Rapid Growth for Eye Tracking Tech Firm Tobii

Stockholm, Sweden-based Tobii has reported fourth quarter 2015 sales of SEK 287 million ($US 33.5m), up 29% after adjusting for currency effects; and SEK 967 million ($US 112.9m) for the full year, up 41% on the same basis.

The annual rise reflects the 2014 acquisition of Dynavox as well as organic growth, while the fourth quarter was positively impacted by a one-off item, the passing of the Steve Gleason Act (www.tobiidynavox.com/stevegleasonact ) with an associated SEK 23m of sales. Fourth quarter gross margin was 76%, up from 72% in Q4 2014, with an operating loss of SEK -3 million reflecting a huge investment in Tobii Tech (SEK 59m, up from SEK 44m the previous Q4).

Full year gross margin was 75%, up from 71%, operating loss SEK -36m (improved from -69m previously). Combined operating profit for Tobii Dynavox and Tobii Pro totalled SEK 140m (2014: 55m), with the Group's operating result negatively impacted by SEK -176m (2014: -122m) for investments in Tobii Tech.

The firm made two major announcement in the autumn, regarding the 'world's first' large-scale survey panel providing continuous online attention data from eye trackers (data from 1,000 Swedish homes), and the launch of two new products, the Tobii IS4 eye tracking platform and Tobii EyeChip (pictured), promising the integration of eye tracking features into a wide range of consumer devices.

Web site: www.tobii.com .