"But who makes the chips that contain the secret software? What is stopping some of those going into the black market?"
The processors in the audio devices. These are industry standard chips, made by all manner of semiconductor players. They don't come with any software loaded on them. They come with memory. The device manufacturer typically loads firmware and algos into them when they manufacture their device. They would get the software from AKP in this instance. I don't see the likes of Samsung, Apple, Sony, LG - our main customers sourcing those components in products they have to provide warranty on from the black market. Maybe some odd ball small scale Chinese device manufacturer could source them some off market way. It doesn't matter, nothing to do with AKP. If they want to implement the AKP tech system, they will have to pay a royalty to AKP.
It is a system, not just the sound producing chips.
But I understand the concern people have, but let's not let a disappointment become an overblown anxiety about the possibility of endless next step technology theft, at every level.
Absolutely nothing about this type of setup is novel. We all own devices done exactly the same way. Consider this as an example:
Do you own an AV Receiver? It has a dozen logos on it, eg DTS, Dolby Atmos, Spotify Connect, etc, just to name a few. Who develops that tech? Not the device manufacturer, they license it. The AV Receiver is made by an audio device manufacturer eg Denon, Sony, Marantz, etc. Who have a non-descript company in China which makes the device and many of the chips in it, for them. It is ALL done in China. Nothing odd about that. The chips aren't branded, maybe some are branded with the device branding, but someone else has made them, maybe in China, maybe in Taiwan or Korea or even USA. The AV receiver has a processor with memory, and is loaded with software from the manufacturer and the software contains other software from the developers of all the third-party tech - as shown on the logos plastered on the AV Receiver, eg Dolby Labs for Dolby Atmos, etc.
So for example, Dolby Labs provide some software which they own the IP for and spent years developing, that is then loaded onto the processor memory at device manufacture time. The AV Receiver manufacturer must pay a royalty to Dolby Labs for the use of it in their product. In paying it is enabled for them. This is standard practice and nothing new. In this example AKP can be considered the same as Dolby Labs. The AV Receiver will not have the third-party functionality enabled without the license agreement and payment to the tech provider. Find me a device with various tech that is not made this exact way, and not in China. Very few mainstream products I can think of. So it is clearly not as big a risk as some are proposing here. The third-party tech developers and device manufacturers all do it this way and in China despite the infamous reputation the Chinese have for IP theft.
I suspect millions of devices will have AKP chips, and maybe an AP logo on the device, but the chips themselves may or may not have the logo. All that really matters is the AKP gets the royalty payment. They certainly will get it, because they are the ones licensing a system. It's not really about the chips. The chips are needed of course, but that is not what a device manufacturer is going to only be paying for, and certainly the chips are not the only thing they need to get it to work.
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