AUTOSCOPE TECHNOLOGIES CORP - Quarter Report: 2011 June (Form 10-Q)

Table of Contents

          Because the majority of our end users are governmental entities, we are faced with challenges related to potential delays in purchase decisions by those entities and changes in budgetary constraints. These contingencies could result in significant fluctuations in our revenue between periods. The slow rate at which the worldwide recession is ending is further adding to the unpredictability of purchase decisions, creating more delays than usual and decreasing governmental budgets, and it is likely to continue to negatively affect our revenue. We believe we will continue to be a beneficiary of the federal stimulus bills enacted in 2009 and 2010, but it is difficult to determine the level of impact it has on our operations.

Key Financial Terms and Metrics

          Revenue. We derive revenue from two sources: (1) royalties received from Econolite for sales of the Autoscope system in North America, the Caribbean and Latin America and (2) revenue received from the direct sales of our RTMS and CitySync systems in North America, the Caribbean and Latin America and all of our systems in Europe and Asia. We calculate the royalties using a profit sharing model where we split the gross profit on sales of Autoscope product made through Econolite. This royalty arrangement has the benefit of decreasing our cost of revenues and our selling, marketing and product support expenses because these costs and expenses are borne primarily by Econolite. Although this royalty model has a positive impact on our gross margin, it also negatively impacts our total revenue, which would be higher if all the sales made by Econolite were made directly by us. The royalty arrangement is exclusive under a long-term agreement.

          Cost of Revenue. There is no cost of revenue related to royalties, as virtually all manufacturing, warranty and related costs are incurred by Econolite. Cost of revenue related to direct product sales consists primarily of the amount charged by our third party contractors to manufacture hardware platforms, which is influenced mainly by the cost of electronic components. The cost of revenue also includes logistics costs and estimated expenses for product warranties and inventory reserves. The key metric that we follow is achieving certain gross margin percentages by geographic region and to a lesser extent by product line.

          Operating Expenses. Our operating expenses fall into three categories: (1) selling, marketing and product support; (2) general and administrative; and (3) research and development. Selling, marketing and product support expenses consist of various costs related to sales and support of our products, including salaries, benefits and commissions paid to our personnel; commissions paid to third parties; travel, trade show and advertising costs; second-tier technical support for Econolite; and general product support, where applicable. General and administrative expenses consist of certain corporate and administrative functions that support the development and sales of our products and provide an infrastructure to support future growth. General and administrative expenses reflect management, supervisory and staff salaries and benefits, legal and auditing fees, travel, rent and costs associated with being a public company, such as board of director fees, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, listing fees and annual reporting expenses. Research and development expenses consist mainly of salaries and benefits for our engineers and third party costs for consulting and prototyping. We measure all operating expenses against our annually approved budget, which is developed with achieving a certain operating margin as a key focus. Also included in operating expenses are acquisition related expenses and non-cash expense for intangible asset amortization.

- 10 -