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 that it has received its
first high-volume 5G mobile filter purchase order from its leading
multi-billion-dollar Tier-1 RF component company customer. The
filter is manufactured using the Akoustis XBAW® process and is
designed into the customer’s new multiplexer product that is
expected to ship in the first half of calendar 2023 as part of a
major chipset OEM reference design.
The filter solution leverages one of Akoustis’
new wafer-level-packages (WLP), developed and manufactured in its
Canandaigua, New York fab. The new XBAW®-based design is being used
to address difficult coexistence issues between 5G mid-bands and
Wi-Fi 6E 5 to 7 GHz bands. The customer is considering additional
applications for filters using the XBAW® process in future modules
for 5G smartphones and other mobile devices after the successful
completion of this first solution.
Jeff Shealy, founder and CEO of Akoustis,
stated, “We are thrilled to start our first production ramp in 5G
mobile, the largest market by unit volume and revenue that our
technology addresses.” Mr. Shealy continued, “With the recent
qualification of our internally developed advanced CSP and WLP
packages, we are now able to address our customers’ challenges in
high-frequency 5G mobile and high-frequency Wi-Fi in handsets and
other mobile devices. We expect to support this initial 5G mobile
customer through its planned high-volume ramps beginning in the
current quarter.”
Akoustis began shipping initial pre-production
chips against customer purchase orders for development, sampling,
and qualification during the quarter ending December 31, 2022. This
new order will be used by the Tier-1 RF component customer to
support large volume deliveries to multiple mobile device
manufacturers that will utilize a major chipset OEM reference
design.
The new filter solution is the first product to
ship with the Company’s internally developed and manufactured WLP.
In response to global supply chain challenges, Akoustis has been
developing proprietary chip-scale packaging (CSP) and WLP
technology in its New York facility for the past year and is
rapidly growing its manufacturing capacity to target the 5G mobile
device market with filter products using the XBAW®
process. The new CSP and WLP technologies offer significantly
reduced size relative to Akoustis’ current generation packages and
superior in back-end manufacturing cost.
Akoustis continues to experience strong demand
and a growing sales funnel for its Wi-Fi, 5G mobile, and 5G
infrastructure products, including CBRS XBAW® filters, as well as
its new XBAW® and RFMi resonator and oscillator products. During
the December quarter, the Company shipped multiple samples of its
new 5G XBAW® wafers complete with its new, advanced wafer-level
packaging (WLP) technology. Akoustis continues to add new Wi-Fi
design wins, many of which are expected to ramp into production in
calendar 2023.
Akoustis is actively delivering volume
production of its Wi-Fi 6 tandem filter solutions, shipping
multiple 5G small cell XBAW® filter solutions, and delivering
initial designs of its new 5G mobile filter solutions to multiple
customers and has entered the market with its new Wi-Fi 6E
coexistence XBAW® filter solutions. To date, Akoustis has
received more than 20 customer design wins for its patented XBAW®
filter solutions.
Given the rapidly growing sales funnel activity,
as well as ongoing interaction with customers regarding expected
ramps in 5G mobile, Wi-Fi 6, and Wi-Fi 6E in calendar 2023, the
Company is completing the annual production capacity increase at
its New York fab to approximately 0.5 billion filters per year.
About Akoustis Technologies,
Inc.
Akoustis® (http://www.akoustis.com/) is a
high-tech BAW RF filter solutions company that is pioneering
next-generation materials science and MEMS wafer semiconductor
manufacturing to address the market requirements for improved RF
filters - targeting higher bandwidth, higher operating frequencies
and higher output power compared
to legacy polycrystalline BAW technology. The Company
utilizes its proprietary and patented 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 poly-crystal,
single-crystal and other high purity piezoelectric materials and
the resonator-filter process technology which enables optimal
trade-offs between critical power, frequency and bandwidth
performance specifications.
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
registered commercial wafer-manufacturing facility located in
Canandaigua, NY, which includes a class 100 / class 1000 cleanroom
facility - tooled for 6-inch 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, each
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,
profitability, business strategies, competitive position, potential
growth opportunities, potential market opportunities and the
effects of competition), the anticipated benefits of the
acquisition of Grinding and Dicing Services, Inc., future cash flow
and forecasts of breakeven point and expectations regarding funding
under the CHIPS and Science Act, 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," “might,” “would,” "will," "should,"
"could," “project,” "expect," "plan," “strategy,” "anticipate,"
“attempt,” “develop,” “help,” "believe," “think,” "estimate,"
"predict," “intend,” “forecast,” “seek,” "potential," “possible,”
"continue," “future,” and similar words (including the negative of
any of the foregoing), although some forward-looking statements are
expressed differently. Forward-looking statements are neither
historical facts nor assurances of future results, performance,
events or circumstances. 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 our inability to obtain adequate
financing and sustain our status as a going concern; our limited
operating history; our inability to generate revenues or achieve
profitability; the results of our research and development
activities; our inability to achieve acceptance of our products in
the market; the possibility that the anticipated benefits from
business acquisitions (including the acquisition of Grinding and
Dicing Services, Inc.) will not be realized in full or at all or
may take longer to realize than expected; the possibility that
costs or difficulties related to the integration of acquired
businesses’ operations will be greater than expected and the
possibility of disruptions to our business during integration
efforts and strain on management time and resources; the
impact of a pandemic or epidemic or a natural disaster, including
the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and other
sources of volatility on our operations, financial condition and
the worldwide economy, including its impact on our ability to
access the capital markets; increases in prices for raw materials,
labor, and fuel caused by rising inflation; general economic
conditions, including upturns and downturns in the industry;
shortages in supplies needed to manufacture our products, or needed
by our customers to manufacture devices incorporating our products;
our limited number of patents; failure to obtain, maintain, and
enforce our intellectual property rights; claims of infringement,
misappropriation or misuse of third party intellectual property,
including the lawsuit filed by Qorvo, Inc. in October 2021, that,
regardless of merit, could result in significant expense and
negatively impact our business results; our inability to attract
and retain qualified personnel; our reliance on third parties to
complete certain processes in connection with the manufacture of
our products; product quality and defects; existing or increased
competition; our ability to successfully manufacture, market and
sell products based on our technologies; our ability to meet the
required specifications of customers and achieve qualification of
our products for commercial manufacturing in a timely manner; our
inability to successfully scale our New York wafer fabrication
facility and related operations while maintaining quality control
and assurance and avoiding delays in output; the rate and degree of
market acceptance of any of our products; our ability to achieve
design wins from current and future customers; contracting with
customers and other parties with greater bargaining power and
agreeing to terms and conditions that may adversely affect our
business; risks related to doing business in foreign countries,
including China; any security breaches, cyber-attacks or other
disruptions compromising our proprietary information and exposing
us to liability; our failure to innovate or adapt to new or
emerging technologies, including in relation to our competitors;
our failure to comply with regulatory requirements; results of any
arbitration or litigation that may arise; stock volatility and
illiquidity; dilution caused by any future issuance of common stock
or securities that are convertible into or exercisable for common
stock; our failure to implement our business plans or strategies;
and our ability to maintain effective internal control over
financial reporting. 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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