I am not a computer tech expert but I see BRN in a similar position to ARM microprocessors early in their development.
What set ARM apart from it's competitors was the very low power consumption of their chip. This enabled the chip to be used in many low power applications & dominate the market in many consumer electronics. And they didn't even manufacture the chips but licensed the IP to third parties such as Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung etc. ARM had revenue of $418B USD for quarter ended 30 June, 2019.
Brainchip's Akida has even lower power consumption than ARM chips which will change the market similar to how ARM changed the market. We will see new revolutionary consumer electronics, robotics, cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles, cameras & sensors etc developments as a result of the Akida chips.
The first license agreement revenue for Brainchip's Akida could easily be in the multi millions. For example, ARM licensed production for 9 million chips during the first year the technology became available. In the second year it was for 51 million chips, third year 175M chips, fourth year 367M chips & after ten years 2.4B chips per annum. In 2017 21.3B chips were licensed by ARM globally.
Are we witnessing the next ARM in the making?
ARM Business model
Unlike most traditional microprocessor suppliers, such asIntel,Freescale(the former semiconductor division ofMotorola, nowNXP Semiconductors) andRenesas(a former joint venture betweenHitachiandMitsubishi Electric), ARM only creates and licenses its technology asintellectual property(IP),[76]rather than manufacturing and selling its own physicalCPUs, GPUs, SoCs or microcontrollers. This model is similar to fellow British design houses:ARC International, andImagination Technologies(that both have stopped competing, at least as such, as both were bought out) who have similarly been designing and licensing GPUs, CPUs, and SoCs, along with supplying tooling and various design and support services to their licensees.
ARM Technology
A characteristic feature of Arm processors is their lowelectric powerconsumption, which makes them particularly suitable for use in portable devices.[78]In fact, almost all modern mobile phones andpersonal digital assistantscontain ARM CPUs, making them the most widely used32-bitmicroprocessor family in the world. As of 2005, Arm processors accounted for over 75% of all 32-bit embedded CPUs.[79]
Arm processors are used as the main CPU for most mobile phones, including those manufactured byApple,HTC,Nokia,Sony Ericssonand Samsung;[80]many PDAs andhandhelds, like the AppleiPodandiPad,[81][82]Game Boy Advance,Nintendo DS,3DSandSwitch,PlayStation Vita,Game ParkGP32andGamePark HoldingsGP2X; as well as many other applications, includingGPS navigation devices,digital cameras,[83]digital televisions,[83]networkdevices andstorage. The WLAN processor of Sony'sPlayStation Portableis an olderARM9.[84]
Arm Revenues Up, Royalties Down
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Arm quarterly revenues increase year-on-year, but royalties decline due to dampening smartphone demand
The SoftBank Group said revenues for its microprocessor business Arm increased 9.7% year-on-year to $418 million for the quarter ended 30 June 2019, despite royalty revenue falling 8% due to dampening smartphone demand.
Arm Q1 2020 (quarter ending 30 June 2019) revenues
(Source: SoftBank Group)
The company said it sold 28 licenses during its first quarter, including two licenses for new technologies Arm has not yet announced. Nineteen of these licensees were for its Cortex-M processor family.
On royalties, Arm’s licensees reported shipments of 4.8 billion Arm-based chips for the three-month period ended March 31, 2019 (it reports previous quarter). This was down 12.7% year on year. SoftBank said the decline in royalties reflected the slowdown in smartphone sales growth combined with overall weakness in the semiconductor industry. However, it added in the medium to long term, overall growth of royalty revenue could increase as Arm gains share in growth markets such as networking, automotive, and Internet of things (IoT).
Arm units shipped in quarter ending 31 March 2019
(Source: SoftBank Group)
It cited the likely impact of the continuing trade dispute. It said the risk from trade disputes and sanctions against specific companies (referring, no doubt, to Huawei) remain today and could continue for some time. Hence SoftBank said these factors could impact both license and software and service revenues, as semiconductor companies choose to delay licensing new processors; and royalty revenues, as OEMs sell fewer products or manage chip inventory levels more carefully.
Arm’s overall revenue growth was due to licensing revenue increasing 47.1% year on year. However, this was a little bit of an anomaly, due to the establishment of Arm China delaying licensing activity in the previous fiscal year. In this context, license revenue in the first quarter was at a similar level to the license revenue in prior quarters and reflects the recent deterioration of global business conditions in the semiconductor industry.