Axign chips at the heart of Harman Kardon’s beat

Audio control specialist Axign has announced its first A-brand design-win. American home entertainment powerhouse Harman Kardon has integrated the scale-up’s AX5689 chip into its new stereo streaming amplifier. The latest addition to the Citation product line boasts 200 watts of Class D amplification per channel into 4 ohms, controlled by the little piece of silicon from Enschede.

“This is a major milestone for us, a breakthrough even,” states Richard Langezaal, Axign’s sales & marketing director. “Three years ago, we had our own mask set made, taking the big step from prototypes and proofs-of-concept to a design that can be sold. It then takes a while to convince potential customers and get on their shortlist. And once you finally get selected, it takes them another year to make the product and market it. Going to mass production requires a lot of effort and persistence, but we made it.”