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Editorial: Perspective on TriQuint's Acquisition of WJ Communications
... Two historically pivotal USA-based companies in the compound semi industry have officially become one. While some merely look at the recently completed acquisition of WJ Communications of California by TriQuint Semiconductor of Oregon as further consolidation of the wireless communications space, there's much, much more to the story....
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Wal-Mart to Try Solar Concentrator Cells
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 28, 2008...Wal-Mart will be trying out solar power at one of its locations soon with the concentrator solar cells from Menova Energy Inc. The Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) and Wal-Mart Canada announced that they are pursuing a project with Menova Energy that would provide up to $5.9 million to support the demonstration of the company's Power-Spar solar concentrator technology. The project is to install and test the technology on the roof of a Wal-Mart store in Ontario, which is yet to be selected or constructed. Under the project proposal, Ontario would provide Menova Energy a $2.8 million forgivable loan awarded through the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation’s Innovation Demonstration Fund.
Also under the proposal, Wal-Mart Canada would provide up to $3 million to support the testing and installation of the technology on one of the its store roofs. Wal-Mart Canada hopes to use the technology and the knowledge from the testing to help meet its long-term sustainability goal of using 100 percent renewable energy at all of its locations.
"This is an example of Ontario’s growing world leadership in solar energy," said Menova Energy president David Gerwing. "The Menova technology was developed in Ontario and will remain in Ontario thanks to the forward looking policies and commitment from this provincial government." Menova News Release RFMD and Selex Galileo Sign Supply Agreement
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 28, 2008...RFMD of Greensboro, North Carolina USA, has taken over the contracts of Filtronic, the company it acquired in February. RFMD and Silex Galileo announced the two companies have signed a strategic supply agreement that expands upon a former agreement signed in 2001 between Selex Galileo and a division of the former Filtronic Compound Semiconductor Ltd. According to RFMD, the supply agreement is expected to include several compound semiconductor-based components, including GaAs pHEMT MMICs. The pHEMT MMICs will support electronically scanned (ESCAN) radar and Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar applications.
RFMD says it will increasingly aid Selex Galileo in its delivery of current and future defense electronics programs. The companies anticipate the supply agreement to be valued at approximately $20 million through 2013. RFMD said it plans to expand its aerospace & defense business in Europe and strengthen its commitment to support European aerospace & defense customers with compound semiconductor components developed and manufactured in its Newton Aycliffe, UK-based subsidiary.
Bob Van Buskirk, president of RFMD's Multi-Market Products Group, speaking at the signing ceremony, said, "Selex Galileo is one of Europe's leading defense electronics suppliers, and they are a highly valued customer for RFMD. As the industry leader in the development and manufacture of compound semiconductors and the industry leader in the design and manufacture of RF components, RFMD is uniquely positioned to support Selex Galileo's stringent requirements for high-performance semiconductor components." RFMD News Release Veeco Adds to Thin Film Solar Equipment Product Line With Acquisition
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 28, 2008...Veeco Instruments Inc. an MOCVD equipment maker based in Plainview, New York USA, announced that it has acquired Mill Lane Engineering. According to Veeco, the new acquisition of the maker of web coating systems for flexible solar panels will extend its thin film solar equipment product line. Mill Lane is based in Lowell, Massachusetts USA, and it employs about 20 people. The acquisition will be renamed, Veeco Solar Equipment Inc. It will be managed by Piero Sferlazzo, Ph.D. Senior Vice President of Veeco. Veeco paid $11 million at closing. The purchase agreement also adds plus potential payments based upon the satisfaction of specific future conditions, including certain order, sales, and profit levels. Veeco reports that Mill Lane has an existing multi-unit order for web coating systems from a leading maker of thin film copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells.
John R. Peeler, Chief Executive Officer of Veeco, commented, "This investment complements Veeco's existing deposition technologies, expanding our product offerings for the emerging thin film solar market. While many of today's solar panels are based on silicon technology, thin films offer low manufacturing costs and the promise of higher photovoltaic efficiencies."
Dr. Sferlazzo stated, "Veeco is excited to combine Mill Lane's web coating and vacuum engineering expertise with our existing thin film deposition technologies, such as ion beam and physical vapor deposition and thermal sources, to address the equipment needs of thin film solar manufacturers." Veeco News Release Anadigics Supports LG Electronics' New Professional Camera Phone
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 28, 2008...Anadigics, a semiconductor solution company of Warren, New Jersey USA, reports that it began shipping production volumes of its AWT6277 WCDMA power amplifier (PA) modules to LG Electronics. The PA modules will reportedly be used in the new LG Viewty (LG-KU990), a 5.0 mega pixel professional level camera phone currently available in the UK. Anadigics contends that the LG Viewty raises the bar for camera phones. It features include: 5.0 mega pixel resolution, auto and manual focus, image stabilization, and a handwriting editing function. Additionally the video camera on this handset can take video at up to 120 frames per second. The 3.0 inch full touch screen enables users to enjoy high quality DivX video files in wide screen format.
All of these features require power and can reduce battery life. Anadigics says its HELP technology of the PA can reduce power consumption of WCDMA handsets by an average of 50 percent. Anadigics also says that it has low leakage current in shutdown mode. For this reason Anadigics contends that the PA helps to deliver longer battery life with a small footprint and low profile. Anadigics News Release
SatCon Secures Order for its Inverters for Photovoltaic Installation
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 27, 2008...SatCon Technology, a power electronics company based in Boston, Massachusetts USA, reported receiving a purchase order for a 10MW electrical package from a confidential project developer for a roof mount PV installation in Spain. SatCon said the order is for twenty, five hundred kilowatt (20 x 500kW) PowerGate inverters, photovoltaic array combiner boxes, PV View Plus inverter monitoring, and systems. The PowerGate inverters to be supplied were certified to CE standards with the assistance of TUV, a European certification body, on March 31st. Internacional Master Technology SL, SatCon's partner in Spain, project supporter, will reportedly help to manage the project. SatCon says it expects to fill the order over the next three months. SatCon explained that its PowerGate inverters are used to generate distributed electrical power from alternative energy sources such as photovolatics. The power that the inverter generates must be AC to be compatible with the electric power grid
"We are pleased to support this Confidential Project in Spain with the supply of SatCon PowerGate inverters, selected for their reliability of operation which is critical to successful operation of photovoltaic power systems of this size," said Clemens van Zeyl, President of SatCon's Power Systems Division. "Backing up our commitment to the project developer, we will be expanding our operations in Spain and monitoring the inverters from our facilities to ensure optimal performance." Advanced lighting systems completes led lighting of mississippi bridge
advanced lighting systems, a nexxus lighting partner company based in sauk centre, minnesota usa, has completed the lighting for the norbert f. beckey bridge in muscatine, iowa. the >SatCon News Release Sony, Sanyo, Exceed, and Lucky Light to License Technology from Neumark Rothschild
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 27, 2008...Columbia University Professor Emerita, Gertrude Neumark Rothschild again appears to be on the winning side as another group of companies agrees to settle with her in her patent dispute against 31 companies brought before the U.S. International Trade Commission. Two Goliaths of consumer electronics, Sony Corp. and Sany Electric Co. Ltd., and lesser known companies, Lucky Light and Exceed, have reportedly agreed to license the patented technology from Rothschild. The technology is a basic component in the production of Blu-ray video players, violet laser diodes, violet LEDs, mobile phones, and digital cameras. Details of the agreements were not released. Seoul Semiconductor Co. Ltd, a maker of LEDs, and Taiwan's Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd. signed licensing agreements with Professor Neumark Rothschild. According to her legal council, Professor Neumark Rothschild conducted groundbreaking research in the 1980s and 1990s into the light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes crucial to a many consumer electronics products.
While the Rothschild has made significant progress in the lawsuit, the fight is far from over. The Professor Emerita’s complaint to the ITC seeks to block the imports of infringing products, including video players using Blu-ray format, Motorola Razr phones, and Hitachi camcorders, as well as products containing blue, green, violet, ultraviolet, and white light emitting diodes and laser diodes. Other companies named in the suit reportedly include Hitachi Ltd., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., LG Electronics Inc., Nokia Corp., Samsung Group, Sharp Corp. Sony Ericsson Mobile and Toshiba Corp. Dreier LLP News Release Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Taiwan Start-up Ubilux Orders Aixtron MOCVD Systems
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 27, 2008...Ubilux, a an LED making optoelectronics startup of Taiwan, has reportedly ordered several Aixtron Planetary Reactors and Close Coupled Showerhead (CCS) Crius systems. Aixtron says it will deliver these in stages until the end of the year. Ubilux recently had held the groundbreaking ceremony for its new LED production fab which is planned to be operational within six months. Aixtron says that Ubilux will use its new reactors to help manufacture of ultra-high brightness (UHB) LEDs using compound semiconductors including AlInGaP for red, yellow LEDS and GaN for blue and green LEDs.
Dr. Henry Chen, president of Ubilux commented, “My colleagues and I on the Ubilux board together with our investors have ambitious plans for success in LEDs. We have our sights set on the booming market for solid-state backlighting applications including digital cameras, mobile phones, LCD monitors and televisions. Aixtron has the best reputation for equipment, service and process know-how so we chose to equip ourselves with multiple Aixtron systems knowing that together we will proceed rapidly to production.” Aixtron News Release Molecular Imprints Completes $12.9 Million Financing
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 21, 2008...Molecular Imprints, Inc. of Austin, Texas USA, a pioneer in volume production nanopatterning systems, announced the successful completion of $12.9 million in financing. Investors in this round include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tokyo Electron Venture Capital, Wafra Investment Advisory Group, KT Venture Group, Alloy Ventures, and Motorola Ventures. The company says that the latest funding combined with investments from customer jointdevelopment programs will enable further enhancement of its product portfolio and expansion of its operations to support rising industry demand for its nanopatterning systems.
This latest investment brings the total amount raised for the development and commercialization of Molecular Imprint's innovative Step and Flash Imprint Lithography (S-FIL) technology to $91 million. This total includes $73 million in strategic and venture capital financing, $15 million from federal government agencies, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and $3 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. Molecular Imprints reports that it has made significant progress in several markets such as: semiconductors, hard disk drives (HDDs), and high-brightness light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Molecular Imprints News Release Tower Semiconductor to Acquire Jazz Semiconductor Subsidiary, Jazz Technologies
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 21, 2008...Tower Semiconductors of Migdal Hemek, Israel, an independent specialty wafer foundry, and Jazz Technologies have signed a definitive agreement in which Tower Semiconductors will purchase all of the outstanding shares of Jazz Technologies. The acquisition will be a stock-for-stock transaction in which the fully diluted shares of Tower Semiconductor total about $40 million based on Tower Semiconductor’s closing stock price on May 19, 2008. Each share of Jazz Technologies common stock will reportedly be converted to 1.8 shares of Tower Semiconductor stock. The total value of the transaction, including net debt, is approximately $169 million. The combined company will reportedly bring together Tower’s strength in CMOS image sensor, non-volatile memory (NVM) and RF CMOS with Jazz’s expertise in mixed signal, power management (CMOS and BCD) and RF (RF CMOS, SiGe and BiCMOS).
Additionally Tower says that it will now have operational facilities spanning the globe (United States, Israel, and China).
“The acquisition of Jazz is an excellent strategic fit for Tower – it creates economies of scale which allows for improved margins and strongly complements our specialty process offering, transforming us into the leading specialty pure-play foundry,” said Russell Ellwanger, CEO of Tower. “We are confident that we will realize significant benefits and synergies, including a comprehensive process portfolio which expands our addressable market and fuels a growing and more diversified customer base with highly differentiated product platforms.” Tower Semiconductor News Release Avago Technologies Announces RF Packaging Advance with WaferCap Technology
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 21, 2008...Avago of San Jose, California USA announced a significant advance in packaging technology. The company contends that the advance brings together miniaturization and high frequency performance. Avago says its WaferCap is the industry’s first semiconductor-based chip scale packaging (CSP) technology. The company notes that it has the potential to reach the 100 GHz frequency range for a SMT packaging, but WaferCap CSP has the same dimensions as an 0402 component. For this reason, Avago says that the technology can reduce the amount of PCB space an RF device occupies by over 50 percent. Avago says its WaferCap CSP technology allows high frequency devices to be batch packaged cost effectively using standard semiconductor processing techniques.
Avago points out that with WaferCap, the air cavity created under the “lid” and immediately above the circuit makes it possible to achieve higher frequency ranges. Also the company says that the use of vias removes the need for costly and performance limiting bond wires. Additionally, direct contact between the package substrate and the RF MMIC improves RF by reducing the RF signal path and providing less resistance when compared to typical SMT designs, and it improves the heat transfer from the device to the assembly by removing the intervening package. Avago says that the reduced number of bond wires greatly increases reliability of the parts. Company News Release Our news features are reported
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
May 28, 2008...Two historically pivotal USA-based companies in the compound semi industry
have officially become one. While some merely look at the recently completed
acquisition of WJ Communications of California by TriQuint Semiconductor of
Oregon as further consolidation of the wireless communications space, there's
much, much more to the story.
Back in March, TriQuint elected to acquire WJ Communications for $72
million. Both companies traded on the USA's Nasdaq stock exchange. At a special
meeting of WJ shareholders held recently in San Jose, the acquisition was approved
and the approximately 132 remaining members of WJ's team will evidently remain
in tact as a wholly owned TQ subsidiary. The members were apparently enticed to remain, thanks to a nice
new TQ stock option inducement. What WJ brings to TQ's current offerings in
technology will blend nicely, of course, and indeed the merging of the two makes
one less wireless GaAs player in a continually tightening field. It also adds
some simple but cool RFID technology to TQ's ever growing lineup of products.
Beyond the technological synergy, this is the classic cultural fit.
What makes this particular acquisition special is the history of the two companies.
Way back when... WJ Communications was much, much more than the relatively small
company it was up to the point of the acquisition. Back when it was Watkins-Johnson
and affectionately called, simply, "WJ"... hence, the origins of "WJ", it was considered the giant of the original GaAs-based microwave
technology companies. It had the GaAs-based microwave technology upon which so much of our CS industry is
now firmly based. Alas... as some of us have painfully learned, some giants
continue to rule, seemingly forever... and some don't.
The original "WJ" was to the early compound semiconductor field what
Fairchild Semiconductor was to the early days of the silicon semiconductor field.
(I know. I was there!) Everyone who was anyone in the fledgling
field of compound semiconductors back in the original days of the emergence
of the compounds (circa late 1970s and early 1980s, which then meant "advanced"
microwave technology) worked for WJ. That's when the term "MMICs"
came into being. For you relative newbies to the field, MMIC stands for Monolithic
Microwave Integrated Circuit. As it was explained to me back then, compound
semi ICs looked that looked very unlike silicon ICs. They built them in higher
and higher stacks, upwards, kind of like Hong Kong real estate. And they were
all analog devices that were "tweaked". Not as scientific nor digital
as today, but really fun to make. (Heck, everything seemed more fun back then.)
My introduction to WJ was via some of those who were to become the first to
fledge from WJ to form Pacific Monolithic. As a young (and very cute) tradepress
reporter for EE Times and a notoriously good pitcher, WJ let me occasionally
play on their softball team. (EE Times didn't have a softball team.) And I got
invited to their company picnics too. You got to know a company in a whole different
light when playing softball at night in Silicon Valley, and you got to know
the employees even better over mugs of beer as Silicon Valley softball nights
wore on.
So, despite the subsequent years of WJ getting smaller and smaller, and knowing
the individual employees less and less, I've always had a soft spot for WJ,
which admittedly is largely credited to their generosity in letting me play
softball and treating me to beer. Not too long after that, TriQuint came on
my radar screen with a similar corporate culture of generosity, warmth, inclusiveness
and ability to have fun at social outings. At that time TriQuint and Vitesse
were the emerging GaAs giants and you could see that WJ was gradually losing
ground to these upstarts.
Like I said earlier, WJ's history can be likened to Fairchild Semiconductor,
which today isn't anything like the original "rust bucket" company
it was in Sunnyvale in the "Hey Daze" of Silicon Valley. Back then,
Motorola in Arizona was stealing Fairchild employees right and left, and Fairchild
was sending spies to the San Jose Airport to see who was being lured away. As
the years wore on and companies like Motorola, National Semiconductor and Intel
robbed all the Fairchild national treasures and started their climb to the dominance
they subsequently enjoyed (and continue to enjoy) the original Fairchild became
history. Over the years, former WJ MMIC gurus left to do their own thing as
well, and the original WJ became history. Meanwhile, up in Oregon, TriQuint
became a GaAs MMIC powerhouse.
Back in the '80s, boy could TriQuint make its presence known! And the beauty
of TriQuint in subsequent years, under the leadership of Ralph Quinsey, did
what few have been able to do. It has remained a compound semiconductor powerhouse,
despite the trying times we've all felt or seen over the last few years. I always
believed that when any consolidation dust settled, TriQuint would remain standing
tall when others fell by the wayside. There's simply something about a company
that bases itself in sound leadership and corporate honesty and openness, especially
one that partakes on a growth path that sticks to its core values and offerings
and embarks on sensible gradual expansion that you just know it will
survive, and eventually thrive.
That brings us to current times and the vast changes that have taken place
in the ever-increasingly international field of wireless infrastructure. The
China wireless market is opening quickly, for example, and things are expanding
again at TriQuint as their Richardson, Texas plant moves to 6" GaAs and
the company further embraces GaN technology. A design center in Silicon Valley
and WJ's current business relationships will definitely come in handy.
As WJ's CEO, Bruce Diamond, put it: "We see great synergy with TriQuint
in the areas of technology, customer relationships and manufacturing efficiencies.
There is very little product overlap and a good cultural fit between our two
organizations. We bring a broad product line of RF building blocks and modules
as well as a talented Silicon Valley based design team to an established leader
in the RF market space.”
As the self-appointed compound semi industry historian, I thought you might
enjoy a flash from the past as to why I too believe the acquisition of WJ Communications
by TriQuint to be a great cultural match.
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... |
