Nanox is shipping, or not

A Korean promo (citing "a statement to the industry" made on June 22, written on June 24, embargoed until June 27, and since removed with no explanation, but cached) claims that Nanox has shipped its first x-ray units.  But they are not the fake ARC tomosynthesis devices that management has been promising - they are Remedi's generic portable dental devices, that the FDA has been clearing for extremities, but not chest (see April 21 blog post): 

First, it signed a supply contract with Nasdaq-listed Nanox worth 150 billion won [about $155 million] for a 'compact X-ray solution'. It is a four-year supply contract for the African region. It is known that the initial volume has already been successfully sold, and follow-up procedures are being followed. The compact X-ray solution is a product made with Remex-KA6 and Vieworks (100120:KOSDAQ) 's X-ray detector into a package. It is expected to contribute to improving the level of medical care in Africa, where equipment is poor, as it is easy to move and easy to perform radiography. [google translated]

The whole thing makes no business sense, just like everything else Nanox.  But the article was written by the same author who has written all previous promo pieces about Remedi (and correctly announced the $1 million investment, weeks ahead of Nanox disclosure).

The reason it makes no sense is that portable x-ray devices of similar specs can be imported from China for $600 a piece (and used with film, or about $1 an image, if one wants to skimp on the digital detector, and just take a photo with a phone and upload it to some cloud for free).  But, of course, given a choice, clinics would probably opt for a $10,000 used general x-ray system that can do all standard x-ray imaging procedures, including chest.  Diagnostic imaging services in Africa are widely available and cheap, too - a regular chest x-ray can be as low as $3 in Nigeria, for example (compare to the fake 4-year,1000-unit Nigerian MSaaS agreement, signed about a year ago, supposedly stipulating a $7 payment to Nanox, with no diagnosis).  Assuming a $30,000 "cost" for the Remedi/Vieworks packaged unit, this 5-year "African" contract is about 5,000 units in total!  It is just never going to happen.

Nanox hinted that this was coming in the 20-F filing on May 2 (page 63):   

For example, we recently invested $1.0 million for approximately 1% of the shares of Remedi co Ltd. (“Remedi”), a Korean radiation specialist company in radiography and therapy based on X-ray components. Remedi is a privately owned company, and we have an ongoing collaboration in the development of the high voltage power supply for Nanox.ARC. We are in advanced negotiation with Remedi to explore the possibility of connecting Remedi’s two-dimensional (“2D”) imaging systems to the Nanox.CLOUD and the Nanox.MARKETPLACE, creating a mobile 2D X-ray system that enables remote readings of scans with AI-powered imaging analysis and a global teleradiology solution. Subject to the completion of the negotiation and successful integration of the 2D system, we aim to distribute this system to our MSaaS customers.

One has to wonder what will "happen" with the Nigerian agreement for the fake ARC.

So, here we go - Nanox is pivoting from a developer of a novel device that would cure cancer and democratize health care to a distributor of overpriced dental machines.  Not good enough even for a decent money-laundering operation.

Update July 16, 2022:  The promo has been republished on July 12.  It now claims "the statement to the industry" was made on July 11, thereby reconfirming Remedi as a likely hopeless scam that has been trying for years to list on KOSDAQ.  The story is mainly unchanged from its June 24 version, but it no longer contains the statement by Nanox CEO and references to SK Telecom and LG.  It does retain the obviously misleading claims about the "ultra-compact X-ray tube" (Remedi actually uses regular off-the-shelf dental tubes in its devices).

Update September 15, 2022:  Another paid promo by Remedi, published in July, supplied further evidence that Remedi is a scam, if not an outright fraud.  The company suddenly declared there that its supposed $155 million contract with Nanox is now confidential, only days after bragging about it in all detail.  Also, for the first time, the company admits that its factory is not actually utilized for production (supposedly due to nearby residents objecting to the company making x-ray products), and, hilariously, is being redesigned as a virtual-reality "Metaverse" demo site. Its listing on KOSDAQ, promised for years, has, strangely, not materialized yet.