The End For Tripath??? Say It Ain't So! - Page 2

pinkmouse · 31st December 2006, 01:05 AM

Yeah, why buy the company with premises and staff when you don't need to.

fokker · 31st December 2006, 01:10 AM

I did a little search and the financing was put together Aug 05, and is cap'd at $3.6 million!

the financing requires that the company gets about $7 million of junior capital and equity by 1Q06 and 2Q06, respectively.

apparently, that never took place.

when did the hype on the T-amp start?

fokker · 31st December 2006, 01:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pinkmouse
Yeah, why buy the company with premises and staff when you don't need to.

with a PP&E of just over $700K, I am less confident if they own any "premises".

and it sounds like they have shut down the entire operation and laid off the staff to reduce payroll expenses.

I can see someone buying them for the IP portfolio, or to revolutionize the audio industry with those little wonder chips,

.

fokker · 31st December 2006, 01:22 AM

the financials for this company is just awful:

a) gross margin about 20%. for a fabless semi, it should be in the 50%+ range.

b) R&D + SG&A is more than its sales. you cannot survive too long that way.

c) they have about $5 million in inventory as of june. so maybe we will get a blow-out sales of their chips?

this is a werid company. they appointed their controller as acting CFO on 8/9/06. two days later, she told them that she would take that position until 8/30/06. how did that happen?

fokker · 31st December 2006, 01:31 AM

those guys are pretty good at losing money: since inception, they have lost $211 million! vs shareholder equity of $205 million.

a lot of pain for those investors, I guess.

fokker · 31st December 2006, 01:34 AM

looks like it ipo'd at $10 / share, and went as high as $30 / share. with 65 million sharas issued, that meant that tripath was worth some $2 billion at its peak.

now, it is worth about zip.

neutron7 · 31st December 2006, 01:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tomtt

might be a Factor...

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....lar&id=903643&

Any time something like this happens:
Lawyers get money. people get screwed.
eventually the lawyers will have all the money then they will have to start eating their own kind.

fokker · 31st December 2006, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by john65b
continue seeing those chips under another name.

it is a tall ask. sounds like if the company has some IP issues and if they find a buyer for the IP portfolio, they will have to wash their liabilities through a bankruptcy filing which will take at least half to a million dollars off the table. a huge sum given that they couldn't fetch <3.5 million on the market after going to 20+ potential buyers for over 5 montnhs now.

fokker · 31st December 2006, 11:52 AM

in my view, tripath's death is due to its poor market positioning.

class d's selling point is its efficiency (its sound quality is either no better than traditional class ab or the mass market doesn't care). effciency is very important in the battery-powered portable markets: cell phones, laptops, ipods, etc. where power output is <1w (<100mw mostly). that's where smart guys like TI/National play: low-power class D chips in tiny packages.

high efficiency can also be quite valuable in very high power output (PA for example) as it saves significant money and footprint from heatsink and output transistors. However, those guys have moved to their own class D / H / G designs and need the design to be a differentiating factor so they cannot use or aren't willing to use independent chips.

in the <100w market, well, class D's efficiency gain isn't significant enough. while Class D can achieve *maximum* efficiency of >80% at full power, its efficency at lower output levels are significantly less than that. Class D needs expensive inductors (usually two per channel in a BTL configuration), and engineers have to be reeducated to deal with EMI issues. part count is about the same between a class AB chip solution (3875 for example) and a Class D chip solution.

the same thing can be said about UcD.

what may have value is for someone to come up with a scalable fully integrated solution that takes an input (analog or digital) and sends it all the way to the output stage (either outboard or integrated) + filter, similar to the class AB chip amps.

pinkmouse · 31st December 2006, 04:58 PM

Nonsense removed. The sinbin is awaiting for the first person to start it up again.

31st December 2006, 01:05 AM	#11
pinkmouse diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Chatham, England	Yeah, why buy the company with premises and staff when you don't need to. __________________ Al I conceive of nothing, in religion, science or philosophy, that is more than the proper thing to wear, for a while. Charles Fort

31st December 2006, 04:58 PM	#20
pinkmouse diyAudio Moderator Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Chatham, England	Nonsense removed. The sinbin is awaiting for the first person to start it up again. __________________ Al I conceive of nothing, in religion, science or philosophy, that is more than the proper thing to wear, for a while. Charles Fort

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
DAC next to Tripath?	spadulata	Class D	1	13th February 2007 12:10 AM
Where to buy TriPath ICs?	zapwizard	Class D	3	17th October 2006 04:11 PM

New To Site?	Need Help?
Register to Participate Search Privacy Statement Contact Us	Frequently Asked Questions Did you forget your password? Mark Forums Read


	Please consider donating to help us continue to serve you. Ads on/off / Custom Title / More PMs / More album space / Advanced printing & mass image saving

31st December 2006, 01:10 AM	#12
fokker diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2006	I did a little search and the financing was put together Aug 05, and is cap'd at $3.6 million! the financing requires that the company gets about $7 million of junior capital and equity by 1Q06 and 2Q06, respectively. apparently, that never took place. when did the hype on the T-amp start?

31st December 2006, 01:22 AM	#14
fokker diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2006	the financials for this company is just awful: a) gross margin about 20%. for a fabless semi, it should be in the 50%+ range. b) R&D + SG&A is more than its sales. you cannot survive too long that way. c) they have about $5 million in inventory as of june. so maybe we will get a blow-out sales of their chips? this is a werid company. they appointed their controller as acting CFO on 8/9/06. two days later, she told them that she would take that position until 8/30/06. how did that happen?

31st December 2006, 01:31 AM	#15
fokker diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2006	those guys are pretty good at losing money: since inception, they have lost $211 million! vs shareholder equity of $205 million. a lot of pain for those investors, I guess.

31st December 2006, 01:34 AM	#16
fokker diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2006	looks like it ipo'd at $10 / share, and went as high as $30 / share. with 65 million sharas issued, that meant that tripath was worth some $2 billion at its peak. now, it is worth about zip.

31st December 2006, 11:52 AM	#19
fokker diyAudio Member Join Date: Jul 2006	in my view, tripath's death is due to its poor market positioning. class d's selling point is its efficiency (its sound quality is either no better than traditional class ab or the mass market doesn't care). effciency is very important in the battery-powered portable markets: cell phones, laptops, ipods, etc. where power output is <1w (<100mw mostly). that's where smart guys like TI/National play: low-power class D chips in tiny packages. high efficiency can also be quite valuable in very high power output (PA for example) as it saves significant money and footprint from heatsink and output transistors. However, those guys have moved to their own class D / H / G designs and need the design to be a differentiating factor so they cannot use or aren't willing to use independent chips. in the <100w market, well, class D's efficiency gain isn't significant enough. while Class D can achieve maximum efficiency of >80% at full power, its efficency at lower output levels are significantly less than that. Class D needs expensive inductors (usually two per channel in a BTL configuration), and engineers have to be reeducated to deal with EMI issues. part count is about the same between a class AB chip solution (3875 for example) and a Class D chip solution. the same thing can be said about UcD. what may have value is for someone to come up with a scalable fully integrated solution that takes an input (analog or digital) and sends it all the way to the output stage (either outboard or integrated) + filter, similar to the class AB chip amps.