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 achieved design lock
and shipped its C-band filter for the drone market supporting
unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The filters will be used for
control and non-payload communication (CNPC) links.
This announcement marks the 12th design locked
XBAWTM filter that Akoustis has produced, a six-fold increase in
catalog filters in the last year. The catalog now includes three 5G
network infrastructure filters, two high-band WiFi filters and
seven defense filters including the drone/UAS filter.
Jeff Shealy, founder and CEO of Akoustis,
stated, “As we continue to leverage our proprietary and patented
XBAWTM process for new high frequency RF filter applications, we
are shortening our modeling and design times, which has led to a
rapidly expanding product catalog. We expect to continue
growing our product portfolio as we push into new frequency bands
and new markets. We are excited to add the cutting-edge drone
market as a new business vertical.”
Originally expected to be delivered in the
September quarter, the new drone filter was designed, developed and
delivered by Akoustis in under three months. The Company expects to
deliver a qualified XBAWTM drone filter and expects to receive
commercial orders by the end of March 2021.
The new filter will operate in a key C-band
frequency (within the 4-8 GHz frequency spectrum), that is under
consideration for licensing by the FCC, where Akoustis has
historically focused its development efforts and has delivered its
first designs for high-band WiFi, 5G infrastructure, 5G mobile
devices and defense applications. The filter is expected to use the
same supply chain and packaging as the current 5 GHz WiFi filters
and 5G infrastructure filters.
CNPC is Command and Control (C2) frequency
modulated radio intended for point-to-point or networked UAS
operations for Beyond Line of Sight Operation (BLOS). The shipments
were to a new defense customer, but the filter is expected to have
wider market applications for commercial and consumer drones and
other aircraft.
The XBAW UAS filter
features:
• Low insertion loss passband filter • High frequency C-Band
operation • High rejection • Single ended Tx/Rx ports • High power
rating, maximum +30dBm • Ultra small form factor 2.5mm x 2.0mm x
0.9mm • Performance over -40C to +85C • RoHS compliant, Pb-free
package
The UAS filter is manufactured using the
Company’s patented XBAW process housed within 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, two small cell network infrastructure filters
including a 4.9 GHz band n79 filter , 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 a C-Band
filter for the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) 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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