Donate to Remove ads

Got a credit card? use our Credit Card & Finance Calculators

Thanks to johnstevens77,Bhoddhisatva,scotia,Anonymous,Cornytiv34, for Donating to support the site

Alphawave IP

Discuss Stock buying Shares, tips and ideas for stock market dealing
NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Alphawave IP

#406526

Postby NotSure » April 23rd, 2021, 5:30 pm

I hope this is the correct forum - at this point, it is not possible to buy Alphawave IP shares, but it should be in the not too distant future. Also I do not usually 'do' or research individual shares - I cannot hold them in my company pension scheme and currently only have diversified funds/ETFs in my rather small ISA.

They are UK/Canadian tech company focussed on extremely high-speed connectivity IP solutions. To quote their CEO,

Alphawave IP’s technology enables data to travel faster, more reliably, using lower power. Our designs
are licensed by makers of silicon chips to enable their chips to communicate with each other. Put simply,
our connectivity solutions enable chips to handle the massive amounts of data transmission that happen
across all our connected infrastructure, from data centres and computers to wireless infrastructure and
autonomous vehicles....


They recently announced an IPO which was widely reported.

I am finding it hard to get any real information on where their innovation exactly originates from (their potential 'moat'). There is quite a lot of info on their website, but I am finding difficult to independently research their tech - Google just finds thousands of articles about the IPO announcement, and Google Scholar just yields a lot of unrelated papers and patents, manly about electroencephalography. What I can tell is that they are certainly 'cutting edge' using state-of-the-art silicon fabs with firm plans to migrate all the way to 3 or 4 nm, with interconnect speeds up to and beyond 100 Gbps. But according the Alphawave, they have basically improved SNR which leads to longer and/or more reliable data links for a given power budget, while also being relatively inexpensive (cheaper, faster, lower power - pick any three). They already have a broad (and 'unified') portfolio of products, and work with TSMC and Samsung.

They seem to be drawing a lot on the business model of ARM - they do not manufacture or sell their IP, just licence it, much like ARM. Unlike many tech IPOs, they are profitable and have been almost since inception, and the revenue and profits have risen very quickly (but of course would have to continue to do so). The 'total addressable market' is huge (estimated at $50B+), but that is rarely a good measure of future revenue.

It's just nice to see a UK tech firm (at least in part) launching on the LSE. I would be interested if anyone has researched them and if so, what they felt about their prospects.

Probably the most useful single document I have found (I've not looked too hard yet) is this: https://www.awaveip.com/media/zlmdlixf/alphawave_eitf-announcement.pdf

Some financial info here: https://www.awaveip.com/media/eiwcwzkl/alphawave-ip-hfi-2020.pdf

WickedLester
Lemon Slice
Posts: 503
Joined: November 8th, 2016, 6:56 pm
Has thanked: 221 times
Been thanked: 246 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406570

Postby WickedLester » April 23rd, 2021, 9:17 pm

I've never heard of this company but I just took a look at the financial figures you posted and they are really impressive. My main question would be why do they need to list? They don't appear to need cash and are growing great guns.

I would have thought it would make sense for the owners to keep on reaping the benefits of that growth for a while longer at least.

Is it just a chance for them to sell to the market at a premium?

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406612

Postby NotSure » April 24th, 2021, 9:41 am

WickedLester wrote:I've never heard of this company but I just took a look at the financial figures you posted and they are really impressive. My main question would be why do they need to list?


I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to reading the financials, but the same thought occurred to me. Quoting the company here

It says the flotation will raise its profile and allow it to reward and recruit key employees and executives.


https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/london-stock-exchange-secures-3-2bn-tech-ipo-with-alphawave/ar-BB1fYdnS

I guess that publicly listed share will confer bragging rights, if nothing else...

I am not entirely convinced by the market for their IP - it is true that inter-connect speed can often be the limiting factor in a system, but it is also true that there has been a big move towards 'system on a chip' (SoC). That is one of the beauty of ARM systems - it's not 'just a CPU' like Intel, but has the whole motherboard on one piece of silicon. I could therefore see Intel becoming one of their key customers in an attempt to fight off ARM adoption in their remaining key markets. On the other hand, there are more and more highly connected yet distributed systems - data centres, automobiles etc. - especially used by 'AI' where multiple high bandwidth sensors such as video and lidars all need talk to each other.

Their own registration document has a pretty comprehensive list of the risks to their business model: https://www.awaveip.com/media/amhkfpud/alphawave-ip-registration-document.pdf

I would just like a better idea of where their innovation lies, and how likely they would be able to maintain their edge, but am struggling to find much information beyond their own website.

simoan
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2091
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:37 am
Has thanked: 463 times
Been thanked: 1456 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406623

Postby simoan » April 24th, 2021, 10:59 am

NotSure wrote:I am not entirely convinced by the market for their IP - it is true that inter-connect speed can often be the limiting factor in a system, but it is also true that there has been a big move towards 'system on a chip' (SoC). That is one of the beauty of ARM systems - it's not 'just a CPU' like Intel, but has the whole motherboard on one piece of silicon. I could therefore see Intel becoming one of their key customers in an attempt to fight off ARM adoption in their remaining key markets. On the other hand, there are more and more highly connected yet distributed systems - data centres, automobiles etc. - especially used by 'AI' where multiple high bandwidth sensors such as video and lidars all need talk to each other.

Their own registration document has a pretty comprehensive list of the risks to their business model: https://www.awaveip.com/media/amhkfpud/alphawave-ip-registration-document.pdf

I would just like a better idea of where their innovation lies, and how likely they would be able to maintain their edge, but am struggling to find much information beyond their own website.

Hi,

This IPO seems very opportunistic to me with the world awash with overpriced small technology companies - Alphawave was only started in 2017 and the board seems to have been assembled rather hastily with appointments only being made in the past few months. I don't see much relevant experience in the board appointments either, which doesn't give me much confidence, but then management quality is a very important factor in my investing. Although comparisons with ARM are a little lazy tbh, it might have been nice to see an ex-ARM director involved in some way, or at least someone with more than 4 or so years experience in licensing semiconductor IP.

I note there is an Exec. Chairman whose only notable experience is with Achronix, a company with which I am familiar. Sadly, I view Achronix as a total disaster resulting from a futile and stupid idea. Who on earth would be idiotic enough to launch a new company with an old fashioned FPGA architecture and go up against the likes of Xilinx and Altera/Intel, and even Microchip? Achronix really had no USP, so let's hope that Alphawave do!! BTW I write as someone who has worked in semiconductors half my life and so I understand the products.

As you can tell, I have absolutely no interest in this IPO. If I could find a longer bargepole I'd use it. I don't find the 20 design wines in 4 years particularly impressive tbh. However, I think that the IPO will go very well with an immediate premium in this very frothy market for anything technology related. Longer terms who knows, it's total guesswork given how quickly any competitive advantage can be removed and margins eroded. If you are interested I'd read very carefully who is selling and how much, what the size of the free float will be etc. Also the section on competitors because there will be some, particularly given that the products support ready-made industry interconnect standards.

All the best, Si

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406641

Postby NotSure » April 24th, 2021, 1:19 pm

simoan wrote:
...BTW I write as someone who has worked in semiconductors half my life and so I understand the products.

As you can tell, I have absolutely no interest in this IPO. If I could find a longer bargepole I'd use it....


Many thanks simoan, in particular for your comments about the management and the technology. To be honest, I am (was?) more interested in the company itself than in its stock (I tried stock-picking once. It did not go well. I do not have the required temperament so currently stick to funds, ETFs etc.).

I started my working life as an apprentice at a UK semiconductor fab, then took the academic path for a while, and am now again working in private sector UK tech, but totally unrelated to semiconductors. As such, I am very aware of how good we are in UK at inventing and innovating, but also how poor we are at exploiting this work (the shocking state of technology transfer was one of the main reasons I left academia, after a string of cocked-up and mismanaged attempts to commercial research). I was just hoping that maybe Alphawave might buck this trend, but could not find any evidence to support this hope, and lack the knowledge to assess management.

So thanks again!

simoan
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2091
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:37 am
Has thanked: 463 times
Been thanked: 1456 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406648

Postby simoan » April 24th, 2021, 2:29 pm

NotSure wrote:
simoan wrote:
...BTW I write as someone who has worked in semiconductors half my life and so I understand the products.

As you can tell, I have absolutely no interest in this IPO. If I could find a longer bargepole I'd use it....


Many thanks simoan, in particular for your comments about the management and the technology. To be honest, I am (was?) more interested in the company itself than in its stock (I tried stock-picking once. It did not go well. I do not have the required temperament so currently stick to funds, ETFs etc.).

Quality and experience of management is a major factor in the way I invest. Sometimes it costs me money, but I want experienced managers with a history of delivering returns for shareholders without any hype and BS (under promise and over deliver) who pay themselves appropriately, and are honest and truthful. As an example, I once held Tristel but then the CEO and CFO just decided to award themselves a chunk of shares in the company for nothing. I can't hold shares in a company run by people like that and just sold there and then and missed out on a subsequent further 100% return. So be it.

I'm sure the management team of Alphawave are all very capable people but having looked at their industry backgrounds I have some serious concerns. How about a CFO that has never been a CFO of a listed company before - just a background with Barclays investment banking. How does that float your boat? And we are looking at a possible £3bn valuation which means it is likely to become a FTSE 250 company.

NotSure wrote:I started my working life as an apprentice at a UK semiconductor fab, then took the academic path for a while, and am now again working in private sector UK tech, but totally unrelated to semiconductors. As such, I am very aware of how good we are in UK at inventing and innovating, but also how poor we are at exploiting this work (the shocking state of technology transfer was one of the main reasons I left academia, after a string of cocked-up and mismanaged attempts to commercial research). I was just hoping that maybe Alphawave might buck this trend, but could not find any evidence to support this hope, and lack the knowledge to assess management.

So thanks again!

That's interesting. I've been in the industry nearly 30 years and it's been good to me and is the main reason I'm able to retire well before my 60th birthday. The Alphawave technology looks fine and may well have a USP that isn't entirely clear to me without checking out the competition, however high-speed SERDES for Ethernet and PCIe, and Multi Chip Module (MCM) interconnect have existed for years. BTW many of the ARM SoC's you mentioned earlier will in fact be multiple dies in the same package, and often the SERDES will be on a separate die for power management reasons. So there is a market for the products and maybe Alphawave has an edge, but if they do, it's a subtle one even for me. Anyway, I don't want to start boring anyone so will stop there! As someone that recently bought into LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) I'll maybe profit from this and the general rush to IPO while the market is hot through other means :-)

All the best, Si

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406658

Postby NotSure » April 24th, 2021, 3:09 pm

simoan wrote:So there is a market for the products and maybe Alphawave has an edge, but if they do, it's a subtle one even for me.


If you believe the hype, Alphawave state that their SERDES is a step change - from analogue to DSP, allowing smaller (cheaper), yet faster links:

...An architectural revolution would be needed that moved SerDes away from traditional analog approaches, towards novel digital and DSP based architectures...


https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/gme

However, my time in the semiconductor industry likely predates when you joined if you've had a 'mere' 30 years - field effect transistors were 'new-fangled' to my bipolar colleagues, slow and thirsty. As such, my job probably would have been fairly short-lived anyway, and I'm certainly not remotely informed enough to QC their spiel. (I do not need to tell simoan, but my colleagues did not suffer from manic depression...).

Bit more technical info here: https://semiwiki.com/events/293822-alphawave-ip-is-enabling-224gbps-serial-links-with-dsp/

I have a FTSE UK All Share tracker, so I'll gain a little exposure.....

simoan
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2091
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:37 am
Has thanked: 463 times
Been thanked: 1456 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406665

Postby simoan » April 24th, 2021, 3:43 pm

NotSure wrote:
simoan wrote:So there is a market for the products and maybe Alphawave has an edge, but if they do, it's a subtle one even for me.

If you believe the hype, Alphawave state that their SERDES is a step change - from analogue to DSP, allowing smaller (cheaper), yet faster links:

Yes, I saw the claims about using high-speed Analogue-to-Digital Converters (ADC) so they are just moving the boundary between the analogue and digital domains within the SERDES. As someone that only worked in the digital domain I can see that may have some benefits in terms of reliability and cost, but is the cost-benefit really big enough to make the IP a must-have? I really couldn't say, but if it was really that revolutionary I'd have expected more than 20 design wins in 4 years. I can only see TSMC and Samsung as customers, but these are surely only the fabs whose silicon processes the IP will have been pre-qualified for, not the ultimate end user e.g. Apple, Intel, Broadcom, Qualcomm. SERDES are used in so many chips these days that I'd be worried that something that is such a step change has not seen wider adoption already. Are the techniques they are using novel enough to be patented, and do they hold any patents? I don't know, but you'd need to establish this if you wanted to invest for the long term.

Interesting any way. Thanks for bringing the IPO to my attention.

All the best, Si

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406675

Postby NotSure » April 24th, 2021, 4:51 pm

simoan wrote:...Are the techniques they are using novel enough to be patented, and do they hold any patents? ...


I'd hardly say I have searched exhaustively, but could not find any recent patents associated with AIP or their key technical staff. The CEO has patents relating to earlier companies he founded, as do some senior engineers, but nothing very recent.

I did see a snippet of an article that seemed to indicate they were going the 'know how'/trade secrets route rather than patenting, but the article is behind a paywall, and the snippet may not even be related to the main article. I think there is a lot of merit in this approach for a small company (I work for a company that has few patents, but lots of 'know how' - the patent process is expensive, both in terms of financial and human resource, and it tells everyone exactly how you do it. In theory, it also protects that knowledge but we could not afford to defend that right). However for a larger company, this does stack up - you can end up in court defending the right to use your own IP if you do not patent.

So all in all, I wish them well as a (partly) UK tech company, on the LSE, but I doubt if I will make an exception to my "diversified/passive" investmest approach for them. Going OT, but UK/LSE really should have at least some significant tech (I do not count Deliveroo - a spreadsheet and a bunch of push bikes - and it flopped anyway).

I note that ARM are valued at less than 10x the IPO valuation of Alphawave IP. Not very scientific, but I do not feel AIP = ARM/10, or anywhere near.

simoan
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2091
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:37 am
Has thanked: 463 times
Been thanked: 1456 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406680

Postby simoan » April 24th, 2021, 5:56 pm

NotSure wrote:
simoan wrote:...Are the techniques they are using novel enough to be patented, and do they hold any patents? ...


I'd hardly say I have searched exhaustively, but could not find any recent patents associated with AIP or their key technical staff. The CEO has patents relating to earlier companies he founded, as do some senior engineers, but nothing very recent.

I did see a snippet of an article that seemed to indicate they were going the 'know how'/trade secrets route rather than patenting, but the article is behind a paywall, and the snippet may not even be related to the main article. I think there is a lot of merit in this approach for a small company (I work for a company that has few patents, but lots of 'know how' - the patent process is expensive, both in terms of financial and human resource, and it tells everyone exactly how you do it. In theory, it also protects that knowledge but we could not afford to defend that right). However for a larger company, this does stack up - you can end up in court defending the right to use your own IP if you do not patent.

So all in all, I wish them well as a (partly) UK tech company, on the LSE, but I doubt if I will make an exception to my "diversified/passive" investmest approach for them. Going OT, but UK/LSE really should have at least some significant tech (I do not count Deliveroo - a spreadsheet and a bunch of push bikes - and it flopped anyway).

I note that ARM are valued at less than 10x the IPO valuation of Alphawave IP. Not very scientific, but I do not feel AIP = ARM/10, or anywhere near.

To get out of gardening this PM, I have done a bit more research into SerDes IP and what it is that Alphawave offer. You are quite right about the downside of patent applications and going the trade secret route is fine in normal circumstances for a private company, however for a listed company it is an issue because the investment thesis to achieve a £3 bn valuation relies heavily on there being some kind of barrier to entry. Without patents I'm not sure there is much of a barrier to others using the same techniques. Alphawave is after all a company with only 75 employees so retaining those staff and their knowledge is imperative. Without patents the IP walks out the door every night! We have already seen this with Apple enticing whole design teams from other companies i.e. Intel and previously Imagination.

I have found an article that claims Alphawave had a 38% market share of the high end SerDes market in 2020 and their IP is pre-qualified for use on Samsung and TSMC 5nm and 7nm lines. That's a great achievement in itself for such a small company! It seems their main competitors are Cadence and Synopsis, which for me is a problem because not only do Cadence and Synopsys license SerDes IP, they also provide the software tools used by the vast majority of SoC designers, so they are already highly ingrained with the customer base for Alphawave IP.

Like you, I wish the company all the best but would be wary of investing at a market valuation anything like £3bn. However, that is just a sign of the times and the reason I am 25% cash currently and sitting on my hands. I'm not chasing things on crazy valuations. Sometimes the best approach is to do nothing and wait for regression to the mean to do its thing!

All the best, Si

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406780

Postby NotSure » April 25th, 2021, 11:37 am

simoan wrote:To get out of gardening this PM, I have done a bit more research into SerDes IP and what it is that Alphawave offer. You are quite right about the downside of patent applications and going the trade secret route is fine in normal circumstances for a private company, however for a listed company it is an issue because the investment thesis to achieve a £3 bn valuation relies heavily on there being some kind of barrier to entry. Without patents I'm not sure there is much of a barrier to others using the same techniques. Alphawave is after all a company with only 75 employees so retaining those staff and their knowledge is imperative. Without patents the IP walks out the door every night! We have already seen this with Apple enticing whole design teams from other companies i.e. Intel and previously Imagination.....


Funnily enough, that was my excuse too. But there is still a high chance of frost where I live, so not much to do at the allotment for a week or two...

I take it you didn't manage to find any patents linked to Alphawave? If so, I agree, that is an enormous risk - if they genuinely are instigating a paradigm shift with no formal protection, it's a case of when key staff get tempted to, e.g. silicon valley, not if. I'm quite glad the company I work for have largely gone the 'trade secrets' route - makes my position more secure - but as you say, inappropriate for a £3B company.

simoan wrote:...I have found an article that claims Alphawave had a 38% market share of the high end SerDes market in 2020 and their IP is pre-qualified for use on Samsung and TSMC 5nm and 7nm lines. That's a great achievement in itself for such a small company! It seems their main competitors are Cadence and Synopsis, which for me is a problem because not only do Cadence and Synopsys license SerDes IP, they also provide the software tools used by the vast majority of SoC designers, so they are already highly ingrained with the customer base for Alphawave IP....


I too have read about the pre-qualification, and they seem to have a route map all the way to 3 nm and beyond (blows my mind - you can fit almost one million devices into the space required for one in my day). Even Intel are struggling to achieve this from what I read. However, if they already have 38% of the market, that is a worry. I assume they aim to make their tech standard, rather than exclusively high end.

simoan wrote:...Like you, I wish the company all the best but would be wary of investing at a market valuation anything like £3bn. However, that is just a sign of the times and the reason I am 25% cash currently and sitting on my hands. I'm not chasing things on crazy valuations. Sometimes the best approach is to do nothing and wait for regression to the mean to do its thing!


I've signed up for their newsletter, and will definitely take an interest in their progress, if not their stock. In more 'normal' times, I'd be tempted to have a 'punt' - best case scenario, they become the go-to for 112 and 224 Gbs. Alas the best-case scenario seems to be already largely priced in, as seems the case with so much tech at the moment. I suspect we may have to wait a while for 'reversion to mean', but any sort of 'glitch' could cause a wide revaluation of particularly tech. Bit OT but related, the latest Barrons survey of 'pro' investor sentiment is certainly bullish, but not expecting much more growth, and notably swinging away from growth stocks and USA and into value and e.g. emerging markets.

https://www.marketwatch.com/articles/stocks-have-more-room-to-rise-says-barrons-big-money-poll-51619222301?mod=mw_more_headlines

simoan
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2091
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:37 am
Has thanked: 463 times
Been thanked: 1456 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406791

Postby simoan » April 25th, 2021, 12:10 pm

NotSure wrote:I take it you didn't manage to find any patents linked to Alphawave? If so, I agree, that is an enormous risk - if they genuinely are instigating a paradigm shift with no formal protection, it's a case of when key staff get tempted to, e.g. silicon valley, not if. I'm quite glad the company I work for have largely gone the 'trade secrets' route - makes my position more secure - but as you say, inappropriate for a £3B company.

I thought it easiest to search for the word "patent" in the IPO document rather than scour various patent websites. I think this section from the document pretty much nails it as regards IP protection - they have no patents:

The Group risks harming its business and competitive position as it may not be able to protect its intellectual property, including its proprietary technology, its development and know-how from competitors or public disclosure.

The Group’s success also depends on its ability to protect its intellectual property, which is accomplished through a combination of trade secrets, contractual provisions, confidentiality agreements, licences and other methods, to protect the Group’s proprietary technologies.

In particular, the Group primarily relies on trade secrets and contractual restrictions on disclosure and use (such as confidentiality agreements or licences) of its intellectual property with various parties. However, the Group cannot be certain that its trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information will not become known or that its competitors will not independently develop their own proprietary technology or effective competing technologies. Consequently, disputes may arise concerning the ownership of intellectual property, the use of proprietary technology, trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information or the applicability of confidentiality agreements and the Group may be forced to initiate legal proceedings to enforce its intellectual property rights or its ability to exploit its proprietary technology, which may be costly and divert efforts and attention of its management.

Monitoring such unauthorised use, misappropriation or disclosure is difficult and, despite the Group’s efforts, unauthorised parties may or may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use its proprietary technology, trade secrets, know-how or other proprietary information. The Group could also face challenges that its designs and technology developments infringe the patent, trade secret or other intellectual property rights of others, which could require the Group to obtain the right to use such IP or, in extreme circumstances where it is unable to do so on commercially acceptable terms or at all, require the Group to abandon the relevant development efforts.

Any failure to protect, maintain and enforce the Group’s intellectual property and other proprietary information could impair its competitiveness, which could have a material adverse effect on its business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects.


NotSure wrote:
simoan wrote:...I have found an article that claims Alphawave had a 38% market share of the high end SerDes market in 2020 and their IP is pre-qualified for use on Samsung and TSMC 5nm and 7nm lines. That's a great achievement in itself for such a small company! It seems their main competitors are Cadence and Synopsis, which for me is a problem because not only do Cadence and Synopsys license SerDes IP, they also provide the software tools used by the vast majority of SoC designers, so they are already highly ingrained with the customer base for Alphawave IP....

I too have read about the pre-qualification, and they seem to have a route map all the way to 3 nm and beyond (blows my mind - you can fit almost one million devices into the space required for one in my day). Even Intel are struggling to achieve this from what I read. However, if they already have 38% of the market, that is a worry. I assume they aim to make their tech standard, rather than exclusively high end.

The 38% market share only relates to the very high spec end of SerDes i.e. 112G plus. For lower rate SerDes there is plenty of competition, the point being that even at the high end they do not have the market all to themselves although their claim to be the leading supplier appears to hold water. However, even where there is competition, if they can demonstrate lower power and easier integration they could still win. BTW the IPO document has this to say about the competitive landscape:

Many of the Group’s competitors have attempted to increase their share of the wired connectivity IP market and may reduce their licensing and royalty fees to attract customers and win market share at the Group’s expense in the future. Given the long-term benefits that may arise from embedding a given technology in a significant volume of products, competitors may also engage in prolonged price competition in an attempt to establish their technology as an industry standard, which could create significant pricing competition in the short term as the Group works to maintain its existing customers and grow market share and have material negative impacts in the long term if industry standards develop in a direction away from the Group’s IP solutions. The following industry players are key competitors and can impact competitive dynamic:

• third-party IP providers, such as Cadence, Synopsys, Rambus and Credo Semiconductor;
• IP providers who mostly deliver their IP with design services for application specific integrated circuits,
(“ASICs”), such as Broadcom and Marvell;
• IP providers, such as Cadence and Synopsys, that engage in bundling of products and services; and
• internal engineering teams at large semiconductor suppliers.


Must admit I'd not heard of Credo before. I already pointed out the possible bundling of design tools with IP that Synopsys and Cadence can offer. With regard to taking part in the IPO, I've seen no indication that this will be possible for retail investors as it is not currently listed on the Hargreaves Lansdown and YouInvest websites. I never invest in IPO's anyway due to the asymmetry of information i.e. if you are buying, someone with much more information than you is selling!!

All the best, Si

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#406996

Postby NotSure » April 26th, 2021, 9:57 am

simoan wrote:I thought it easiest to search for the word "patent" in the IPO document rather than scour various patent websites. I think this section from the document pretty much nails it as regards IP protection - they have no patents:

The Group risks harming its business and competitive position as it may not be able to protect its intellectual property, including its proprietary technology, its development and know-how from competitors or public disclosure.

[i]The Group’s success also depends on its ability to protect its intellectual property, which is accomplished through a combination of trade secrets, contractual provisions, confidentiality agreements, licences and other methods, to protect the Group’s proprietary technologies.....


That's quite incredible! As I said, we use trade secrets, but in order to protect our own right to operate we create notarised 'invention reports' and store them internally. If we did not, then another company could actually patent our techniques then prevent us from using them. The invention reports offer us some protection from this in some jurisdictions, and we are a small company in a small sector, and not asking for £3B.

But Alphawave have gone to all the trouble to set up confidentially agreements, but not bothered to file patents?

Well, at least the IPO will create a lot of rich engineers! A depressingly rare thing in UK.

Thanks for sharing the results of you research.

simoan
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2091
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:37 am
Has thanked: 463 times
Been thanked: 1456 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#411646

Postby simoan » May 13th, 2021, 1:01 pm

Well, so far, not so good: https://www.reuters.com/business/financ ... 021-05-13/

All the best, Si

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#411668

Postby NotSure » May 13th, 2021, 3:15 pm

simoan wrote:Well, so far, not so good: https://www.reuters.com/business/financ ... 021-05-13/

All the best, Si


They probably didn't pick the best possible day to launch! Distinct lack of exuberance in tech at the moment, irrational or otherwise.

Still, they have a good ticker: "AWE". (As in awe dear......)

simoan
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2091
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:37 am
Has thanked: 463 times
Been thanked: 1456 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#411675

Postby simoan » May 13th, 2021, 3:44 pm

NotSure wrote:
simoan wrote:Well, so far, not so good: https://www.reuters.com/business/financ ... 021-05-13/

All the best, Si


They probably didn't pick the best possible day to launch! Distinct lack of exuberance in tech at the moment, irrational or otherwise.

Still, they have a good ticker: "AWE". (As in awe dear......)

Oh, I think the sellers picked a pretty good day! The IPO price was set with the likes of Blackrock don't forget. Shame that it leaves the institutions with a little bit of egg on their face though, eh? ;). It would not surprise me if it turns out that the sellers got on one of the the last trains out the station for overpriced tech IPO's :)

All the best, Si

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#411757

Postby NotSure » May 13th, 2021, 8:43 pm

simoan wrote:Oh, I think the sellers picked a pretty good day!


Hmm. Zooming out, you are very likely correct - I guess far better to get 80% of a massive over-valuation than 100% of fair price ;)

simoan
Lemon Quarter
Posts: 2091
Joined: November 5th, 2016, 9:37 am
Has thanked: 463 times
Been thanked: 1456 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#411800

Postby simoan » May 13th, 2021, 11:00 pm

NotSure wrote:
simoan wrote:Oh, I think the sellers picked a pretty good day!


Hmm. Zooming out, you are very likely correct - I guess far better to get 80% of a massive over-valuation than 100% of fair price ;)

The IPO price was set at 410p and that is what the selling shareholders received for their 121 million shares. If the price falls in the after market, as it did, it's the buyer who takes the hit e.g. Blackrock and the other institutions who paid 410p per share to take part in the IPO.

All the best, Si

NotSure
Lemon Slice
Posts: 916
Joined: February 5th, 2021, 4:45 pm
Has thanked: 679 times
Been thanked: 314 times

Re: Alphawave IP

#585847

Postby NotSure » April 28th, 2023, 3:36 pm

Shares in Alphawave suspended after warning over tech champion's accounts

Microchip designer sees shares plunge after auditors ask for more time to examine accounts

The most valuable semiconductor company listed on the London Stock Exchange has been forced to suspend its shares after auditors delayed issuing its final accounts.

Shares in Alphawave IP, the Anglo-Canadian microchip designer, plunged 20pc in early trading after it admitted KPMG would not be able to provide a final opinion on its results on time.

Alphawave said although accounts were “substantially complete” and that it “does not expect any changes” to its results, its auditors had requested “more time to complete its internal oversight… before issuing its formal audit opinion”.

The tech hopeful, which is valued at around £700m, said it would suspend its shares from Tuesday morning until it was able to publish its fully audited results. It said it expected its audit to be published by May 12, which falls outside the Financial Conduct Authority’s disclosure deadlines.

Alphawave’s shares have plunged nearly 75pc since it went public on the London Stock Exchange in May 2021, a deal that initially valued the chip designer at £3bn......


(firewalled) https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/04/28/shares-in-alphawave-suspended-after-warning-over-accounts/


Return to “Stocks and Share Dealing Discussions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests