivity. Therefore, our newly released products and product roadmap continue to introduce new levels of performance as well as software features. These new value added capabilities allow our customers to develop and market new applications that take advantage of our product enhancements.
Lantronix launched XPort Pro late last year, and it has already won awards. What's so special Labout the product , and what are its applications?
The XPort Pro is Lantronix' most powerful self-contained embedded networking module targeting advanced applications on the edge device to enable a new class of device servers for M2M (machine to machine) edge computing. The XPort Pro, with 16-Mbytes Flash and 8-Mbytes SDRAM handles demanding applications with the power of a high-speed, high performance, advanced-architecture 32-bit processor.
XPort Pro offers a variety of robust data encryption and authentication options. The XPort Pro Linux Software Developer's Kit (SDK), with built in IPv6, is an integrated embedded hardware and software suite that provides a validated set of Linux-based applications, an extensive software library, a board support package (BSP), and device drivers that allow designers to create custom tailored products. Built on the stable 2.6 Linux kernel, the SDK includes all of the components required for building secure network enabled products using the Linux OS.
XPort Pro includes Lantronix' patent pending VIP (virtual IP) Access technology that allows for seamless integration with the ManageLinx remote services enablement platform, allowing access to firewall protected equipment. Critical agency certification has already been completed by Lantronix, reducing test time and speeding time-to-market.
XPort Pro can be used in limitless variety of applications.
You organise an annual design contest. What's the theme this year, who can enter, and what are the benefits to Lantronix?
XPort Pro is a very powerful tool to Web-enable almost any device in a fraction of the typical development. Where XPort Pro is also available running Linux and IPv6 we have centered the theme on this year's "XPort Pro Design Contest" around the Linux community to showcase the immense broad and diverse applications one can develop with our products.
The contest is open to all individuals with interest in network technology, including businesses, university faculties, students, research labs, engineers and design contractors. There is no limit to the number of entries per person or organization. We are awarding prizes of $6,000 and $3,000 to the top-two entries for Best Linux Design, and a separate prize of $3,000 for the Best Student Linux Design. Entries must be submitted by August 6, 2010, and the winners will be announced at ESC Boston September 20-23 at the Hynes Convention Center.
Lantronix has been around for over two decades so it is fair to assume that we know a lot of applications out there based on our experience on a global scale. Contests like these are a joy as the developer community keeps surprising us with new, outstanding ideas and possibilities out there.
How much does Lantronix spend on R&D? How do you decide which of the product sectors get the R&D investment?
The company currently spends 12% of our revenue on R&D.
The PremierWave EN product was launched earlier this year at ESC. Tell us about the product and the initial reception from potential users?
PremierWave EN adds wireless connectivity to any device or equipment, such as patient monitors and infusion pumps. Its small footprint gives businesses a competitive advantage by enabling faster time-to-market. The embedded device server is built on Linux, includes IPv6 and provides enterprise level security. It features Lantronix' SmartRoam technology to ensure uninterrupted connectivity to the wireless network and VIP Access, which provides secure remote access behind corporate firewalls. PremierWave EN supports the latest IEEE standards, including IEEE 802.11abgn, and works with both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks. 5GHz has become an important spectrum for medical equipment segregation, as the 2.4GHz band becomes more and more crowded with other hospital network traffic.
PremierWave EN provides rock-solid & reliable performance, especially when secure, intelligent wireless connectivity is demanded for critical real-time data transport applications. Performance cannot be compromised when lives are at stake, or business stakes are high.
How is 2010 shaping up for Lantronix?
For our most recently completed quarter ending March 31, we experienced substantial improvements in all our key financial measurements. This included a 14 percent growth in revenue and a more-than-doubling of our Non GAAP income from a year ago. We expect this positive momentum to extend into the remainder of 2010. Through hard work, the Lantronix team has the platform, the structure and the discipline to grow our business.
We have been particularly encouraged with the growing market demand for medical device connectivity, both at the OEM and hospital level. Around 10 per cent of our revenue is related to the medical market. Medical device connectivity represents a unique opportunity for Lantronix to sharpen our focus and provide more value-added solutions that connect medical devices to health care information systems. Our solutions will help improve the timeliness and accuracy of electronic medical records. Going forward, we believe Lantronix is well positioned to contribute to and benefit from growth in this exciting vertical. Our newly launched products are off to good starts with successful initial customer acceptance. Lantronix has the platform, the structure, the discipline and now, with a focus on medical device connectivity, the direction to grow our business.
