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Editorial: What's Happening?
... When your trusty laptop crashes and heads for the recycle bin, and days later your backup desktop decides to have an attack and has to go to the computer doctor, and... on top of that, your landline phones start to malfunction and you've given your cellphone to your spouse...
Jump down to the full story
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Features:
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LED Lighting Drives Revenue Growth at Cree for Q3 of Fiscal 2008
LIGHTimes StaffApril 23, 2008...Cree reports that its revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 are up 38 percent compared to the same period a year ago and up 5 percent compared to the previous quarter.
Cree’s revenues for the quarter rose from $90.3 million in Q3 of fiscal 2007 to $125 million in Q3 of fiscal 2008. However, Cree reported that its net income of $5.7 million for the third fiscal quarter of 2008 went down compared to the same quarter of 2007 when it was $21.1 million. During the quarter Cree acquired LED Lighting Fixtures Inc. Also, Austin, TX, and the Tianjin Economic Development Area (TEDA) in China joined Cree’s LED City initiative.
“Cree’s strategy to drive revenue growth by focusing on LED lighting continued to pay dividends in Q3, as we delivered financial performance that was in line with our previously announced
guidance,” stated Chuck Swoboda, Cree Chairman and CEO. “Revenue growth was led by
higher sales of LED components, which exceeded sales of LED chips for the first time. In
addition, we took another bold step in leading the LED lighting revolution with our acquisition of
LED Lighting Fixtures, which positions us even better to drive the adoption of LED lighting going
forward. For Q4, we target growth from XLamp® LEDs, high-brightness LED components and
our new LED lighting solutions, all of which are benefitting from the rising demand for energy efficient LED lighting.”
Cree is reportedly targeting revenues of $129 million to $133 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. Cree Financial Results News Release BeamExpress Secures $1.3 Million in First Round of Investment
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 23, 2008...BeamExpress SA, a laser technology company based in Lausanne, Switzerland reports having secured a first round investment of $1.3M with I-Source (France). BeamExpress says that the investment proceeds will be used to expand the team and move from prototype to series production. Jean-Claude Charlier and Prof. Eli Kapon launched BeamExpress SA as a Spin-off of BeamExpress Inc. when it was sold to NeoPhotonics Inc. in 2006. At that time, the vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) technology was transfered to the newly formed company headquartered in Lausanne.
In cooperation with EPFL, the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne, BeamExpress SA designs and manufactures high-speed long-wavelength lasers with extremely low power consumption. These lasers are used for next generation high-speed computing and communication applications. The company notes that the market is changing with the rapid adoption of silicon photonics, which now require light sources emitting in the long-wavelength range (1200nm up to 1600nm). BeamExpress’ VCSEL technology is reportedly ideal for these applications.
“The secret of our VCSEL high performance, lies in our “Localized wafer fusion” technology which makes possible the use of InP- and GaAs-based materials giving high power, single mode laser beam with narrow line width," commented Professor Eli Kapon, Co-founder and Chief Scientist of BeamExpress and Director of the Laboratory of Physics of Nanostructures. Beam Express SA News Release IXYS Ranked Higher On Mercury News ‘Silicon Valley 150’
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 23, 2008...IXYS Corporation of Milpitas, California USA, announced that it was recently ranked # 94 in The San Jose Mercury News "Silicon Valley 150". The Mercury News produces an annual listing of the top 150 public companies, headquartered in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, southern San Mateo, and southern Alameda counties. The companies are ranked on the basis of worldwide revenues for the most recent available four quarters. IXYS reports that it has moved up six places in the rankings. For the one-year period ending December 31, 2007, IXYS earned $299.2 million in revenue, an 8% increase over calendar year 2006. As oil prices have increased, the demand for power conversion efficiency, especially in wind and solar power, has increased. For this reason, IXYS is thriving. IXYS focuses on providing power semiconductors for equipment used in harnessing wind and solar power for conversion to the U.S. electrical power grid.
"According to recent reports, Silicon Valley's tech companies had a stellar 2007, setting records in sales and profits. It is against this competitive backdrop that IXYS once again outperformed," commented Dr. Nathan Zommer, CEO of IXYS. "We continue to develop new technologies to address the need for energy efficiency; we expect that these R&D efforts will lead to future sustainable growth of our revenues and profits. We are equally pleased in seeing that we are ranked # 86 based on profits, and # 84 based on our profit margins among the leading companies of Silicon Valley." Company News Release April 23, 2008...UK-based Nujira and Nitronex of Durham, North Carolina USA, are collaborating to create a power amplifier (PA) reference design for WiMax basestations Nujira revealed that it delivers over 45 percent efficiency using GaN devices and Nujura’s High Accuracy Tracking (HAT) technology. Nujira reports that in its collaboration with Nitronex, the companies were able to realize over 44dBm of linear power with 45 efficiency at a linearity of -55dBC using a 4 channel WCDMA waveform and conventional DPD (Digital Pre-Distortion) techniques. Nujira noted that the results were achieved using production ready devices from both companies. Nujira further reported that this same solution achieved 43.2dBm of linear power with 43percent efficiency under a demanding WiMAX waveform with 20MHz video bandwidth and 8.2dB PAR.
“Nitronex believes that GaN devices will most clearly establish their value when combined with advanced power amplifier techniques such as Nujira’s HAT technology,” said Chris Rauh, VP of marketing and sales at Nitronex.
Nujira VP strategy & marketing Julian Hildersley added, “Nujira HAT envelope tracking technology can greatly enhance the efficiency of power amplifiers. ... The same Power Modulator module can equally well be applied to WiMax, WCDMA or even DVB and other transmission. Our reference design work with Nitronex very effectively demonstrates how well our technology works in a real circuit.” Nujira News Release
TSMC Makes Inroads in LED Industry with Investment in BridgeLux
LIGHTimes StaffApril 21, 2008...LED chip maker, BridgeLux, recently reported $30 million dollars in private equity and $10 million in bank lines of credit. Among the investors in the LED chip company is TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, a dominant supplier of silicon wafers, according to an article in the Taiwan Economic News.
BridgeLux touts its gallium nitride (GaN) capabilities in epitaxial growth, structures, and designs for high power LEDs.
BridgeLux founder and current chief technology officer, Heng Liu, reportedly introduced one of the first GaN metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactors in the industry. The company expertise also comes from executives who served at two of the biggest LED suppliers, Cree, and Lumileds (Now called Philips Lumileds).
The Taiwan Economic News cited insiders at TSMC who said that the company was bringing old MOCVD equipment back online for LED production. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... HelioVolt Taps Former DuPont Executive to be CTO
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 21, 2008...Austin, Texas-based thin film solar technology firm, HelioVolt, has hired former DuPont executive, Dr. Louay Eldada as the company’s new chief technology officer (CTO). Dr. Eldada will direct strategic technology planning and development of HelioVolt’s advanced thin film solar energy products in the new position. HelioVolt is commercializing a suite of high performance copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) photovoltaic products based on the company’s rapid FASST™ manufacturing process. According to HelioVolt, the proprietary process can be used to print high efficiency, low-cost photovoltaic materials for solar panels, integrated systems, and solar-enabled building products including architectural glass, and roofing tiles. HelioVolt says that Dr. Eldada will manage both internal and collaborative technology development in his new position.
For the past five yours Eldada was an executive at Dupont. Prior to that, Dr. Eldada founded and managed Telephotonics Inc., which was later acquired by DuPont. Dr. Eldada also served at Honeywell Inc. (formerly AlliedSignal Inc.) where he started the Telecom Photonics business unit and then directed its R&D branch. Corning Inc. acquired the successful group, and Dr. Eldada continued to manage technical development.
“Renewable energy has been a lifelong passion of mine. I’m looking forward to applying my experience in defining technology roadmaps and achieving those strategic targets to my new role at HelioVolt, a company as dynamic and promising as the growing solar energy market it intends to help reshape,” said Dr. Eldada.
HelioVolt News Release Lumilog Acquired by Saint-Gobain
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 21, 2008...The high performance materials division of Saint-Gobain Group of France, has acquired Lumilog, a developer and producer of gallium nitride (GaN) wafers. Saint Gobain acquired Lumilog from its founders and investors, Banexi Ventures Partners, Emertec Gestion, Sophia Euro Lab SAS and TechFund Capital on April 1, 2008. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The Saint Gobain Group has four business divisions and employs some 200,000 people around the world. GaN is a critical material for Blu-ray laser diodes and advanced LEDs.
Lumilog reported a sales volume of about €2 million (about US $3.2 million) for 2007. Saint Gobain News Release RFMD to Consolidate Production Testing; Begins Production of Microwave and Millimeter Wave Components
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 16, 2008...RF Micro Devices Inc., a radio frequency systems and solutions company based in Greensboro, North Carolina USA, announced it will consolidate its production test facilities for high volume cellular products. The company says it expects the facility shut down will reduce cycle time, better serve its customer base, and improve overall profitability by about $3 to $3.5 million annually. The company also announced that it will add gallium arsenide (GaAs) pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor (pHEMT) gain blocks and low noise amplifiers (LNAs) targeting the base station, satellite communications, and short-haul wireless infrastructure markets. Company News Release.
RFMD pointed out that the consolidation, which is expected to be completed in the September 2008 quarter, is the final phase of a production test transfer to RFMD's primary production test facility in Beijing, China. High volume cellular product testing will be transfered to the Beijing facility. The company indicated that about 80 of its employees from the facility will be laid off. RFMD currently employs over 2,000 employees in North Carolina. The company indicated that it expects a cash restructuring charge of about $1 million.
Bob Bruggeworth, president and CEO of RFMD, commented, "RFMD's international revenue is over 90% of total revenue, and it is imperative that our supply chain aligns with our customers' manufacturing facilities, which are located primarily in Asia. While this is a difficult decision because of the negative impact on employees, these actions are necessary to better serve our customers, ensure competitiveness and help position RFMD for long-term sustainable profitability." Company News Release Raytheon Demonstrates Advantages of Gallium Nitride in Radar Components
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 16, 2008...Raytheon of Tewksbury, Massachusetts USA, is developing gallium nitride-based transmit-receive modules for use in future radar upgrades. According to the company, the development is part of an on-going 42-month, $11.5 million Next Generation Transmit Receive Integrated Microwave Module (NGT) contract from the Missile Defense Agency's Advanced Technology Directorate. Raytheon says it is demonstrating that transmit-receive modules using GaN-powered monolithic microwave integrated circuit amplifiers (MMICs). GaN MMICs reportedly have a significant performance advantage in that they provide significantly higher radio frequency power with greater efficiency than current modules, the company said.
The NGT program leverages GaN technology being developed under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Wide Bandgap Semiconductor program as well as company-funded efforts.
Russell indicated that GaN technology can increase radar ranges, sensitivity, and search capabilities. He also said that the technology enables reduction in the size of the antenna, which improves transportability and reduces acquisition and lifecycle costs without sacrificing performance.
"The NGT program is important because it is the first significant government-funded contract to address the use of the more capable GaN semiconductors in a relevant environment," said Steve Bernstein, IDS' program manager on NGT. "This recent demonstration shows that GaN technology performs better in transmit-receive modules representative of those used in modern radars." Raytheon News Release Kopin Extends HBT Purchase and Supply Agreement with Skyworks
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 16, 2008...Kopin Corp. of Taunton, Massachusetts USA, reported that Skyworks Solutions has extended its purchase and supply agreement. Under the agreement, Kopin will supply all 4-inch-diameter and the vast majority of 6-inch-diameter HBT wafer requirements of Skyworks through July 2010. According to Kopin, the agreement applies to a wide range of III-V technologies including multiple GaAs HBT products, Skyworks’ advanced BiFET design and Kopin's GAIN-HBT platform. Kopin noted that the agreement also facilitates the companies’ continued collaboration to improve yields, drive down costs, and expand into new products.
“I am pleased that Skyworks and Kopin will continue to work closely together,” said Bruce Freyman, Skyworks vice president of worldwide operations. “In the past few years, we have been collaborating to improve efficiency, quality and cost, all while implementing promising new technologies. Our efforts have been very successful, and we presented Kopin with our Best Supplier Award last year. It’s important to have a partner such as Kopin that understands our philosophy and is capable of executing the demanding tasks necessary to achieve success in our industry.” Kopin News Release Skyworks Components in Samsung’s Award-winning FEMTO Cells
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 16, 2008...Samsung recently won two prominent FEMTO cell awards. Skyworks reports that its transceivers, power amplifiers, and low noise amplifiers are in the award winning FEMTO cells. Samsung was awarded the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) Best of Innovations 2008 in the Wireless Handsets Accessories category for UbiCell, a small, personal base station. UbiCell installs without any technical assistance and works with users’ mobile phones for secure, indoor cellular service over existing broadband networks. The Maeil Business Newspaper, one of the most influential economic daily in Korea, and the Korea Industrial Technology Association (KOITA) , operated by the Korean government, also gave Samsung an award FEMTO cells because of their technological importance, originality, and economic value.
“We want to thank Skyworks for their innovative portfolio of transceivers, power amplifiers and low-noise amplifiers for use in our FEMTO cell applications,” said Oh, Seung Cheol, senior engineer at Samsung. “We rely heavily on their high-quality Linear Products portfolio, and it ultimately contributed to Samsung winning these two prestigious awards.” Skyworks News Release Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
For submissions or content suggestions, you can contact us using
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For more information and to reserve promotion space contact
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
What's Happening?
Jo Ann McDonald, founding editorApril 23, 2008...When your trusty laptop crashes and heads for the recycle bin, and days later your backup desktop decides
to have an attack and has to go to the computer doctor, and... on top of that,
your landline phones start to malfunction and you've given your cellphone to
your spouse because your spouse needs it more than you do, its amazing how pretty
soon all desire for electronic communication seems to stop. Even the usual blare
of the television set seems unappealing. Back online again (however reluctantly),
one simply reaches a point where one has to catch up with at least the
compound semi industry news.
All the above actually happened to over the last few weeks, thus it's been
extremely quiet in our home-on-the-range Texas "office." As a result,
I've spent much more time out on the ranch than usual, where our Texas bluebonnets
abound and everything's as green as Ireland during our brief but beautiful Spring.
After the first few days, I must admit that the absence of communication devices
didn't bother me at all. Quite the contrary. But when I finally got back up
and running, and started looking around my usual CS industry online haunts,
I was amazed how much had occurred in our industry over such a relative short
period of time. I found Emcore's CPV deals with China and communications acquisitions
from Intel, to be especially interesting because, like so many others who have
been linked in one way or the other to that rather unique company over the years,
I've been more than a bit curious about where old Emcore was headed these days.
A scan of the general news was truly uplifting. Lots of progress. Lots of players.
Possibly too many players when it comes to the wide bandgap (WBG) electronics
sector. At least that's what I read between the lines in the guest editorial
our good friend Tom Hausken wrote for our mid-April editorial. (Do I sense
the "IC" phase on our horizon? "IC" in this case standing
for Industry Consolidation?) If you didn't read Tom's editorial, it's a
must that you do. The title is Widebandgap
Electronics - The "Good" Kind of Challenges. In case you don't
know him personally, or weren't interviewed by him for his most recent study,
Tom's the Director of Components Practice for Strategies Unlimited and considered
an expert on the WBGs in particular and the communications sector in general.
I thought his editorial was excellent, and I want to thank him again for filling in for
me while I was in my communications blackout. [By the way, some people run the
word "widebandgap" all together, some separate "wide" from
the rest. I noticed that Tom does it one way in his editorial, another in his
study. Me? I take the shortcut and use "WBG".]
What Tom didn't do is hype his latest Strategies Unlimited report...
which was the underlying reason he did the editorial. So I'll hype it for him.
The title of this latest update is Wide
Bandgap Electronics: Technology Trends and Market Forecasts - 2008 and clicking
on that title will take you to SU's site where you can peruse the table of contents
for this "must have" 300 pager and order a copy. The pricetag of $4,250
may seem steep if you haven't ever read one of SU's major reports, but trust
me, it's a bargain. And possessing a copy will not only make you incredibly
smarter, but if you're in the WBG business, it will surely make your WBG forays
more successful. In it, you'll see confirmation that GaN-based electronic devices
are finally truly commercial, taking perhaps longer that we'd hoped to follow
the success of GaN-based LEDs and lasers.
WiMAX base station apps are finally looking real, and the study offers genuine
meat on application trends and pricing. But the most interesting feature of
this updated study is that it offers a model for projecting future prices with
three possible scenarios. One scenario assumes that breakthroughs in epitaxy
quality lead to one pricing path and some volume applications. Another assumes
a more moderate pricing path, with some selective successes. A third assumes
that pricing will continue more or less as the status quo, with only moderate
growth but lucrative niche products. If, after you read and compare the three
scenarios and have something to say publicly about their prospects, feel free
to submit to me a follow-up guest editorial espousing your opinions. It's an
important topic and one that continues to deserve attention.
The next topic that caught my attention was our upcoming BLUE
2008 conference in Taiwan. Who could miss it. It's blasted and hotlinked
all over all of our popular CS-related industry resource sites! [Speaking
of shortcuts, you can easily remember how to access the conference site by simply
going to "BlueTaiwan.com". We're very much into easy access and shortcuts
here at CompoundSemi Online Inc.!] This is our 6th annual BLUE event, which
kicks off with a "beer bust," compliments of Epistar, on Tuesday evening,
May 6th, at the Ambassador Hotel in Hsinchu. The conference itself begins bright
and early on Wednesday morning at 8am and runs through Thursday late afternoon,
May 8th. My partner and publisher, Tom Griffiths, has again put together an
incredible lineup of speakers. Take a look at he agenda
and see for yourself what he and our three co-chairs have in store. I'd like
to personally thank those three outstanding industry leaders for their time
and assistance: Dr. Yi-Jen Chan, Vice President & Gen'l Director of ITRI
Electronics & Opto Research Labs; Dr. Bernd Schulte, Chief Operating Officer
of Aixtron; and Dr. Robert Walker, who now serves as a Principal at Sierra Ventures
having successfully put BridgeLux on the international LED-maker map.
Lead keynoters for BLUE 2008 is Strategies Unlimited's Director of Opto-Electronics
Practice, Dr. Robert Steele,
deemed the premiere industry forecaster for the high brightness LED and solid
state lighting (SSL) industry. Bob will delve into the current market trends
for LEDs and their applications, backed up by the real data that consistently
has made a difference in everyone's business planning. The title of Bob's talk
just before lunch on day one, Wednesday, May 7th is, simply: World Market
Overview and Opportunities. What he has to share is far from simple, however.
And prior to Bob's keynote will be a report from another of our industry's top
analysts, Dr. Asif Anwar, Director of GaAs and CS Technologies at Strategy Analytics.
Title of Asif's talk is Epi Material and Laser Diode Market Update. And
conference co-chair Bob Walker weighs in on this section with an update on Green
Technologies. Many will remember that Bob Walker
authored the classic Asian LED market study for Strategies Unlimited. At BLUE
this year, now as a venture capitalist at Sierra Ventures, Bob's talk is titled
Green Technologies - An Investor's Viewpoint of the Opportunities and Pitfalls.
Our second keynoter for BLUE 2008 and in the staring role is the extraordinarily,
one of a kind, highly personable (and often amusing) Michael
Lebby, President of OIDA, the international Optical Industry Development
Association, which is based in Washington DC. If you haven't ever heard Michael
(the man in black) speak, you're in for an incredible treat. You'll also learn
while you laugh. Michael's talk at the end of Day 1 of this outstanding two
day conference is titled, The Next Decade - New Opportunities From Solid
State Lighting. Whereas most talks are about the here and now... and how
we got here, Michael will focus on the future and share his unique and intriguing
thoughts on future opportunities for solid state lighting. He's a true visionary,
and you'll want to be there in person.
So if you've been in tune with what's happening lately... or not (like me with
my communications meltdown) I'm sure you'll agree that the near and longterm
future, indeed, is starting to look as bright and robust as the devices our
incredible CS industry helps create. On behalf of our co-chairs, keynoters,
and all the other speakers and sponsors that will be attending BLUE 2008, register
now to attend and get connected in ways that only by personally attending
can accomplish. That way you'll be sure to be part of that bright future.
If you have questions about the
solid state lighting and compound semiconductor industries or have news
or views to share, I'm Jo Ann McDonald, Editor of LIGHTimes and CompoundSemi News.
Feel free to contact me directly, anytime. 
My direct tel at the ranch is
+1-325-463-5345
From time to time Jo Ann may comment on companies in which she holds a
modest investment - be sure to read
her disclosure at some point in time... |
