Akoustis Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKTS) (“Akoustis” or
the “Company”), an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) of patented
bulk acoustic wave (BAW) high-band RF filters for mobile and other
wireless applications, announced today it has received a follow-on
development filter order from its initial 5G network infrastructure
customer.
Akoustis entered into an initial development
agreement with this multi-billion-dollar Tier-1 customer late in
calendar 2018 with the goal of delivering high performance, high
frequency XBAW filters for 5G massive MIMO base station
architectures. Akoustis’ XBAW filters would improve spectral
efficiency per cell necessary for the increased capacity
requirements of 5G networks.
The 5G massive MIMO sub-6 GHz large array
architectures demand RF filter solutions that meet the frequency,
bandwidth and power requirements - but in a smaller, lower weight
filter solution compared to conventional, expensive cavity filters.
Akoustis was chosen to develop micro acoustic XBAW filters for this
customer given a combination of providing an ultra-small form
factor solution satisfying the difficult RF as well as high-power
handling.
With this second development order, the 5G
network infrastructure customer has moved beyond the initial test
and measurement stage and is validating potential design
architectures incorporating Akoustis 5G infrastructure XBAW
filters. Given the large number of radios in 5G massive MIMO base
stations, this customer relationship is expected to drive
significant revenue for Akoustis upon product acceptance and
release, which is expected by mid-to-late-2020.
Jeff Shealy, Founder and CEO of Akoustis,
stated, “We are excited to achieve this important milestone with
our first 5G network infrastructure customer. The massive MIMO
opportunity is a large and attractive market for our disruptive
XBAW RF filter technology.”
Mr. Shealy continued, “While these 5G
infrastructure XBAW filters are more challenging from a design
perspective, they carry a significantly higher ASP and gross margin
profile compared to other consumer-related filter applications in
our sales pipeline. We look forward to completing this phase, and
moving into pre-production and eventual production with our tier-1
customer.”
The 5G network infrastructure filters are
designed and manufactured using the Company’s patented XBAW process
and manufactured in the Company’s Si-MEMS Wafer Fab located in
Canandaigua, NY.
Akoustis has introduced several new filters over
the past twelve months including a 5.6 GHz WiFi filter, a 5.2 GHz
WiFi filter, a 4.9 GHz band n79 filter for small cell
network infrastructure, a 3.8 GHz filter and five S-Band filters
for defense phased-array radar applications, a 3.6 GHz filter for
the CBRS infrastructure market and band 25 downlink and uplink
filters for LTE infrastructure. The Company is also developing
several new filters for the sub-7 GHz bands targeting 5G mobile
device, network infrastructure, WiFi CPE and defense markets.
About Akoustis Technologies,
Inc.
Akoustis® (www.akoustis.com) is a high-tech BAW
RF filter solutions company that is pioneering next-generation
materials science and MEMS wafer manufacturing to address the
market requirements for improved RF filters - targeting higher
bandwidth, higher operating frequencies and higher output power
compared to incumbent polycrystalline BAW technology
deployed today. The Company utilizes its proprietary XBAW
manufacturing process to produce bulk acoustic wave RF filters
for mobile and other wireless markets, which facilitate
signal acquisition and accelerate band performance between the
antenna and digital back end. Superior performance is
driven by the significant advances of high-purity,
single-crystal and associated piezoelectric materials and the
resonator-filter process technology which drives electro-mechanical
coupling and translates to wide filter bandwidth.
Akoustis plans to service the fast growing
multi-billion-dollar RF filter market using its integrated
device manufacturer (IDM) business model. The Company owns and
operates a 120,000 sq. ft. ISO-9001:2015
certified commercial wafer-manufacturing facility located in
Canandaigua, NY, which includes a class 100 / class 1000 cleanroom
facility - tooled for 150-mm diameter wafers - for the
design, development, fabrication and packaging of RF filters, MEMS
and other semiconductor devices. Akoustis Technologies,
Inc. is headquartered in the Piedmont technology
corridor near Charlotte, North Carolina.
Forward-Looking Statements
This document includes “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities
Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, that are intended to be covered by the “safe harbor”
created by those sections. These forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, statements about our estimates,
expectations, beliefs, intentions, plans or strategies for the
future (including our possible future results of operations,
business strategies, competitive position, potential growth
opportunities, potential market opportunities and the effects of
competition), and the assumptions underlying such statements.
Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not
historical facts and typically are identified by use of terms such
as "may," "will," "should," "could," "expect," "plan,"
"anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," “intend,”
“forecast,” “seek,” "potential," "continue" and similar words,
although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.
Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor
assurances of future performance. Instead, these forward-looking
statements are based on management’s current beliefs,
expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and
uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those currently anticipated include, without
limitation, risks relating to the results of our research and
development activities, including uncertainties relating to
semiconductor process manufacturing; the development of our
XBAWTM technology and products presently under development and
the anticipated timing of such development; our ability to protect
our intellectual property rights that are valuable to our business,
including patent and other intellectual property rights; our
ability to successfully manufacture, market and sell products based
on our technologies; the ability to achieve qualification of our
products for commercial manufacturing in a timely manner and the
size and growth of the potential markets for any products so
qualified; the rate and degree of market acceptance of any of our
products; our ability to raise funding to support operations and
the continued development and qualification of our products and the
technologies underlying them; and our ability to service our
outstanding indebtedness. These and other risks and uncertainties
are described in more detail in the Risk Factors and Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations sections of the Company’s most recent Annual Report on
Form 10-K and in subsequently filed Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
Considering these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the
forward-looking statements regarding future events and
circumstances discussed in this document may not occur, and actual
results could differ materially and adversely from those
anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You
should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of
future events. The forward-looking statements included in this
document speak only as of the date hereof and, except as required
by law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly or privately
any forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, for any
reason after the date of this document to conform these statements
to new information, actual results or to changes in our
expectations.
Contact:
COMPANY:
Tom Sepenzis
Akoustis Technologies
VP of Corporate Development & IR
(980) 689-4961
tsepenzis@akoustis.com
The Del Mar Consulting Group, Inc.
Robert B. Prag, President
(858) 794-9500
bprag@delmarconsulting.com
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