Cognex Takes Eyes Off The Road
It's so unlikely that Cognex Corp.'s lane departure warning business would ever turn a profit, the company has sold the business to Takata Corp. Group of Tokyo for $3.15 million.
The Natick-based machine vision sensor company got into the in-vehicle vision business in 2006 when it acquired AssistWare Technologies, a small company that had developed a vision system that would warn drivers when their vehicles were about to inadvertently cross a lane.
But "it has become clear to us that delivering a complete LDW product to the automotive industry is not a profitable way for us to participate in that market," said Robert J. Shillman, Cognex CEO. Shillman said auto manufacturers prefer to work exclusively with "tier one" suppliers that have the ability to do rigorous testing of their products. Shillman said that although some of those suppliers expressed interest in Cognex technology, they all required access and control of the company's proprietary software code.
Takata is one of the largest suppliers of automotive safety equipment in Japan. Cognex's first quarter earnings will show a $3 million pre-tax charge as a result of the sale.
Cognex makes machine vision sensors that help automate production lines in manufacturing facilities.
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