Subject: From BIO-key International, Inc.
BIO-key Issues
Letter to Shareholders
January
2010
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Dear Bud,
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Earlier
today, BIO-key
released the
following
shareholder letter.
Dear Shareholders,
Throughout our history,
dating back to the
founding of SAC
technology in 1993 and
the formation of BIO-key
International in 2002
and up to the latter
part of this decade, we
have never been more
optimistic about the
future of the biometric
industry and, in
particular, the
opportunity for BIO-key
to prosper.
Here's our outlook. It's
well known that the
terrorist attacks on
9/11 introduced
Americans to the
tenacity and willpower
of those who seek to
destroy our way of life.
This year's events on
Christmas Day make it
crystal clear that
similar attacks will be
levied against America
using methods we know as
well as those we have
not yet imagined,
including cyber and
infrastructure attacks.
There is a renewed
awakening, not just to
the Security and
Authentication markets,
but to all Americans,
reminding us that we all
have an obligation to
play a role in
protecting our country
and its citizens. I am
very proud to say that
BIO-key's technology
serves our country by
providing a piece of the
solution. We do so
directly through our
participation in the FBI
NGI program and
indirectly in our
delivery of biometric
security to America's
infrastructure including
healthcare,
transportation,
commerce, and
communications. BIO-key
will continue to satisfy
this growing demand as
widespread adoption of
biometrics expands with
the Country's efforts to
improve its security.
BIO-key remains
intensely focused on its
core goals - to develop
and provide the best
commercially viable
finger biometric
technology available.
Our talented group of
software engineers
provides BIO-key
customers with solutions
that protect their
physical and logical
assets by enabling them
to securely and
conveniently identify
individuals within large
populations. We are the
only finger biometric
solution that is
compatible with
virtually any
infrastructure, hardware
platform, or scanning
device. BIO-key's
universal software
offerings integrate with
all common security
architectures used by
government agencies and
commercial entities
across the globe and
this continues to
differentiate us among
other biometric
offerings.
The time and effort
BIO-key spent to develop
our leveraged business
model - providing
software to application
providers and
integrators who embed
our technology into
their solutions and
distribute through their
sales channels - is
beginning to payoff in
revenue growth and
profitability. As high
performance OEM partners
like McKesson, Radiant
Systems and Lexis Nexis
use BIO-key solutions to
enhance their key
products, our revenue
and profitability
increase as their
business expands.
Access to social
programs, banking, and
healthcare and to
protected facilities
requires positive
identification and
authentication. This is
exactly what BIO-key
provides; the most
convenient form of
authentication developed
for the most
recognizable and widely
used technology
platforms in the world,
such as Oracle Access
Manager, CA SiteMinder,
Evidian/Bull SSO, IBM
Tivoli for ESSO, and
many other access
solution offerings. It
has taken years for
BIO-key to develop these
assets and we are now
positioned to take
advantage of market
opportunities that
didn't exist five years
ago or even one year
ago. In addition,
because other security
technologies (tokens,
PKI, smart cards and
PINS) are not inherently
linked to the
individual, the most
convenient and secure
solutions will include
biometrics and, more
importantly, only those
biometric solutions that
integrate easily with
industry leading
infrastructures
mentioned above. This
strategic direction and
the time we have
invested in developing
various patents and
performance improvements
will serve our customers
and our investors well
now and into the future.
Following are a few
highlights from 2009:
This past year, our
Board and Management
Team believed that the
timing was perfect to
focus all of our
resources on the high
growth emerging
identification and
authentication markets,
leading to the recent
sale of our law
enforcement division.
Our net debt free
position and clean
balance sheet provide
BIO-key with many
options to grow and
expand organically and
to consider strategic
options as well.
BIO-key has developed
advanced technology that
is in use and in demand,
as proven by our
recently announced wins.
We will take on the
authentication market
with a sound business
model that is capable of
delivering significant
scalable profitability.
As the adoption of
finger biometrics
continues to grow and
finger scanning devices
become ubiquitous, as
demonstrated by the
introduction of the LG
EXPO the first
Smartphone in the US to
include a finger scanner
operating on the AT&T
network, BIO-key will be
there to leverage our
technology, experience,
and excellent references
to close opportunities.
BIO-key is firmly
established on the
leading edge of a
burgeoning market and
will continue to meet
all of the challenges
that face innovative
companies on the path to
widespread acceptance.
During our 17 years in
this business, we met
and overcame many
challenges. We have seen
other biometric
companies come and go
but BIO-key has survived
and is now poised for
success because of its
superior technology and
marquis customer and
partner base. Our focus
in 2010 is to leverage
the credibility we have
with our strong customer
references to expand our
revenue opportunities in
the government sector
and to go after the
larger market
opportunities in the
commercial identity and
authentication
applications.
Thank you for your
continued support of
BIO-key. We could not do
it without our investors
and you are the prime
reason we continue to
work towards building
the best company in the
business.
We wish you and
ourselves a Happy and
Prosperous New Year.
Mike DePasquale
Michael W. DePasquale
CEO
BIO-key International
About BIO-key
BIO-key International,
Inc., headquartered in
Wall, New Jersey,
develops and delivers
advanced identification
solutions to commercial
and government
enterprises,
integrators, and custom
application
developers. BIO-key's
award winning, high
performance, scalable,
cost-effective and
easy-to-deploy biometric
finger identification
technology accurately
identifies and
authenticates users of
wireless and enterprise
applications. Our
solutions are used in
local embedded OEM
products as well as some
of the world's largest
identification
deployments to improve
security, guarantee
identity, and help
reduce identity
theft. BIO-key's
technology is offered
directly or by market
leading partners around
the world. (http://www.bio-key.com)
BIO-key Safe Harbor
Statement
Certain
statements contained in
this press release may
be construed as
"forward-looking
statements" as defined
in the Private
Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 (the
"Act").
The words
"estimate," "project,"
"intends," "expects,"
"anticipates,"
"believes" and similar
expressions are intended
to identify
forward-looking
statements. Such
forward-looking
statements are made
based on management's
beliefs, as well as
assumptions made by, and
information currently
available to, management
pursuant to the
"safe-harbor" provisions
of the Act. These
statements are subject
to certain risks and
uncertainties that may
cause actual results to
differ materially from
those projected on the
basis of these
statements. These risks
and uncertainties
include, without
limitation, our history
of losses and limited
revenue, our ability to
develop new products and
evolve existing ones,
the impact on our
business of the recent
financial crisis in the
global capital markets
and negative global
economic trends, and our
ability to attract and
retain key personnel.
For a more complete
description of these and
other risk factors that
may affect the future
performance of BIO-key
International, Inc., see
"Risk Factors" in the
Company's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31,
2008 and its other
filings with the
Securities and Exchange
Commission. Readers are
cautioned not to place
undue reliance on these
forward-looking
statements, which speak
only as of the date
made. The Company also
undertakes no obligation
to disclose any revision
to these forward-looking
statements to reflect
events or circumstances
after the date made or
to reflect the
occurrence of
unanticipated events.
© Copyright 2010 by
BIO-key International,
Inc.
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BIO-key International, Inc. |
Allaire Corporate Center | 3349
Highway 138 | Building D, Suite
A | Wall | NJ | 07719
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