Chapter 9 Case Conch Republic Electronics Conch Republic Electronics is a midsized electronics manufacturer located in Key West, Florida. The company president is Shelly Couts, who inherited the company. The company originally repaired radios and other household appliances when it was founded over 70 years ago. Over the years, the company has expanded, and it is now a reputable manufacturer of various specialty electronic items. Jay McCanless, a recent MBA graduate, had been hired by the company in its finance department.

One of the major revenue-producing items manufactured by Conch Republic is a personal digital assisstant (PDA). Conch Republic currently has one PDA model on the market and sales have been excellent. The PDA is a unique item in that it comes in a variety of tropical colors and is preprogrammed to play Jimmy Buffett music. However, as with any electronic item, technology changes rapidly, and the current smart phone has limited features in comparison with newer models. Conch Republic spent $750,000 to develop a prototype for a new PDA that has all the features of the existing one but adds new features such as cell phone capability. The company has spent a further $200,000 for a marketing study to determine the expected sales figures for the new PDA.

Conch Republic can manufacture the new PDA for $215 each in variable costs. Fixed costs for the operation are estimated to run $4.3 million per year. The estimated sales volume is 65,000, 82,000, 108,000, 94,000, and 57,000 per year for the next five years, respectively. The unit price of the new PDA will be $500. The necessary equipment can be purchased for $32.5 million and will be depreciated on a seven-year MACRS schedule. It is believed the value of the equipment in five years will be $3.5 million.

Net working capital for the PDAs will be 20 percent of sales and will occur with the timing of the cash flows for the year (i.e., there is no initial outlay for NWC). Changes in NWC will thus first occur in Year 1 with the first years sales. Conch Republic has a 35 percent corporate tax rate and a required rate of return of 12 percent.

Shelly has asked Jay to prepare a report that answers the following questions:

What is the NPV of the project?

How sensitive is the NPV to changes in the price of the new PDA?