With hindsight we can see that Sean was a bit overenthusiastic as the new CEO of the-next-big-thing, perhaps a bit dazzled by the brilliance of Akida. But we were hit by the difficulties in getting the radical technology adopted in a market about to be hit by recession, war, chip shortages, tech retrenchments and cost cutting, with a market about to turn from bullish to bearish. Added to that is the fact that we transitioned from a chip maker to an IP licensing business which necessitated a major reappraisal of our marketing strategy.I'v no doubt that they are working their butts off but if it doesn't equate to sales then it means squat. Thats the industry they are in. They need to turns 'talking' into contracts and $$$.
A lot of individuals held Sean to his word at the last AGM..
While the projections at the previous AGM were rosy, we were advised in a 4C several months ago that these headwinds would adversely affect income. Apparently some did not adjust their expectations.
But I do not accept that the last 12 months have produced "squat". In the last several months we have been advised of many customer engagements and partnerships, some with the behemoths of the industry, clear evidence that our team is having success. The gestation period for these results is much longer than any of us would like, but we are soon to see the first MCUs containing Akida on the market.
While the Renesas deal has taken several years to produce a chip, deals with enablers such as Teksun and Edge Impulse may reduce that time to market.
And let's not forget that the partnerships may not involve licences, instead taking the form of joint ventures, where the payout is based on sales with no up-front licence fee. This group includes nViso, Prophesee, SiFive, Valeo, ... We may not see the results (certainly covered by NDA) from these partnerships until after the products hit the market. As Antonio pointed out, there is a 4 year safety lag for automotive. Our association with Valeo dates from before 2021.
There are also direct competitive pressures on ARM from SiFive which should remove any unnecessary delay.
But, in the end, with our IP licensing model, we are in the hands of our customers ...