MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 24 -- Drexler Technology Corp. has announced a plan to invest $3.2 million in capital over a 12-month period in order to expand production capacity of its LaserCard digital optical memory cards. The company aims to grow capacity from the current level of 7 million cards per year to about 11 million cards per year by March 2001. Drexler Technology will finance this capital investment internally using positive cash flow from operations.
The company said it planned the expansion in anticipation of a possible increase in LaserCard sales in fiscal 2001 to levels substantially higher than the 4.5 million optical memory cards shipped in fiscal 2000, which ends March 31, 2000. Drexler Technology attributed the expected need for extra production capacity in the next fiscal year to anticipated increases in card orders from existing customers, including the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, the US Department of State, and VISX Inc. The company is also preparing for possible new card orders from potentially significant customers in Asia, Europe, and North America.