Tobii Trims Costs as In-Car Sensor Momentum Builds

Sweden-based eye tracking and attention computing specialist Tobii has announced third quarter net sales up 40% to SEK 211m ($US 19.9m) due to an acquisition. Despite a slight organic decline in sales the firm reported improved earnings and said its new automotive business has more than tripled year-on-year.

In February the company announced full year 2023 revenue of SEK 758m ($US 71.5m) - itself a decline in organic terms of 6%, and the latest figures (SEK 573m / $53.9m in nine months) suggest that despite the acquisition the business may be headed for a similar total this year.

Last December Tobii acquired vehicle interior sensing firm AutoSense, adding around 250 staff to the company and creating a new business or 'segment', central to the Group's future. At the time, Tobii said the tech was in more than 300,000 vehicles on the road since 2019 - now that has swelled to more than 550,000. CEO Anand Srivatsa (pictured), who took over the role three years ago, comments: 'The initial steps of our cost reduction program and 40 percent net sales growth significantly improve d EBIT in the third quarter. The integration of FotoNation/AutoSense is advancing, creating synergies that enhance our automotive offerings and lower future platform investments. Taken together, these actions are expected to support sustained positive profitability development in the coming quarters'.

He continues: 'The first OEM to integrate our single-camera solution (SCDO) into passenger cars, a premium German automaker, is currently undergoing homologation testing to certify compliance with regulatory performance and safety standards. This is a critical step towards start of production and a key validation of our SCDO technology for future customers, supporting new design wins'. Srivatsa says the group is 'implementing measures to ensure that we operate within our available cash reserves'. Tobii said in February that it was targeting a positive cash flow and an EBIT margin of around 10% in 2026 and around 20% in 2028.

Web site: www.tobii.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.