I would be interested to know where you derive the expectation that there will be integration issues, given that everything we have been told about the integration is that the company is confident that the ASIC works well with the MEMS and has been both mated up with it and used to drive it. If I may say so I would regard that as both speculation and a very pessimistic attitude to the competence of the tech team - not to mention it being based on a logical fallacy.
I quote below from the announcements that form the bulk of the information relevant to forming such an opinion. I have underlined the most telling statements to ensure these are seen clearly together. After reading these again I cannot agree with your speculations. These are all way more optimistic than pessimistic. They are also all reasonably realistic in their timeframes. SH may have read more into the "imminence" comments from the 2017 AGM, but the process cannot be said to have been anything other than typical for the semiconductor industry - if anything it could be considered to have been a fast track that was somewhat too optimistic, and this has proved to be the case - so far as the timing is concerned, but not necessarily so far as the tech development itself is concerned.
AGM 2017: " ... Our MEMS vendors have begun to deliver wafers, our ASIC supplier delivered working chips, and our assembly and packaging partner began delivering samples of fully packaged chips. All this places us in position to commence the process of testing and integration that is required to produce our product. ..."
" ... Before I go on I would like to point out what I believe is an often-overlooked fact that influences the (pardon the pun) low frequency in which we have shared information in the past. That fact is that while our business is clearly all about sound and loudspeakers nonetheless the reality is that our groundbreaking technology is firmly rooted in semiconductors; and as investors in a “semiconductor company” its important to keep in mind that meaningful progress transpires over many months and more often than not, accomplishments can only be reported at the very end of a fabrication process. Depending on how you count producing our MEMS wafers involves over 500 fabrication steps, each informative, but not meaningful to anyone outside of those in the critical path of fabrication and therefore the dynamics of our company at this stage, are similar to that of a semiconductor company. ..."
" ... I should also point out that in addition to completing our 2nd generation ASIC, we were able to utilize the faulty Phase IV MEMS chips to complete the 3+ year effort developing an automated chip packaging assembly process.
29/9/10: " ... The company will now begin the processes of meticulously measuring and characterizing the wafers in an effort to select the most optimal production process for fabrication. It remains management’s intent to also utilize the wafers that meet our requirements to achieve product demonstration objectives. The MEMS vendor has further advised that shortly upon their return from the Jewish High‐Holiday vacation they anticipate delivery of relatively large quantities of wafers each containing distinct characteristics that encompass all possible production variations. ... "
28/2/18: "... Throughput the period the Company continued to refine the capabilities of its ASIC, electronic controls, software algorithms, the chip assembly and packaging process as well as our proprietary measurement systems. ..."
7/5/18: " ... the test wafer provided by the vendor for purposes of validating certain critical adjustments that were made to the fabrication process, prior to allowing the wafer batch to advance to completion, has met all our mechanical and electrical criteria and specifications.
While the pixel yield proved to be insufficient to demonstrate the full capabilities of the chip, the company has completed a wide range of mechanical, acoustical and electrical tests and measurements, producing results that were aligned with expectations. ..."
12/6/18: "... The Company advises its shareholders of a slight delay in receiving wafers; from the previously advised third week of May, to the third week of June. The vendor attributes the delay to various measures they are taking to optimise the final steps of wafer fabrication to further improve pixel yield. The vendor’s decision was largely based on tests and measurements conducted by the company on several samples provided by the vendor over the past weeks. ..."
21/6/18: " ... The Company advises that the vendor has supplied the initial wafer from the batch that has undergone various optimisation techniques in the final steps of fabrication. The vendor will continue to supply the balance of the wafers to the Company in regular intervals to allow for measurement and analysis of pixel yield and performance under “real playing” conditions. This will enable the vendor to properly assess the relative contribution each process adjustment has on the overall fabrication process. ..."
This is all the information that we have. All I have done is to put it together. Every detail is positive and affirming of the progress so far. Yet your ongoing speculations seem to ignore this info and to suggest that the entire process is doomed and will never produce a finished product. Yet throughout this period you persistently continue to hold, while appearing to be attempting to convince other holders on this site that the stock is a lost cause. If it is a lemon then I think it reasonable to ask why you continue to hold and have not sold long ago. I can only think of only two logically coherent reasons for this:
- you are happy to put your money at extreme risk;
- you do not actually believe your own prognostications, but hope others will.
Feel free to let us know which it is, so other readers can evaluate your comments more insightfully.
Expand
(20min delay)
