Bad news for Psion beckons

SPEAKING AS it announced some healthy financial results, Psion's CEO - Alistair Crawford - said his company was aiming to achieve double digit margins as new technologies (like RFIDs) increased demand for Psion's devices. A day later, however, the discovery of an RFID virus was revealed, although at least one AV firm, Sophos, has downplayed its significance. Researchers at Amsterdam's Free University have just created a radio frequency identity (RFID) chip infected with a virus (see this one and this one too. Psion has recently been selected as the only supplier of handheld RFID readers to the US Department of Defense.

According to Reuters, Psion should have a cash balance of about £ 57.3 million after this month (March 2006) when it receives the final deferred payment of £ 28.5 million from the sale of its stake in Symbian. This has meant it has been looking out for potential acquisitions for at least two years.

However, Psion hasn't managed to buy any suitable businesses with its squillions other than image capture firm, Symagery Microsystems, which it bought for £2 million in June 2005. µ