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AKM Fire Update 3: Yet Another Step Towards Recovery, Co. Launches New Flagship Chip

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New AKM AK4499EX flagship DAC

Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM), part of the Asahi Kasei Corporation, and one of the world’s most significant providers of integrated circuits, particularly digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), launched a new flagship stereo DAC at the IPS/High End 2022 Show last week in Munich, Germany. It is yet another notable milestone in the company’s long journey to recovery after the horrific impact of the signal event of the pandemic supply chain disaster in 2020 – a massive factory fire that destroyed a key production fab, first reported in our industry by Strata-gee.

But…can the company recover quickly enough to make a difference?

See more on this impressive new AKM DAC

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AKM Responds to Strata-gee Request for Comment on Damaged Factory

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Last week, I updated the story of the Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) factory fire that destroyed one of the world’s largest fabs producing semiconductors, particularly LSIs (large-scale integrated circuits) for digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) widely used in audio for consumer, pro, and commercial applications. [See post: AKM Fire Update: Co. Makes Progress, Interim Solution Shows Promise] At the time I was working on that report, I reached out to AKM for comment on what I was learning from my sources, but did not receive a reply by the time the story was posted.

This morning, AKM responded to my request…

See what AKM said in a statement to Strata-gee…

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AKM Fire Update: Co. Makes Progress, Interim Solution Shows Promise

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burned out AKM factory
[Click to enlarge] [Photo: nikogorio (Twitter)]

Commits to Deliver New DACs & ADCs in 2022!

In one of the most-read stories ever posted on Strata-gee.com, I reported on a fire in October 2020 at an AKM factory in Japan. AKM is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of large-scale integrated circuits (LSI) used in a variety of products, including digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) for the audio industry. In that post, I warned you that this fire threatens to “disrupt the global supply of critical digital ICs.” It was the bright red flag of what was to become a massive supply chain headache that the world continues to struggle with to this day.

UPDATE: What’s happening now after the AKM fire

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AKM Fire Update: Sony Admits It Faces ‘Severe Shortage’ of Key Imaging Models

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Sony ZV-1 vlog camera

Most manufacturers in Tech have been reluctant to discuss the impact on the supply chain – and on the availability of their key models – as a result of the recent Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) factory fire in Japan. However, Sony – especially Sony Europe – has admitted to customers that it’s camera and video division, is “facing a severe shortage of key parts” for its compact cameras and video cameras. Although Sony did not specifically correlate their problem to the AKM situation, a large number of camera and photography media are saying that this is most likely the cause of the shortage to which Sony is referring.

See what Sony & other brands say about the AKM fire fallout…

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AKM Fire: 2020 was Almost Over, Then Disaster Struck Again

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A photo of the burned out AKM factory after the fire was extinguished
AKM Factory Fire [Click to enlarge]

Massive AKM Factory Fire in Japan to Disrupt Global Supply of Critical Digital ICs

Just when you thought 2020 was almost over and the COVID calamity and its associated disasters were mostly behind us, a source tipped Strata-gee off to a major new disaster that will almost surely cause a significant disruption in the 2021 supply of those critical A/V products we all use/sell/and install every day. You may not be aware of this AKM fire story now, but we are all facing what will likely be another major supply chain headache in the near future.

Warning – your supply of key products is now threatened…

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