Hi
@Boots'n'allboots im about 70 % done.
Notes onCoby Hanoch’s WBT presentation 13/3/2023Automic level 5 126 Phillip street Sydney 12.30 to 1.30 pm .
-Present- 74 People.
Coby’s slidedeck (SD) was …the February Notes of announcement 27/02/2023 Weebit US Roadshow
SD was slightly altered with MSCI ( Morgan Stanley Capital Index) index and ASX (Australian Stock eXchange) 300 inclusion ( it was dated Feb 2023) and had on “Slide2 Who we are “ the MSCI and ASX 300 in the top right hand top corner.
Slide 2 – red ring around new item different to27/2/2023
Coby said “ it wasgreat that the index funds were looking at us”.
Slide 2 Who we are : Coby made the observation that Non VolatileMemory (NVM) was growing to $ 124 Billion by 2027.
Slide 3 World-renowned leadershipCoby glossed over the leadership because he had seen so many of the same faces within the room he believed everyone there had done enough research to know who was in the Weebit team.
“Slide 4 Memory at theforefront of global investment in semiconductors “- Coby talked about Semi-Conductor space in turmoil
Demand being constantly rising.
But supply in catch upas fabs try to get the wafers out at full capacity.
18 months ago (September 2021) Coby was not getting traction with Fabs as they were too busy with Supply chain shortages Now (March 2023) Fabs have more time to engage with technology firms like Weebit.
He stopped andsaid it was asked a lot of times today if WBT was invested in Silicon ValleyBank (SVB) . “All funds are deposited at Westpac– all 40 million at Westpac”.
Slide 5 Weebit ReRAMmemory has inherent advantages vs. Flash memory
Coby glossedover and said the room would know why Weebit was better than Flash memory
He then moved toSlide 6 ..Weebitis addressing both segments ofthe Non-VolatileMemory market
Here Coby madereference to 3 terms whilst slide had only 2 .The 3 goals with time frames wereas follows
| Short term | Medium term | Long term |
---|
1 | Embeded | Standalone | Neuromorphic |
---|
Table 1 – WBT focus on addressable NVM andtimeframe
Slide 7 Embedded ReRAM market segment–approachingthe tipping point
Therewas a lot of talk about this slide. It is the potential Market size.
Cobythinks the 33% will be revised upwardsby YoleMicrocontroller (MCU) Market in 2023revision.
Its only for royalitesin the embedded market which in total is 927 m in size by 2027.
I noted thatthe slide has …
Thisestimate issolely based on the embedded NVMwithin the
MCU market
Does NOT account for:
•Othertarget markets apart from embedded MCU market
•Up-frontlicense/use fees
•NRE(non-recurringengineering) fees
•Fabtransfer fees
•Revenuesfromdiscrete ReRAM products
Coby’sgot a question from the floor about MRAM versus Reram . MRAM is in the market
Coby’sanswer was contained in the following table
| MRAM | Reram |
---|
1 | Increased memory than flash | Inc memory than flash |
---|
2 | Decreased power usage than flash | Decreased power usage than flash |
---|
3 | Endurance better than Reram |
|
---|
4 | Cost higher than Reram 30% to 50% to wafer cost | 10%-20% to wafer cost |
---|
5 | Need separate facility | Uses standard Foundry equipment and tooling |
---|
6 | Subjected to Magnetic interference that might come from anywhere | Magnetically stable |
---|
Table 2 – MagneticRAM versus Resistive Ram
Cobywas asked for Revenue forecast from the floor..
Coby“Its not possible to give revenue forecasts” . Coby does not want to giveanything other than a serious revenue forecast .
Slide8 Foundry-centricIP business model for embedded market
Coby has 2 Businessmodels in mind .
He described the 1st business model as draw. This was for embedded and standalone.
He made mentionthat with defense contracts Skywater knows who the customer is exclusively.
The secondbusiness model was Weebit going to the customer and providing wafers and usingfoundries as a supplier. Coby was happier promoting his own products in thisspace and more likely for standalone applications. There is higher margin doingthis. Look at Figure 1
Figure 1 Business model 2 “Sales of wafer model using foundriesas a supplier”
Slide 9 Discrete market segment opportunity.
Coby thoughtWBT could address” EPROM and NoR Flash markets as smaller and older marketsthat Reram offered solution for short term.”
Coby said “99%of digital devices needed NVM” , “ 124 Billion is the Whole Market.” “Weebit isgoing to grow into that market. “
Wee bitdeveloped this tech with Leti .
Coby was askeda question that “Weebit had already qualified with Skywater ?”
Coby said thatwas not the case
Coby describedthe qualification process.
It has to berepeatable and consistent.
The tests areusing proxies. It is not possible to bring a product quickly to market if youhave to wait 10 years for a result. So for instance you need to have you memory stable at 170 degrees Centigrade for 5000 hours to pass the 150 degrees Centigradefor 10 years test.
First test wasto have 130 nm at 85 degrees pass with Skywater.
This made the Bigfabs take notice.
TSMC (TaiwanSemiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd) has a Reram product .
WBT’sAutomotive grade at 125 degrees centigrade should be complete by June 30th2023 of the 130 nm
WBT Industrialgrade qualification process should be complete by June 30th 2023
That willsignal officially ready for wafer manufacture.
Product is readyand First customer should be signed in the near future.
Coby said on Qualification“ Every New geometry and every new Fab requires qualification”
Then there wasa sequence change we when to slide 16 Taped outWeebit ReRAM demo chip to GF 22nm.
Cobybecame even more enthusiastic at this point if you can believe that.
Heshowed the quote of Michael Hogan, Chief Business Officer from Global foundries.“ Now I can say officially Global Foundries isworking with Weebit.”
Someonefrom the floor asked “Has Global Foundries acquired another reram technology ? ”
Coby said ”Yes”. Thendescribed how Adesto developed the Reram technology Dialog Semiconductor bought Adestoout in August 2020. Dialog Semiconductor licensed its Non-VolatileResistive RAM Technology (reram) to GLOBALFOUNDRIES for 22FDX Platform,Targeting IoT and AI in October 2020. Renesas acquiredDialog Semiconductor in August 2021 .
“WBT is taping out at 22 nm with Global foundries” Coby said“ Only 7 foundries in the world can do22nm” .
Someone from the floor asked “ Who would use 22 nm ?”
Coby said “ Automotive users would be asking for this .Artificial Intelligenge (AI) more advanced application would need 22nm.
Coby said that there are a lot of legacy geometriesout in the market place . “ !80,120,80,70and50 nm “ for specific applications . But People are wanting 22nm now.
Someone from the floor asked “ What is the extreme limit onthe geometry of wafers ?”
Coby said “ 1 nm would be 2 or 3 molecules of thickness andneed an insane amount of precision “
TSMC are in production for 3nm currently. ( Macklemore checked- see TSMC Dec 29 2022 announcement)
Slide 17 Weebit is engaged with most top-10foundries and IDMs
Coby made a point that of the IDM’s 1 -4 .. ( Ie Samsung,Intel, SK Hynik and Micron) were all doing small geometries. TI (Texas Instruments) the fifth in the list was using 65 nm geometries. 8th on the list – STM wasusing 22nm .
Macklemore checked Intel 14 nm process node technology 23/3/21 at $ 20 billion US announcement .
On Foundries Cobysaid “ I can’t be more explicit we are taking to a majority of the 10 Foundries.i.e take of the two chinese foundries(i.eHua Hong(HLMC), SMIC ( Semiconductor Manufacturing InternationalCorporation) and that shortens the list”.
Slide 10 Weebit ReRAM addresses a broad range of applicationrequirements
Coby’s ideas onthis slide were “Only defense and Aerospace are not cost conscious”
Radiationtolerance is a big problem when you are in space or higher levels of the earthsatmosphere.” Solar radiation destroys the flash drives ability to hold information”.
“ Skywater hasa lot of defense contracts and combines with the research from the Universityof Florida”.
Endurance and Longevitywere important to the Automotive and Aerospace sectors
Slide18 Weebit ReRAM: Greener non-volatile memory.
For ESG (Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance). Wee bit takes footprint very seriouslyand has an advantage in this area.
Leti have an analysis of Reram versus MRAM.
Recently aCompany approached Weebit with the idea that Weebit’s processing could attractCarbon Credits for sale. This might be an area that gets attention.
That saw end ofPresentation around 1.05 pm.
Questionsfrom the Floor.
Question1 “If 3 tier1 fabs approached you today to getyour technology embedded in their foundries could you do it ?”
Answer1 “ No.Would need to assign priorities and develop high quality people (Staff) tomanage the opportunities”.
Question 2 “With the need to show and test your tech withfoundries initially how do you protect your IP ?
Answer 2 “a) Patents
b) Know how about how the tech works
c) Being able to customise with Manufacturers
d) Proprietary Memory algorithms ( read and write) in a distinctiveparticular and optimised way.
aBOUT 8 QUESTIONS TO FOLLOW