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Editorial: Agere CEO Sees Recovery and Rebuild in 2004
... For key companies within the wireless and opto sectors who were hit especially hard during the downturn, like Agere, the inevitable recovery and rebuilding process begins with restructuring. In a Dow Jones report by Tom Becker, who took careful note of what Agere's President and CEO, John T. Dickson...
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UK's Memscap To Acquire Israel's GalayORSeptember 4, 2003...Memscap S.A. in the UK, (with production facilities in North Carolina USA)
a developer of MEMs technology, has announced its intent to acquire optical
components startup GalayOr Networks in a stock-based transaction. GalayOr (“Light
Wave” in Hebrew) is a privately held, VC-funded company, founded in 2000 following
four years of research at Tel Aviv University in Israel. GalayOr is engaged
in the development and fabrication of low cost mass producible and dynamically
configurable all-Silicon ICs for a marketplace heavily targeted by the compounds,
i.e. integrated components for optical communications vendors and optical interconnects.
GalayOr currently holds active joint development agreements with both JDS Uniphase
and Analog Devices. What Memscap is buying, in addition to the 16 people and
IP, is a startup running very lean, holding a net cash position of 1.5 M. Based
on best estimates, the deal is valued at approximately €13 million. GalayOr
CEO Uri Geiger will become President and GM of the optics division of Memscap
and would extend Memscap's photonics offerings, which includes the Cronos foundry
which it acquired from JDS Uniphase Corp. during JDSU's dismantling and subsequent
restructuring. GalayOr was founded in 2000 to commercialize a waveguide initially
called "MOMS" which stands for "micro opto-mechanical systems" and
helped put the photonics element into conventional MEMS devices, for which the
"E" stands for electrical. GalayOr's MOMS were deemed noteworthy because
the waveguides are made of inexpensive to manufacture silicon, and because they
bend, which allows for optical switching tasks. The secrete to MEMS technology
has always been simple mechanical functionality in highly reduced, deeply-monolithic
embedded little footprints. For more details, we refer you to the company
news release. Nokia Moves CDMA Acceptance into ChinaSeptember 4, 2003...According to a recent wire feed from Reuters, Nokia has succeeded in
launching the first CDMA phones in China. The move into China by Nokia, which
is now considered the largest global supplier of cellphone handsets, just ahead
of second-runner Motorola, is deemed as an indication that the CDMA standards
are poised to make significant inroads as the second-most popular mobile standard
globally. GSM remains the front-runner. Nokia reported that their phone, the
2280, would be made available through mobile operator China Unicom early next
month. Nokia had announced in June that it had scored the license to make and
sell CDMA phones in China. According to the Reuters report
the licensing was deemed as part of Nokia's "long-running battle to wrestle
control of the market" from Motorola and therefore "beef up"
Nokia's production of CDMA phones.
NTT Brings Diamond Devices Back on the SceneSeptember 4, 2003...Widebandgap diamond technology has traditionally been interesting as future
devices, but unfortunately relegated to coatings and heat sinks when funding
and general interest in this particularly hard and hearty compound semi material
dropped off years ago. The pendulum may be swinging back in favor of diamond
devices, thanks to recent progress being made in NTT's Basic Research Laboratory
(BRL). In collaboration with the University of Ulm in Germany, NTT's BRL in
Japan has reported very high frequency device operation. The group has reported
success in fabricating a diamond semiconductor device using high-purity diamond
crystals. The device's highest operation frequency is 81 G (G=109) Hz which
puts it in the realm of an amplifier in the millimeter region (frequency: from
30 to 300 GHz), which, says NTT, "is the first time this has been achieved
for any kind of diamond device." Diamond is a close cousin to GaN and SiC
and as such, has long held promise for use in electronic applications for which
the specifications demand more than conventional devices can deliver, such as
reliable performance at very high frequency and in especially harsh environments.
For more details on the collaboration and device results, and projections on
the future of diamond devices, we refer you to NTT's company
news release. September 4, 2003...The man behind the original Sterling Semiconductor, Jim LeMunyon, has become
a consultant with an especially impressive Washington DC-oriented strategy
consulting firms, Technology Strategies and Alliances (TSA), which is physically
located in Northern Virginia and virtually located at www.tsanda.com.
Jim officially joined TSA in June. Longtime SiC followers will remember that
Sterling began as an innovative developer and producer of top flight SiC material
which was originated by a group of Russian scientists who moved to the USA.
Sterling was subsequently acquired by Uniroyal Technology, and later sold by
Uniroyal to Dow Corning. The Sterling group is still located in both Tampa, Florida
and in the ATMI facility in Danbury, Connecticut but slated
to be moved by Dow Corning to Michigan. After completing his mission with Sterling, which saw it integrated with Dow Corning, Jim essentially returned to his
original roots as a strategic international consultant. Jim was a principal at Novecon when first discovering
the Sterling group in Russia and forming them as a USA startup at the wind up of the Cold
War. Novecon's charter was to identify key
groups in the Former Soviet Union and work with them on critical development
contracts, of which SiC was then a top DoD priority. The firm Jim is now with,
TSA, was originated 18 years ago by Dr. William (Bill) Perry, who was originally
a VC in Silicon Valley who was one of the first to champion the compounds. Bill, who started the Stanford Arms Control Center (among other notable initiatives)
served in various administrations and was Secretary of Defense under President Jimmy Carter. TSA is
headed now by Dr. John S. Foster who serves as the firm's Chairman. Johnny Foster
was Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Director of Defense
Research & Engineering for two administrations, served on the President’s Foreign
Intelligence Advisory Board for fourteen years, and is a past Chairman of the
Defense Science Board. President of the firm is none other than David E. Jeremiah,
Admiral, USN (Ret.) who served as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, and Director of Navy
Program Planning, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. Those now courting
the renewed lucrative USA defense community contracts may want to know they
can now reach Jim directly at +1-703- 425-1210 x209 or 703- 425-8839. His email
is Jim.LeMunyon@TSandA.com Osram Opto Further Publicizes ThinGaN LEDs on Sapphire as Premiered at Blue 2003September 4, 2003...It may appear as today's news on some fronts, but those who attended Blue
2003 in Dallas in June were already privy to the outstanding work currently
underway at Osram Opto on their proprietary ThinGaN technology that produces
an impressive 75% extraction efficiency. The presentation was made by Aldo Kamper,
VP and GM of LEDs at Osram Opto in Germany. While there is no posted public
press release on the strides as yet to which we can point our readers, attendees
at Blue 2003 saw (and
those who are purchasing the online presentations can see, in detail) that Osram
has taken the next step beyond their Standard, ATON and NOTA technologies, all
of which were based on SiC, by using a clever lift-off technique (via pulsed
UV laser separation) that removes the GaN off the sapphire upon which it is
originally grown, which could not be done on earlier SiC-based blue LED devices.
Aldo reported that there were many advantages of ThinGaN in addition to the
attractively high 75% extraction efficiency, including chip scalability to large
sizes and on-chiip and on-wafer conversion for white light production, and underscored
especially that ThinGaN shows excellent potential for use in highly efficient
optic systems. The latest news from Osram Opto is that prototypes of their 5
mm-radial blue spectrum LEDs are currently achieving brightness values of up
to 16 mW at an operating current of 20 mA and that production is in the queue
for this year. Key factors driving the Osram Opto ThinGaN progress are a combination
of chip efficiency, packaging optimization (Osram has an especially innovative
blue spectrum LED packaging development program underway), application know-how,
and their rich store of intellectual property. Bivar Helps Advance LED Lightpipes by Eliminating Thru-Hole MountsSeptember 4, 2003...We sometimes forget that the bulk of the mission in advancing LED technology
lies with the packagers. BivarOpto,
the Optoelectronics Division of Bivar, Inc., which is based in Irvine California
USA. BivarOpto has announced new patent-pending SMPT series of surface mount
LED devices specifically designed to accept the company’s already-patented Flexible
Light Pipes (FLP Series). The result creates what Bivar calls a new design and
installation style that eliminates the need for through-hole PCBs typically
required for installation of light pipes. The SMPT Series also expands the benefits
of using Bivar’s original FLP series, which introduced a two-piece flexible
light pipe system capable of transmitting the light from an LED to a display
panel up to 100m [328’] away. The SMPT Series eliminates not only the need for
PCB through-holes, but also the costly secondary post-reflow operations by integrating
the adapter and LED into a single surface-mountable package that is compatible
will all modern, automated pick-and-place equipment. Company
news release Skip Hoover Named Head of Sirenza's New Aerospace and Defense UnitSeptember 4, 2003...Sirenza Microdevices of Broomfield, Colorado USA, which specializes on high
performance RF components and Multichip Module packaging (MCM) for both wireless
and wireline communications, has named R.E. (Skip) Hoover as their new Executive
Director of the company's newly-formed aerospace and defense business unit.
Skip will report to Charles Bland, Sirenza's COO. Prior to the move back into
the defense sector, Skip has served in various positions including, including
President of Castlewood Consulting Group and as Executive VP of Business Development
for WJ Communications. WJ has long been noted for its mil/aero marketing expertise.
"Skip has a great deal of experience in the development and implementation
of strategies that have yielded exceptional growth in our industry and
he is a proven leader capable of accelerating our growth in this important end-market
for Sirenza." Robert Van Buskirk, President and CEO of Sirenza Microdevices,
added, "The addition of an industry expert with the talent and experience
of Skip Hoover should be viewed positively by our current and future aerospace
and defense customers as we continue our efforts to expand our presence in this
important end-market." Company
news release GaAs HBT Powering Newest RFMD Smartphone ModuleSeptember 4, 2003...RF Micro Devices of Greensboro, North Carolina USA has begun shipping their
newest RFICs for wireless communications applications. The target application
is the award-winning Treo 600 Smartphone, manufactured by Handspring a publicly
held company that trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol, "HAND." The
RFIC module contains RFMD's RF3140 PowerStar power amplifier module.
The RF3140 is manufactured using GaAs HBT for the power amplifier and silicon
CMOS for the integrated power control circuitry. The power amplifier module
is packaged in a 10 x 10 mm leadless chip carrier. The PowerStar product
portfolio has generated more than $90 million in revenues for RFMD since first
introduced in September 2001. Eric Creviston, VP of wireless products at RFMD
stated what it takes for compound semi companies to hit this target market...
"The Treo 600 Smartphone combines the worlds of communication, information
and entertainment in a compact handheld device, and we're pleased our market-leading
RF3140 PowerStar PA module was selected to be the critical power amplifier component
in this breakthrough device. RF Micro Devices seeks to enable smaller and more
functional convergence products by designing innovative, highly integrated PA
solutions that reduce power consumption and consume less board space.... We
anticipate continued growth as convergence products, such as the Treo 600, continue
to gain popularity with consumers." 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...
Agere CEO Sees Recovery and Rebuild in 2004September 4, 2003...For key companies within the wireless and opto sectors who were hit especially
hard during the downturn, like Agere, the inevitable recovery and rebuilding
process begins with restructuring. In a Dow Jones report
by Tom Becker, who took careful note of what Agere's President and CEO, John
T. Dickson had to say at the Smith Barney Citigroup technology conference in
New York this week, Dickson was quoted as saying, "For the first time in
a long time the organization can operate at any level without threat of layoffs
and closings. Morale is coming up substantially and we can move forward without
the restructuring costs." As part of the restructure, the bulk of Agere's
opto operations in Pennsylvania were sold off to TriQuint Semiconductor, with
Agere's Ortel group in California being sold to Emcore Corporation. Tom Becker
ended his well-written report
with a timeline for renewed stability. "Dickson said the completion of the restructuring
program puts Agere in position to take advantage of the market recovery, which
he believes will come in the second half of 2004 or early 2005." John Dickson
also stressed Agere's intent to go after a greater share of the Gigabit Ethernet
market via the acquisition of Ireland-based Massana Ltd. for $26 million, which
we covered as our headline news last
issue. A word of caution here... there are some that feel copper
based physical layer communications is a long term play and that there should
be a considerable trepidation about chasing that market down.
We need to also be cautious as to when a real pickup will occur. In
way too many cases, especially as it effects the wireless and opto communications
sectors, the mainstay companies have now been going down for so long that the
only safe bet is to say that their next move simply has to be up.
I think most of the CEOs in this sector would agree with that, at least in private.
The bright side will clearly be for those selling into genuine consumer market,
such as handsets and electronics, as we move into the traditional gift-buiying
winter holidays. Even though it's still summer, fall product rollouts mean stepped
up spending by consumers, whether it's "Back to School" newest, more
colorful (with more functionality) cellphones for students, or Christmas presents.
So the 2nd half of 2004 is bound to bring in stronger, real, revenues than the
first half for those with products ready to roll, and that generally means a
restocking of inventory. That, in turn, just might mean more design wins for
the next round of follow-on product types. We can only hope.
Rumbles of Recruiting Activity a Promising SignSeptember 4, 2003...Employment recruitment within the hard core compound semi
industry is showing renewed activity. One of the independent
recruiters in the field, Dianne Hewitt, has checked in with CompoundSemi
News and reports a definite upward surge in industry openings. As we learned at our Blue
2003 event in Dallas this June, and as you can see by our online replay
of the proceedings if you purchased them, the HB-LED side of our industry is holding its own, with
the GaN-based blue spectrum sector obviously growing (although mostly in Asia),
but the communications downturn has been a very difficult time for human resource
professionals and recruiters throughout the industry... not to mention all those
among the jobless ranks. "Those jobless include over 60% of the HR and
recruiters themselves who are now gone," says Dianne, who will
be at NFOEC in Florida next week, scouting the halls for further renewed signs
of life in the communications sector. "Things are definitely starting
to pick up, in a number of compound semi-related areas now,
where they were non existent throughout the past year and a half... almost
two years, actually," says Dianne, who underscores, however, "that the job
openings are for the best in their field. Employers are cautiously rebuilding.
They're looking for the cream of the crop, which, because of the downturn, they
may just be able to find right now." You can get connected with Dianne, and other recruitment resources, as part of the information section at the CompoundSemi Online Job Fair. Job listings can be searched at www.compoundsemi.com/jobs/. Gluttons for Punishment Will Love "HeavyReading"September 4, 2003...Everyone in the telecom sector by now knows, and likely routinely reads, LightReading.
I certainly do. Primarily because they have way more editorial staff than we
do, they're obviously well-connected with their huge core, and... well, they
seem to be a fun bunch of people. Clever, certainly, and from what I can discern,
they know their stuff. They've also always been more than cooperative when I've
needed more information about sectors I can't possibly track as thoroughly as
they do, and they're always there when I need to hand off a story lead too hot
for me to handle. This is a lot of I's and Me's for this column
space, but dealing with LightReading often becomes a very personal activity.
I like them. But they're not just "Light" anymore. LightReading
has launched a new analyst service called HeavyReading.com
and they've put Scott Clavenna in charge. Scott's descriptive column/explanation
of what they're doing at HeavyReading notes that they've officially completed
their first, exhaustive offering.
Multiservice Provisioning Platforms: Empowering the Metro Edge, Vol.
1, No. 1 is now ready for public digestion. Multiservice provisioning platforms
(MSPPs), so the promos says, "can help service providers by saving costs
while simultaneously enabling new, revenue-generating services. But the MSPP
market is vast and complicated, and choosing the right product is hugely challenging.
This report can help, with comprehensive details on the capabilities of 61 MSPPs
from 28 vendors, in a table containing over 6,000 fields of data and accompanied
by more than 60 pages of analysis and 34 diagrams." The study likely lives
up to its name, 61 pages long, and priced at $3450. If you don't want to read
the core, nor Scott's mission statement(s), you can read all about HeavyReading's
launch in Mary Jander's news
analysis on the topic. Mary, who is headquartered in Halifax, is the byline
on a number of articles that seem to relate strongly to our compound semi industry.
Keep up the great work, guys (and gals). We need you, we read you.
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... |
