Market Mismatch?

“Sarantel has proved something of a case study in the ‘great technology, poor commercialisation’ trend familiar to UK tech investors” began an article in The Times recently.

Reading on, it would appear that there is a mismatch with market needs: whilst Sarantel’s accurate antennas have sold well into military markets, such accuracy is not essential in consumer markets.  Here, it would appear that Sarantel is having difficulty competing against cheaper, less accurate antennas.

The Times notes that “Fans of Sarantel point to Samsung’s £193 million takeover of CSR’s mobile technology business as a sign that the company is undervalued given its patents and potential.” 

The ‘Company Overview’ section of Sarantel’s website similarly notes that “Sarantel has developed an intellectual property portfolio comprising of over a dozen core patents with hundreds of international filings on the design and production of dielectrically loaded antennas.”

The Times, however, concludes that “the proof needs to be seen in the numbers before buying into stock that has not nearly lived up to that billing.”