INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Making hardware is difficult by itself, but as all tech hardware requires software, hardware shops wind up needing wider domain expertise
than pure-software startups
a hybrid hardware and digital services company, go publicand struggle
Despite a recent public market resurgence, the company is slipping back toward its IPO price
Today its equity is trading down about 6% to around $30 per share
(more here on its debut) that quickly began to lose altitude after it started to float
EHang traded up today, but the firm is still worth less than its IPO valuation, a reduced figure that was dinged during the China-based
deleted about two-thirds of its value since its late-2018 U.S.-listed IPO
After going public at $6.25, shares of NIO are worth just $2.70 today.Sonos also went public in the United States in 2018
It traded above its IPO price of $15 at first
Then it fell under $10 per share as 2018 came to a close
The smart speaker and stereo company spent 2019 recovering
After pricing at $14 per share, the TV hardware and digital services firm is trading for $137 per share, a nearly 10x gain
But Roku was moving away from hardware at the time of its IPO, making it a somewhat poor example
Hardware revenues for Roku were just 31% of revenue in its most recent quarter, for example
That figure was 42% in the year-ago quarter
Samsung and Apple make oceans of money from their hardware
Microsoft has managed to make Surface into a real business, with billions of dollars in yearly revenue
Amazon has a big hardware business with both consumer reading gadgets and consumer surveillance devices
extensive in-market testing
