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Editorial: Labor Day in the USA
... The USA will be noticeably quiet for the next few days because of the country's annual celebrations over the long Labor Day holiday weekend. For those who like to go to the real source for the roots of this holiday, the USA's Department of Labor took the initiative to...
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GE Lighting Becomes "GE Consumer Products"August 29, 2002...General Electric Company's "GE Lighting business" has been an integral
part of the compound semi community for many years, but its the best-known relationship
is via GELcore, the HB-LED-based joint venture of GE Lighting and Emcore Corporation.
Nomenclature will now have to change a bit as GE's Chairman and CEO, Jeff Inmmelt,
today announced that, effective immediately, GE will combine its GE Appliances
and GE Lighting businesses into a single business, to be called GE Consumer
Products. Explaining the move forward, Immelt said, "GE has a rich heritage
of providing customers with essential, inventive home products. Because Appliances
and Lighting have powerful connections with similar consumer bases, we believe
they will now be able to grow more successfully together than either would on
its own. "This reorganization will enable Lighting and Appliances to provide
more cost-effective and pointed approaches to supporting all of our customers'
needs. By taking out administrative costs, we will be able to put that
money back into investing in new technologies and building greater brand awareness.
There is significant consolidation taking place in the retail industry, and
our strategic move will create a more focused team that can better serve major
retail customers." James P. Campbell, currently President and CEO of GE
Appliances, has been named the President and CEO of GE Consumer Products. Jack
Fish, currently Vice President of Global Manufacturing for GE Lighting, will
become Chief Operating Officer of Lighting and Area Executive in Cleveland for
GE Consumer Products, reporting to Campbell. Matthew J. Espe, President and
CEO of GE Lighting, is leaving GE to become head of IKON Office Solutions. The
changes are effective immediately. For our readers desiring more color on the
topic and details on the financial side, we refer you to Reuters
Business Report on the topic. Other details are included in GE's wire
release. August 29, 2002...Those who believe there has to be more than one de-facto "standard"
for a given technology need a history lesson. Blue spectrum laser diodes are
a new phenomenon to the outside world, but having created them, blue spectrum
lasers (green, blue, violet, UV, white... etc.) are something our compound semi
industry knows a great deal about. Those who had faith in their application
in the next generation DVDs established a point of mutual contact in 1995 called
the DVD Consortium, which later became the DVD
Forum. To quote their mission,
"The DVD Forum is an international association of hardware manufacturers,
software firms and other users of Digital Versatile Discs. The Forum was created
for the purpose of exchanging and disseminating ideas and information about
the DVD Format and its technical capabilities, improvements and innovations.
The Forum works to promote broad acceptance of DVD products on a worldwide basis,
across entertainment, consumer electronics and IT industries. In June of
this year, a number of the companies associated with this push first signed
on to the first concept of a standard, calling it Blu-ray Disc, led by
Hitachi, LG Electronics, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Pioneer, Royal Philips
Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Sony and Thomson Multimedia. Now an
additional "standard" has been proposed by two additional major advanced
DVD developers, Toshiba Corporation and NEC Corporation. This week, the two
proposed to their peers at the DVD Forum, another next-generation, high-capacity,
blue-laser DVD format. Their approach is said to allow manufacturers to continue
to use existing DVD plant and equipment and so minimize the investment required
for the transition to next-generation DVD players and drives. We encourage you
to read the details yourself, keeping in mind that most industries and applications
areas benefit, initially, form various approaches to standards. Like Bill Joy,
a founder of Sun Microsystems and creator of the Berkeley version of UNIX said way back when UNIX struggled under disputing
camps at a similar stage of development. "At least we got the ten so-called
standards down to two now." Initial details on the NEC/Toshiba DVD
approach can be found in their official
press release.
Uniroyal and Marconi Demonstrate Different Ways to Stave Off BankruptcyAugust 29, 2002...Two companies that have actively participated in a variety of ways within the
compound semi industry over the past few years, Uniroyal Technology Corporation
in the USA and Marconi in the UK are now putting their company's futures in
the hands of others. A look at progress for both companies acts as a comparison
of how companies deal with staying in business during troubled times. In the
case of Uniroyal, they have elected to have the USA government take control
of the situation. Their latest news, following quickly on the heels of filing
for Chapter 11 status, is that the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of
Delaware in Wilmington has approved a series of "first-day orders,"
including authorizing a debtor-in-possession financing facility of up to $15
million on an interim basis. "Our primary commitment is to building a strong
and more competitive organization with a bright future, and we hope the decision
by management to defer its own compensation makes that message clear," said
Uniroyal Chairman and CEO, Howard R. Curd. Included in the government OK
was a request by Uniroyal to pay pre-petition claims of critical subcontractors
of its Sterling Semiconductor unit and to pay pre- and post-petition wages,
compensation and benefits to employees and a go-ahead to honor all customer
warranty and rebate programs. Details are in Uniroyal's wire
release. Meanwhile, across The Pond, according to a Reuters Market News
coverage,
Marconi is withstanding the threat of bankruptcy a bit differently and the report
states that they've "handed over their business to their creditors"
with their shareholders receiving 0.5% in the newly created Marconi Corporation,
while the old Marconi Plc will be liquidated on a solvent basis. "I don't
think anybody expects equity holders are going to be delighted by this. You
know, it's a sad thing that's happened," Chief Executive Mike Parton told
reporters. Evidently Marconi's creditors will distribute among themselves the
other 99.5% of Marconi Corp. "based roughly on the face values of 2.2 billion
pounds owed to banks and 1.8 billion pounds claimed by bondholders," Parton
was quoted as saying. Evidently Marconi will not seek shareholder approval of
the plan after receiving terms from the regulator to waive that requirement. Skyworks Underscores Strategic Business Shift to AsiaAugust 29, 2002...Skyworks Solutions Inc. of Woburn, Massachusetts, has decided to further augment
its Far East engineering and technical field sales resources as a means of allowing
Skyworks to better support the needs of regional Original Device Manufacturers
(ODMs) and contract manufacturers. Rationale behind the move East comes from
Stan Bruederle, chief analyst for Gartner Dataquest who said, "The mobile
handset industry is undergoing fundamental change as traditional OEMs intensify
focus on key differentiators such as branding and channel management while outsourcing
design and development to lower cost producers. This strategic shift is giving
rise to a rapidly emerging set of ODMs and contract manufacturers, particularly
in the Far East, who we believe will represent some of the fastest growing handset
providers over the next several years." Liam Griffin, VP of Sales and Marketing
for Skyworks added, "Given the increasing trend toward handset outsourcing,
we intend to grow our base of 75 highly talented sales and engineering staff
already deployed throughout Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea and Singapore, to approach
approximately 100 people within the next several months." Skyworks' Far
East operations consist of key design centers and sales offices in Taipei, Shanghai,
Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Daegu, Seoul and Singapore. More details are provided
in Skywork's wire release. Cellphone Sales Up a SmidgeAugust 29, 2002...According to a recent Dow
Jones Business News article, Gartner
Dataquest has estimated that the sale of cellphones (which many players
in the compound semi industry count on) was up 0.8% (that's point eight/tenths)
in the second quarter of this severe downturn year in telecom. According to
the article, "Dataquest said mobile sales to end users in the quarter totaled
98.7 million units. The research and advisory company said the figures showed
the industry has 'reached a point of stability and is positioned for stronger
growth.' It reiterated its forecast that worldwide sales to end users in 2002
will reach 420 million units." Source of the information was Ben Wood,
senior analyst for Gartner
Dataquest in Europe, who commented to Dow Jones that, in Western Europe
at least, the "frenzy of marketing activity" around new services such as photo
messaging are the likely lures that will prompt users to upgrade to color-screen
phones, which is expected to help boost demand. What prompted the downturn remains
a hot topic of retrospective. According to theories here at CompoundSemi Online,
one explanation is that the worldwide bandwidth demand growth, being overestimated,
began a domino effect, which led to a layoff cycle that rippled through the tech industry. Couple that with a standstill
in travel after the attack on the USA by terrorists last September, and
noting that most cellphone users are business people on travel whose companies
picked up the phone costs, the math played down the supply foodchain. If you
have an opinion to offer, we'd like to hear
it. Spectrolab Launches Avalanche PhotodiodesAugust 29, 2002...For those who know Spectrolab for their advanced solar cells, they've just
announced that 2.5- and 10-gigabit/second InAlAs/InGaAs avalanche photodiodes
(APDs) are now available from Spectrolab, Inc., a full service foundry which
is a longtime player in the compound semi industry, and now a subsidiary of
The Boeing Company. For those unfamiliar with APDs, they are devices that detect
incoming laser light from transmitters, convert that light into electrical signal
and amplify that signal internally by a process known as avalanching, thus enhancing
the receiver sensitivity. APDs are used primarily by subsystem manufacturers
for long-haul and metropolitan optical communications systems. "Spectrolab
is one of the few companies that has mastered the process to produce and offer
these types of products, which are challenging to fabricate," said Dr. Nasser
Karam, Spectrolab's VP for Optoelectronic Products, and longtime compound semi
technology champion. "Our APDs have a unique design that incorporates an
avalanche layer made of indium aluminum arsenide (InAlAs), rather than indium
phosphide (InP) material." Nasser points out that their InAlAs APDs
offer especially good low-noise and high-sensitivity metrics. For details, we
refer you to Spectrolab's company news release. Matheson Hits 100 Installs Milestone for Arsine & Phosphine PurifiersAugust 29, 2002...Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. of Parsippany, New Jersey USA has hit a major milestone
for the installation of their breakthrough purification media, which deliver
100% arsine and phosphine. The milestone is 100 successful installations of
the Matheson purifiers. According to the company, these patent-pending media
remove killer impurities such as moisture and CO2 in arsine and phosphine, and
PHX is designed to remove phosphorus oxy-acids (HxPyOz) in phosphine. Evidently
oxygen-containing impurities in hydride gases can be incorporated into III-V
films during growth, causing reduced carrier concentration and loss of photoluminescence
efficiency. As a means of remedying the situation, Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. offers
a complete line of relevant gas purifiers specifically for GaN, GaAs and InP
MOCVD applications. "We have had over 100 proven installations of our new
NANOCHEM AsH3 and PH3 purifiers, for III-V applications ranging from HBTs, LEDs,
VCSELs and solar cells, to long-wavelength lasers. These purifiers provide field-tested
process insurance and enhancement," said Roy E. Nemoto, Purification > Business
Director for Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc. "This success is a direct result of Matheson
Tri-Gas, Inc's. Compound Semiconductor Initiative. Press release RSC Ships Long Wave IR Sensor Assemblies to RaytheonAugust 29, 2002...Rockwell Scientific Company LLC (RSC) of Thousand Oaks, California USA has
delivered two very long wave infrared (VLWIR) sensor chip assemblies to Raytheon
Company for use on the U.S. Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Low program.
RSC noted that the two sensor chip assemblies exceeded objective performance
requirements. The assemblies, which detect light in the infrared portion of
the electromagnetic spectrum, will be the "eyes" for a fleet of low earth orbiting
satellites that will detect, track, and identify hostile missiles through all
phases of their flight. Raytheon is competing to provide the sensor payloads
for the first two SBIRS Low satellites that are scheduled for launch in fiscal
years 2006 and 2007. "We are very pleased with our progress on this program.
The performance of our new sensor sets a new standard for the state-of-the-art
in very long wave infrared sensing technology, commented Kadri Vural, VP
of RSC's Imaging Division. More details on the program are available off the
company news release. Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
For submissions or content suggestions, you can contact us using
editor -at - compoundsemi.com
For more information and to reserve promotion space contact
Info7 -at - compoundsemi.com
or call +1 (512) 257-9888 |
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
Labor Day in the USAAugust 29, 2002...The USA will be noticeably quiet for the next few days because of the country's
annual celebrations over the long Labor
Day holiday weekend. For those who like to go to the real source for the
roots of this holiday, the USA's Department
of Labor took the initiative to post the following: " 'Labor Day differs
in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country,'
said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation
of Labor. 'All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with
conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed
and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted
to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.' Labor Day, the
first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated
to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes
a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength,
prosperity, and well-being of our country. More than 100 years after the first
Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the
holiday for workers."
Ironically, this Labor Day holiday finds many compound semi industry
pros out of work, due to cutbacks, fab closings, and startups going out of business...
or throwing themselves, literally, on the mercy of the court for relief instead
of closing their doors and turning their backs on their remaining employees
and creditors. (See update this issue on Uniroyal Technology and Marconi).
While those still employed sweat out the soaring physical (and business) temperature
over the long holiday, which traditionally signals the end of summer and return
to school, recent USA graduates from high school and college sweat out whether
their government will reinvoke the draft and send them off to war. (Ref Aug.
23 editorial: About
Wall Street Placing Bets on War)
Summer relief? While there's not much we can do about the saber-rattling,
except pontificate, we can share with you where some of the newly "unemployed"
industry professionals are turning for relief. This September, along with eager
children returning to class are smart adults who equate the current business
bust as an opportunity to pick up where their studies left off because of the
business boom of the '90s. Hopefully they're not all going after an MBA or there
will be a glut of middle and upper manager candidates when things pick up. More
really good process engineers would be nice... and people with advanced chemistry,
physics, and electronic engineering talents stand a better chance of the best
picks.
Qualified to teach? While the pay scale and challenges may not be what
you're used to, we could certainly use more and better teachers... anywhere
and everywhere. That Ph.D. can get you a part-time post, at least, at a quiet
college beefing up their technology credentials. A Masters can post you at almost
any high school, and rural elementary is crying for anyone with a genuine bachelor's
degree. Substitute teaching is especially attractive as you can teach when and
where... a bit like temp help, and provides a mix of experiences while getting
paid. There's also informal teaching.
I've often toyed with the idea of training tech journalists and public relations
specialists. Anyone interested? There'd be no charge (and no pay, early
on), but you'd have to work hard. The reward for you would be an opportunity
to explore a new career path while being mentored by a female Lou
Grant who knows the advanced technology industry entirely too well. (To
view a picture of your potential tutor, scroll down to the bottom of our TWFB
giftstore page. I'm the 62 year old imitation of Barbie. See, even I have a side job). The reward
for me would be grooming potential replacements for retiring editors and consultants,
like myself. My star student would ultimately fill my slot and possibly
earn themselves an equity position in the company. Labor with the concept over
the holidays and contact me if you're interested. TriQuint's Reductions Relatively Minimal in Oregon and TexasAugust 29, 2002...Contrary to the way most of the press is interpreting things, TriQuint Semiconductor
Inc.'s announcement this week that they will reduce their workforce by 7% amounts
to only 112 people, total, out of 1600 employees worldwide. Approximately 70
people in Hillsboro, Oregon and 42 in Richardson, Texas will be let go. These
are fabrication facilities which have previously been reported by TriQuint as
producing under capacity, thus the layoffs were expected. Normally such a relatively
small total number of layoffs are not even reported, so it is to the company's
credit that they did so. The details also showed a bit of corporate compassion
that is all too often missing during today's troubled times. "This is a difficult
but necessary action impacting a loyal and hard working team of employees. However,
with the continued impact of slow telecommunications spending, we are adjusting
our workforce at these locations to better match capacity with demand,"
said Ralph Quinsey, President and CEO. "Our SAW filter business at Sawtek, located
in Orlando, Florida, and Costa Rica, continues at record production and no reductions
in force are planned for these locations." And if one reads the line where TriQuint
also announced a charge of approximately $0.01 per diluted share for severance
related benefits for these workers, that equates to $12,000 per employee. Details
are included in TriQuint's wire
release. 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... |
