Xplore Technologies buys assets of Motion Computing after foreclosure

With the screen-supply question expected to be addressed quickly, Xplore Technologies officials expressed confidence that they can make the Motion Computing piece of the business profitable. Sassower noted that his company immediately should realize $2 million in debt savings and “close to another $2 million” in employee-cost savings.

Xplore Technologies will have considerable costs associated with integrating the Motion Computing business during the next year or two, but the company will get new product lines and stronger international sales channels that will not require millions of dollars to develop, Sassower said.

“It’s sort of like I’m buying, in a distress sale, a house in a $5 million neighborhood in Greenwich, Conn., for three-quarters of a million dollars,” he said. “I may have to spend a half-million dollars to fix it up, but when I finish, I’m going to have a $5 million house.”

Previously, Xplore Technologies has manufactured only ultra-rugged tablet PCs. With the Motion Computing deal, Xplore Technologies will be able to expand into the semi-rugged market and immediately trails only Panasonic for market share in the overall rugged tablet PC space, according to Xplore President and COO Mark Holleran.

“We will clearly be number 2,” Holleran said. “Our goal is to be number 1 in this space.”

Because of the complementary nature of the Xplore Technologies and Motion Computing product lines, about 80 Motion Computing employees will join Xplore Technologies. In addition, Xplore Technologies plans to continue to work with Motion Computing’s existing sales channels, which has little overlap with Xplore and was one of the more attractive aspects of the deal, according to company officials.