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 its first commercial design
win for XBAW™ filters in 5G network infrastructure and first volume
shipment to a tier-1 small cell customer in the March
quarter.
Akoustis’ XBAW™ filters have been qualified
in the initial build of 5G small cell base station systems for
characterization and final customer acceptance. Akoustis completed
first volume shipments in the March quarter and expects to increase
shipments against the current commercial volume order during the
June quarter. Upon expected contract award, this tier-1 OEM
plans to ramp volume production in the September quarter. This
represents the first design win of XBAW™ filters outside of
the military/defense market and the first volume shipment of
filters for the 5G small cell network infrastructure market.
In addition to this initial RF filter, Akoustis
has completed development for a second 5G filter band and expects
to receive a second volume order from the same customer by the end
of the June quarter. Both filters operate in the sub-6 GHz,
ultra-high frequency bands used for 5G networks and are initially
targeting the rapidly growing market in Asia. XBAW™ filters
are uniquely suited to serve the 5G network infrastructure market
given the ability to handle high frequency, wide bandwidth and high
power.
Jeff Shealy, Founder and CEO of Akoustis,
stated, “Akoustis benefits from its internal design and
manufacturing (IDM) business model during the ongoing Covid-19
pandemic as we control our supply chain to produce our XBAW™ RF
filters. Through a combination of remote work authorization, work
site isolation from visitors, expanded shift operation and
individual discipline, we are supporting social distancing while
maintaining a highly productive work environment as we have moved
to two shifts in our NY Wafer Fab. Overall, we continue supporting
product R&D and customer shipments while managing delays from
our component suppliers and offshore packaging supply chain.”
Mr. Shealy continued, “Our first 5G design win
and commercial shipment represents an enormous commercial
milestone, particularly given the challenging pandemic environment.
This initial XBAW™ filter transitioned from design to
design-win and first volume shipment in approximately six months, a
testament to our team and their tireless efforts. We look forward
to expanding our relationship with this customer leveraging our
expanding 5G product portfolio in the coming months as they look to
deliver small cell products with additional frequency bands.”
5G small cell base stations are low power, short
range cellular transmission devices, capable of providing extended
coverage for consumers, enterprises or to augment cellular coverage
for 5G mobile service providers. They offer all the standard
characteristics of a traditional tower base station and can handle
high data throughput. 5G networks are expected to employ small
cells in greater quantity than prior networks to help mitigate the
shorter wavelengths associated with higher frequencies. In a recent
report, Zion Market Research estimated the global small cell
5G network market was valued at around $381 million in 2018 and is
expected to reach approximately $3.5 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of
approximately 37% between 2019 and 2025.
Akoustis’ high frequency, high performance XBAW
process and filters are experiencing growing interest as the
Company prepares to enter production in multiple markets in
calendar 2020, including 5G network infrastructure, high-band WiFi
and the phased-array radar applications
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 and a 3.6 GHz filter
for the CBRS 5G infrastructure market. 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 achieve design wins from current and
future customers; our ability to raise funding to support
operations and the continued development and qualification of our
products and the technologies underlying them; our ability to
service our outstanding indebtedness; and the effects of a pandemic
or epidemic or a natural disaster, including the Covid-19 pandemic.
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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