And it is fair to say that we are all in competition for continued investments. But each fuel cell technology, after careful analysis, will be found to appeal to its own unique and significant market segments. While enormous progress has been made by all the fuel cell developers, and while most companies, including mine, are very confident about meeting commercialization objectives, none of us are truly commercial today. We all face our own challenges to achieve our goals for mass produced, economic and unsubsidized products. In this context, we are all quite similar in our states of development.
Electric utilities are the primary customers of the fuel cell business.
I offer academic and anecdotal evidence to counter this myth. Another common approach is to acquire new technologies through mergers, acquisitions, alliances and joint ventures. These relationships usually result in culture clashes of the highest order, undermining the chances of the technology to succeed. These observations should ring true with those who have attempted innovation from inside or, sometimes, outside the utility sector. Scratch the surface of most utilities, regardless of their public posture embracing change, deregulation and customer choice, and you'll find the thriving spirit of a regulated monopoly longing to continue the days of adequate, relatively low risk return on infrastructure investment and wistfully hoping for just such a future.