@Mn2019 (won't let me reply to your post)
I understand your frustrations with the number of actual announcements produced by the company. Everything seems to be taking longer than many anticipated and there's been limited updates.
LDN once remarked how he keeps a copy of "Only the paranoid survive" by Andy Grove (previous CEO of Intel). I feel this book title explains all the actions the company have taken to date to minimise any negative exposure and to prevent competition from catching up to them:
-Minimise announcements until things are 100% guaranteed. Check
-Not release chip results until every single one is tested and shipped, and potentially even waiting for customer feedback. Check
-Provide 100% secrecy to prevent competition learning about the differentiator Akida provides. Check
However, look instead at what Brainchip have been happy to share:
-Working demonstrations of 1 shot learning in visual and audio demonstrations. Check
-MetaTF, which gave shareholders the ability to try and test out Akida technology themselves and prove its not a gimmick. Check
-Podcasts with companies like Dell who confirmed they are working with Brainchip. Check
-License agreement with Renesas. Check
-Agreement with NASA, who are super excited by the way. Check
-Several fortune 500 companies. Check
-Rough estimation of when revenues will start appearing. Check
To summarise, the company has provided shareholders with a lot of quality information, the main gripe is that it simply isn't communicated frequently.
Now when you assume Sony is a totally outlandish dot-join, consider the facts. Who do we know Brainchip are working with or are EAPs:
-Ford (US HQ)
-Dell (US HQ)
-NASA (US)
-Renesas (Japan / US)
-Socionext (Japan)
-Magik Eye (Japan)
-Technion (Israel, they reached out to BRN)
-Large South Korean company (eg. Samsung or LG or Hyundai etc.)
-Hibot [Very strong indications though not officially mentioned, they are working with Magik Eye and have bridge inspection robots /drones. Brainchip have frequently mentioned bridge inspections in promo vids and interviews] (Japan)
-Valeo (France, where BRN have an office)
-TATA [they collaborated and produced a robot demonstration, though not a product to date) (India, where BRN also have an office)
-Pilot project in Australia with a mining company (Australia, where BRN have their office and research centre)
-Biotome (Australia)
-Years ago had partnerships with Cisco (US) and Safran (France)
There are many other previous partnerships and strong dot joins but I'll leave them out for now.
If you then look at their staff you'll see the Scientific advisory board are from France and Australia. Ex ARM staff (UK), plus others from US, India, Australia, plus a few top class workers from all over the world including a patent engineer from Samsung.
What the above should tell you is the markets they have penetrated the strongest. US, Japan, Korea, France, Australia, India, maybe UK, plus originally China before they suddenly cut off communications.
So it leads to follow that the potential customers they are also working with are probably also from these regions. They have revealed multiple companies interested in the US, Japan, and Australia so this indicates they had the strongest traction here. Australia is the smallest so less likely to have huge customers that would be prioritised for commercial opportunities. Japan, which is known for its infatuation with technology, and the US, where the government is also strongly interested.
This should tell you where the customers are most likely to come from. Japan and the US. Sony has its HQ in Japan and have been researching neuromorphic computing for years, which you would be aware of if you've been following research posted on here. They are a huge global company that would fit the requirements of maximising their initial commercial opportunities with huge orders. So I wouldn't be hasty in ruling them out, rather I think Sony are a solid likely customer.
Pure speculation, DYOR
(20min delay)