Emmanuel Lakios: Sure. So, you’ve been doing this for a while. And so, the answer to your question is we follow a pretty regimented PLC process, product lifecycle. So, we developed a product. We shipped the first one, back in 2011. We productized it starting in December of 2021, and we started shipping in July of 2022. Typically, you ship one or two of them as alphas and betas. Well, we ended up shipping 20 of them last year, alphas and betas that I think are performing well in the installed base. And as we said, we have one customer for the alphas and betas. We subsequently received an order for 10 more production tools. And the only differences on those are documentation control reduction in workflows in the manufacturing shop, and we just term them alphas, betas, and production systems.
You really can’t tell the difference by looking at them. We launched the product officially this quarter. And we started to engage on different segments of the vertical integration chain. And what I mean by that is you have the boule manufacturer or boule wafer manufacturers, that’s all they do, to sell wafer. And they’re our first entrée into that space. And there are couple emerging ones. And there’s one established. And then you have the folks that make their own equipment and make their own boules and make their own wafers. And then you have the fully integrated. And the fully integrated would be the onsemis,, the Wolfspeeds, and STs, II-VI, they, for the most part, make their own equipment, grow their boules, make their wafers, and also make devices.
So, our primary attack was with our first customer on the boule wafer. We launched the product literally in the January-February timeframe, and we’ve been going to conferences. And we’re starting now to be recognized as a provider of equipment to the crystal boule growth folks. It’s going to take a bit of time for us to get some traction and adoption. And so what I would say with that is we’re providing quotations and presentations now to several potential customers.
Unidentified Analyst: So, at year-end — at year-end of this – calendar year-end, how many new customers do you think you could add into the portfolio of the PVT product for the boules?
Emmanuel Lakios: In addition to serving the existing customer, because all customers are key, we — our objective, and sales has an objective to penetrate two additional accounts.
Unidentified Analyst: Thank you very much. Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I’d like to hand the floor back over to management for any closing comments.
Emmanuel Lakios: Well, we appreciate the attendance on the call, and the support, and the loyalty from our shareholders and some of our employees who are also on the call. We again are cautiously optimistic. We have come from a position where we have grown as a team, since 2021, grown the bookings revenue, improved the gross margin line, operating profit line, and have shored up the balance sheet in that period of time. We continue to be cautiously optimistic and conservative. As we move forward, we look forward to a successful 2023. And again, we appreciate your attendance and support. Thank you.
Operator: This concludes today’s conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.
