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 signed a
strategic purchase agreement with a new tier-1 enterprise WiFi OEM
customer for multiple, new WiFi 6E XBAWTM filters operating above 5
GHz.
The new filters will operate within the existing
5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as well as the 5.9-7.1 GHz bands recently
approved by the FCC for next generation WiFi 6E CPE devices.
Product design for each of these new filters has begun and Akoustis
expects to deliver first samples by December 2020 for
characterization and final customer acceptance. The XBAWTM filters
target inclusion in enterprise-class WiFi CPE products that are
expected to go into production in the first half of calendar
2021.
Akoustis is developing these new XBAWTM filters
in parallel to standard WiFi 6E filters currently in development
for catalog customers, including the 5.5 GHz filter module
announced on June 8, 2020.
Jeff Shealy, founder and CEO of Akoustis,
commented, “We are excited to add our fifth tier-1 engagement. We
believe there is a significant opportunity for our patented XBAW™
filters in the emerging WiFi 6E filter market. Our initial success
with our first-to-market tandem 5.2 and 5.6 GHz WiFi filters has
led to significant interest for our WiFi 6E filters for the newly
unlicensed 6 GHz spectrum.” Mr. Shealy continued, “As WiFi 6E
emerges, customers are looking to make use of the new spectrum
utilizing multiple architectures, which is driving the demand for
new high-frequency, ultra-wide bandwidth BAW filters. Akoustis
remains positioned to be a valued supplier to this developing
high-volume commercial market.”
The FCC announced in late April the approval of
5.925-7.125 GHz for unlicensed use, which is the largest spectrum
addition since the FCC allocated unlicensed spectrum for WiFi in
1989. The next generation of WiFi that is expected to use
these new frequency bands is called WiFi 6E. This approval
will create another significant new band, or combination of bands,
over the next several years.
In advance of the April FCC approval, Akoustis
has been developing filters to support the emerging WiFi-6E market.
The Company has been active in developing wide bandwidth
piezoelectric materials, device models, RF filter designs and has
filed key patents surrounding its approach to WiFi 6E RF
filters.
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 phased-array radar applications.
Akoustis has added 13 filters to its product
catalog including a 5.6 GHz WiFi filter, a 5.2 GHz WiFi filter,
three small cell 5G network infrastructure filters including two
Band n77 filters and one 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 5G 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® (http://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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