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IOT Group (ASX:IOT) has ordered production of 40,000 units of the ROVA flying selfie drone from Chinese technologies manufacturer, Shenzhen AEE Technology for delivery in March 2017.
IOT says it placed this initial order after receiving a very positive response from potential customers to the ROVA drone during its sales and marketing campaign in the United States recently.
"The US sales and marketing program [IOT] conducted prior to Christmas and the recent Global Launch of the ROVA personal drone at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES 2017) in Las Vegas were eagerly attended by large US buying groups and resulted in a highly favourable customer reaction," says the company in a statement to the ASX today.
"IOT will be meeting with these customers in coming weeks to finalise initial orders for the ROVA personal drone."
As part of IOT's production deal with Chinese company AEE will also grant IOT exclusive distribution rights to the ROVA drone in the US, Canada and Mexico.
AEE has further agreed it will not distribute any competing drones to the ROVA in these three countries and IOT also has exclusive rights to distribute all of AEE's own drones in Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
The production costs for the initial order will be funded by IOT's existing cash resources as well as through financial assistance from AEE.
The company believes that revenue from sales of the ROVA will begin to roll in from February 2017. It also foresees a "significant reduction" in fixed operating costs at around the same time due to IOT's refocus from technologies such as smart watches and home automation products to its core business of drone products.
The ROVA drone is the first new product released by IOT this year and will retail for US$399 (approx. AU$544).
The business plans to release further drone products as well as IOT branded cameras and other innovative selfie devices later this year.
"IOT's focus is to take advantage of the high growth selfie market globally by selling uniquely designed and branded drones and cameras using marketing techniques beyond the capabilities of other drone and manufacturers," the company says.
IOT's share price at 12.00 AEST is 3.3 cents, although it rose to a high of 4.1 cents earlier in the day.
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