Energous in New Partnerships Amid Chip Shortages, Pending Dialog Buy
It’s not clear how Energous would be affected by Dialog Semiconductor’s proposed sale to Renesas, announced this month, said Energous CEO Stephen Rizzone on the company’s Thursday earnings call. Dialog owns about 5.2% of Energous’ outstanding common shares and could…
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potentially own 7.1% if it exercised warrants, said Energous' annual report. The acquisition is expected to be completed by year-end. The wireless charging company announced a partnership Thursday to simplify integration of its WattUp RF wireless charging with Thinfilm solid-state lithium microbattery technology in “form-factor-sensitive” applications such as hearables, wearables and connected sensors. It also announced it's working with e-peas to combine the chipmaker's power management IC technology with Energous’ RF technology to support at-a-distance wireless charging applications beyond 1 meter for smart buildings, industrial IoT sensors and retail electronic displays. E-peas’ energy-harvesting and processing are said to give “infinite battery life” to wireless devices by increasing the amount of harvested energy and by “drastically reducing” energy consumption. Eartechnic is using Energous’ wireless charging technology for a new hearing aid design, said Rizzone, and Gokhale Method received FCC approval for its WattUp-enabled PostureTracker wearable. An equine tracker for horseracing using WattUp could reach the market this quarter, "barring any delays." Products coming to market highlight benefits of WattUp including being able to hermetically seal a receiving device, "rendering it watertight," and the ability to charge multiple receiving devices simultaneously with a single transmitter, said the executive. Charging of multiple devices simultaneously "on a single mat or with a single transmitter has been a major challenge for the industry, including many well-known CE companies," said Rizzone, citing efforts with coil-based charging such as Apple's doomed AirPower. Energous' RF-based technology can charge multiple devices, he said. Semiconductor component shortages are a “broadbased issue” affecting potential product rollouts, he said. He also cited pandemic delays. Energous continues to wait for regulatory approval of its wireless charging technology in China, India and Korea. Rizzone believes India will be the first to grant approval, followed by Korea and China. He expressed hope that potentially improved trade relations with China arising from the new administration could accelerate China regulatory approvals. Shares fell 8.8% Friday to $4.36.