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Nature of the business and operations
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Nature Of Operations [Abstract]  
Nature of Operations [Text Block]
1.     Nature of the business and operations
 
Background and Organization
 
Neonode Inc. was incorporated in the State of Delaware in 1997 as the parent of Neonode AB, a company founded in February 2004 and incorporated in Sweden. On December 29, 2008, we entered into a Share Exchange Agreement with AB Cypressen nr 9683 (renamed Neonode Technologies AB), a Swedish engineering company, and Neonode Technologies AB became our wholly owned subsidiary.  Together, Neonode Inc. and Neonode Technologies AB are known as “we,” “us,” “our”, or the “Company.”
 
On December 9, 2008, our former wholly owned subsidiary, Neonode AB, filed for liquidation under the Swedish bankruptcy laws. Effective with Neonode AB’s bankruptcy filing on December 9, 2008, Neonode Inc. is no longer in the mobile phone business and there are no known financial obligations related to the accounts payable or other debts of Neonode AB for which Neonode Inc has responsibility.
 
On December 29, 2008, we entered into a Share Exchange Agreement with Neonode Technologies AB and the stockholders of Neonode Technologies AB:  Iwo Jima SARL, Wirelesstoys AB, and Athemis Ltd (the “Neonode Technologies AB Stockholders”), pursuant to which we agreed to acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Neonode Technologies AB in exchange for the issuance of 19,800 shares of Neonode Inc Series A Preferred stock.  Pursuant to the terms of the Share Exchange Agreement, upon the closing of the transaction, Neonode Technologies AB became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.   The Neonode Technologies AB Stockholders are or were employees of us and/or Neonode AB, and as such are related parties. Neonode Technologies AB did not have any operations in 2008. The acquisition of Neonode Technologies AB by us did not qualify as a business combination but rather as a merger of entities under common control; accordingly the acquired assets of Neonode Technologies AB are recorded at their historical cost basis of $12,000.
 
Neonode Technologies AB was formed on December 29, 2008 following the bankruptcy filing on December 9, 2008 of Neonode AB.  Based on Swedish tax considerations, we determined that it would be more efficient to form a new company which would be acquired by Neonode Inc. rather than to re-hire each of the former employees of Neonode AB on an individual basis.  Furthermore, we determined that based on the importance to the Company of retaining the technology and business expertise of the beneficial owners of Neonode Technologies AB and of ensuring our ability to continue to develop our technology, in exchange for complete ownership of Neonode Technologies AB, we were prepared to issue to the Neonode Technologies AB Stockholders shares representing approximately 49.5% of the Company.  However, since we did not have a sufficient number of unissued shares of common stock at that time to issue shares of common stock representing 49.5% of the Company as well as enter into the other Refinancing Agreements, we decided that in exchange for all of the shares of Neonode Technologies AB we would issue shares of Series A Preferred stock at a ratio such that assuming an increase in the Company’s authorized share capital and an increase in the conversion rate to 480.63 shares of common stock for each shares of Series A Preferred stock, the Neonode Technologies AB Stockholders would own in the aggregate an amount of shares equal to approximately 49.5% of the Company after completion of our refinancing and capital raising activities.  Nevertheless, pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement, we did not guarantee that either the Company’s authorized share capital would be increased or that the conversion rate would be increased to 480.63 shares of common stock for each shares of Series A Preferred stock (See Note 9).
 
The fair value of the Series A Preferred Stock issued to the Neonode Technologies AB Stockholders in excess of the $12,000 cash balance is accounted for as compensation.  Pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement, the beneficial owners of the Neonode Technologies AB Stockholders agreed to remain employees of Neonode Technologies AB for a period of 18 months.  In addition, each of the beneficial owners of the Neonode Technologies AB Stockholders signed a repurchase agreement with the Company granting the Company a lapsing repurchase right to purchase the Series A Preferred stock held by such Neonode Technologies AB Stockholder in the event the beneficial owner’s employment with Neonode Technologies AB is terminated other than for cause prior to the expiration of 18 months from December 29, 2008.  Each month, 1/18 of the Series A Preferred shares held by the Neonode Technologies AB Stockholders was released from the lapsing repurchase right.   Thus, the fair value of the common stock (as converted from Series A Preferred Stock during 2009 was $9.5 million) issued under the Share Exchange Agreement was amortized on a straight-line basis to compensation expense over the 18-month vesting period that began on January 1, 2009.
 
On March 25, 2011, we filed a Certificate of Amendment of our Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation affecting a reverse stock split of the Company’s issued and outstanding shares of common stock and preferred stock at a ratio of twenty-five-to-one (the “Reverse Split”).  The Certificate of Amendment provided that each twenty-five (25) outstanding shares of the Corporation’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share, was exchanged and combined, automatically, without further action, into one (1) share of common stock, and each twenty-five (25) outstanding shares of the Corporation’s preferred stock, par value $0.001 per share, was exchanged and combined, automatically, without further action, into one (1) share of preferred stock. The Reverse Split was declared effective on March 28, 2011 and has been reflected in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
  
Operations
 
Neonode Inc, licenses optical touch solutions for handheld and small to midsized consumer and industrial electronic devices. We license our touchscreen technology to Original Equipment Manufacturers (“OEMs”) and Original Design Manufacturers (“ODMs”) who imbed our touch technology into electronic devices that they develop and sell. The cornerstone of our solution is our innovative optical touch, zForce®, which can be applied on any flat surface such as Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD), Electronic Paper Displays (EPD) or as a Mouse Pad, and can be incorporated into all types of devices, enabling touch detection for any type of object (finger, pen, glove or a brush). In addition the zForce touch solution has a minimal total weight and building height, thus enabling greater industrial design flexibility.  Since nothing is layered on top of the display, the zForce solution provides 100% optical transparency, which improves image quality, reduces glare, and improves battery life.
 
Our technology licensing model allows us to focus on the development of solutions for multi-touch enabled screens, and thus we do not have to contend with the financial and logistical burden of manufacturing products, which is handled by our ODM/OEM clients. We license the right to use zForce and software which, together with standard components from partners, creates a complete optical touchscreen solution. The zForce multi-touch product is our latest release and is currently being integrated into products such as mobile phones, e-Readers, household appliances, printers and office equipment, GPS devices, automobile consoles, games and toys  and tablet PC’s. Our licensing model provides the added benefit of allowing us to grow revenues without the need of increasing costs at anywhere near the same rate to support the revenue growth.
 
Liquidity
 
Our operations are subject to certain risks and uncertainties frequently encountered by companies in the early stages of operations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, technical and quality problems in new products, ability to raise additional funds, credit risks and costs for developing new products. Our ability to generate revenues in the future will depend substantially on our ability to enter into contracts with customers and to raise additional funds through debt or equity financings. During 2011, we raised approximately $15.5 million through debt and equity offerings (see Notes 6 and 9).  We believe we have sufficient cash to operate for the remainder of 2012, and thereafter expect to receive sufficient cash from customer license agreements currently in place to operate for at least the next twelve months.