Since the pandemic hit, lockdowns started and companies in the digital signage ecosystem scrambled to remain relevant, I have wondered if the pandemic/back to business counter-measure technologies launched by seemingly dozens of companies were actually selling.
I’ve seen a bazillion PR and sell sheet pieces touting the devices – like thermal mirrors and screen/sanitizer dispenser thingies. I don’t think I have seen a single image of a real device in use by a business.
But I live outside a city, go to a mall about 1X a year, and live in a land that digital signage largely forgot … so these things may be everywhere in larger markets, and it is possible customers aren’t letting vendors make any hay.
All that stated, I was looking over the Q2 earnings call transcript for Creative Realities (bad quarter, but as it probably was for everyone) and the Q&A got in to that company’s version of a Thermal Mirror, which is a partnership with InReality.
Says CRI CEO Rick Mills:
And so we have a number of customers who were adopting the Thermal Mirror because of the Samsung relationship.
Finally, Samsung is actually our current customer of the Thermal Mirror and we announced in a press release earlier this year that, Samsung adopted it, and today has installed many units, 50 plus units across many of Samsung’s corporate facilities across America today.
Q: And then next question is, how many devices have we sold of the Thermal Mirror thus far?
Well, Mill says, we’ve shipped over 1,200 units, a thousand here in the U.S. We finally shipped 200 into Canada that got landed within the last week. Some of those reps distributors who are then selling them and shipping them every day.
So … one company’s experience is indicative of little, but we can say customers are indeed buying these things.