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Editorial: Color Kinetics Maturing on Schedule
... Color Kinetics of Boston, Massachusetts USA is the kind of success story I love writing about. It comes in exciting chapters, reminiscent of so many startups in the compound semi industry. The story typifies the industry from the depths of the supply chain through innovative systems integrators like Color...
Jump down to the full story
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Features:
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Emcore Spins Off GaN Power Devices into Velox Startup
Jo Ann McDonaldMay 5, 2005...In today's quarterly earnings conference call, Emcore Corporation of Somerset, New Jersey USA revealed that, in April, they'd spun-off their leading edge GaN power device work into a stand-alone startup operation which has been named Velox Semiconductor Corporation. The new company will be run by veteran compound semi industry CEO, Tom Hierl, former fouder and CEO of Quantum Epitaxial Designs (QED), which merged with IQE in 1999. Emcore will hold a 20% stake in the new VC-backed Velox, which will rent space from Emcore in the Somerset plant for its initial two years. In exchange for the stake, Emcore has provided Velox with equipment and intellectual property. Emcore's CTO, Rick Stall, will serve on the Velox Board of Directors and five Emcore employees will transfer to the Velox payroll.The Velox product line will initially be focused 200 to 800 volt switching components. The aim of the new operation is to quickly commercialize fast, high voltage diodes that address problems of size and efficiency in the power supply industry. Velox has already raised $6.0 million from three venture capital partnerships including DCM-Doll Capital Management, SAS Investors and DFJ New England. Emcore estimates that its operating expenses will be reduced approximately $1.2 million annually through the formation and spin-off of Velox. Reuben Richards, Emcore's President and CEO said that the reason for spinning off this product line, which had been in development for two years, was to enable a more rapid rollout via a distribution system, a mission to which Tom Hierl is especially well suited. Tom is a longstanding and highly regarded figure in the compound semi industry and we wish him and the new Velox operation the best of success. Company News Release
Fabrinet to Acquire JDS Uniphase Fuzhou, China Facility and Employees
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 3, 2005...The 500 JDS Uniphase employees from their Fuzhou, China plant will change employers
when Fabrinet of San Francisco, California USA buys the Fuzhou facility. (see
previous article)
Fabrinet will acquire all assets and operations related to the plant. The agreement
is expected to be completed prior to June 30, 2005. "It is a natural evolution for Fabrinet to acquire the JDS Uniphase operation
in Fuzhou," commented Tom Mitchell, founder and CEO of Fabrinet. "We
have been manufacturing precision optical components since our inception and
have had a long, successful relationship with JDS Uniphase. Expanding our Asian
operations to China, and growing our optical component manufacturing operations
in that market, will enable Fabrinet to provide greater flexibility and support
to our existing customers and additional resources to attract new customers."
Fabrinet
News Release
L.G. Philips Selects BOC Edwards Vacuum Pump SystemsMay 4, 2005...L.G. Philips headquartered in Seoul, Korea, a leading manufacturer of TFT-LCD (thin film transistor-liquid crystal display) panels, has selected BOC Edwards to supply a majority of the vacuum pump systems for LG.Philips LCD Plant 7. The plant is currently under construction in Paju, Korea. The order includes iHxK and diFxK vacuum systems for LCD process applications. “Our investment in product development for the LCD market, combined with an emphasis on site support, has played a major part in securing this important business,” said Brian Emslie, business development director-process enabling technologies, BOC Edwards “We are extremely pleased to have been selected, and are looking forward to working closely with LG.Philips LCD to meet full production at P7.” The diFxK vacuum pumps are built at Songwon Edwards Ltd (SEL), a BOC Edwards operating entity, in Chunan, Korea. Company News Release Osram Files Patent Infringement Suit Against Citizen Electronics
LIGHTimes StaffMay 3, 2005...Osram Opto Semiconductors headquartered in Regensburg, Germany, has filed a patent
infringement suit in Dusseldorf Regional Court against LED manufacturer Citizen
Electronics of Tokyo, Japan for importing, selling, and offering certain white
LEDs in Germany. Osram hopes to get a restraining order and compensation as part
of the suit. Also as part of the suit, the company wants to prevent Citizen from
importing numerous LEDs and Citizen products containing this LED to Germany. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Cree CEO, Charles Swoboda Becomes Chairman Replacing Neal Hunter
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 2, 2005...Cree Inc. of Durham, North Carolina USA has named the current President and CEO, Charles Swoboda Chairman
of the company's board of directors. Mr. Swoboda will take the place of F. Neal
Hunter, a co-founder of Cree, who resigned his directorship as of April 25th to pursue other opportunities. Mr.
Hunter helped found the company in 1987. He was CEO from 1994 to 2001 and board
chairman from 1995 until his resignation.
Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... JDS Uniphase Gets Lean and Tough With North American Consolidation and Fitzhou, China Divestiture
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 28, 2005...JDS Uniphase of San Jose, California USA, announced a net loss for the quarter, but outlined some previously announced and some new consolidation and cost cutting strategies which it hopes will save the company $80 million per year. JDS Uniphase reported a net loss of $38.6 million or $0.03 per share for the third fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2005. The same period of 2004 showed a net loss of $7.3 million or $0.01 per share. The company showed a 3.7 % decrease in net loss over the previous quarter. Net revenue for the quarter was at the high end of expectations with $166.3 million. This is a decrease from the net revenue of the previous quarter at $180.5 million. North American customers represented 64.2% of net revenue. European customers made up 19.7% of net revenue, and the remaining portion 16.1% was from the Asia-Pacific region. The company held $1.38 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. At the end of the quarter. Aproximately $1.328 billion was cash, money market and highly-liquid fixed income securities.
JDSU announced the divestiture of its Fuzhou facility in China. Kevin Kennedy, company president and CEO said, "The divestiture of our Fuzhou operation in China, announced today, and the North American manufacturing consolidation, announced last week, are two elements of our broader profitability strategy." He added, “We currently expect existing headcounts to be reduced by more than 1350 by the end of the calendar year 2005 which includes approximately 850 in North America and over 500 in China." As another cost cutting measure, the company will phase out the high volume light engine manufacturing. The company expects net revenue of $160-170 million for the fourth quater ending June 30, 2005. Skyworks Meets Expectations and Posts ProfitApril 28, 2005...Skyworks Solutions of Woburn, Massachusetts USA, has achieved its guidance projections for the 12th consecutive time and posted slightly improved net revenue numbers over the same period last year, despite what company CEO David Aldrich called a “challenging market environment.” Skyworks announced revenue of $190.5 million for the second fiscal
quarter that ended April 1, 2005. This is a 4 percent year-over-year
increase when compared to revenue of $183.5 million during the second
fiscal quarter of 2004. The 13% decline in revenue from the previous quarter was attributed to the seasonality of the market. The company had a gross profit of about $72.6 million for the quarter. During the quarter the company increased their cash balance to $219.4 million. They also added Ericsson as a 10 percent customer. "We anticipate revenue for the third fiscal quarter to be up slightly and in the low $190 million range," said Allan M. Kline,
Skyworks' vice president and chief financial officer. Executive Changes Due to Growth at Color Kinetics
LIGHTimes StaffApril 27, 2005...Color Kinetics CEO, founder, and creative visionary, George Mueller will step into full-time founder chairman role, and COO Bill Sims will add CEO role as part of the company’s planned maturation and growth. Bill Sims, who is currently serving his fourth year as the company’s president and COO, will become president and CEO. Both will remain on the board of directors, effective July 1, 2005. "In my tenure as CEO of Color Kinetics, I have seen the company's extraordinary transformation from a pioneering start-up with promising technology, to an established category leader in intelligent solid-state lighting," said Mueller. "This is a perfect time to hand the reins to Bill, whose notable contributions to Color Kinetics' success, vision for the company's direction, and sharp focus on operational excellence make him an ideal leader in this fast-paced industry." Company News Release
Color Kinetics has also elected an industry outsider, John E. Adele to its board of directors. Adele is the founding chairman of Boston Scientific, a multi-billion dollar medical industry leader credited with advancing less invasive medicine. Mr. Abele's achievements include testifying before the Senate about medical devices and founding the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). He has published and lectured extensively and holds many patents. Mr. Abele, a physics and philosophy graduate of Amherst College, has a major interest in how technology is invented, developed, and adopted.
"John is a visionary leader whose trailblazing efforts reshaped the medical device industry as it exists today. We are thrilled to complement the strengths of our Board with his extraordinary wisdom and perspective on how small, inventive companies grow to change the world," said George Mueller. "Color Kinetics helped to define an entirely new category of lighting technology, and continues to pave the way for its many applications in a growing number of markets," said Mr. Abele. "I welcome the opportunity to join its Board and help steer the company's initiatives in its next exciting phase of growth." Company News Release
George Mueller will be the keynote speaker at BLUE2005 which takes place in Hsinchu, Taiwan, May 6-8. Avanex Projects Positive Outlook After French Operation Restructuring; Elects Director and Board Chairman
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 27, 2005...Although Avanex of Fremont, California USA, reported a net loss of $18.9 million for its third fiscal quarter, the company projects a brighter outlook. The sunnier outlook comes only after a restructuring of its French operations which includes eliminating about 60% of the employees in France with most of the cutbacks in manufacturing. They expect savings of $28 million per year after the French restructuring plan is fully implemented and certain licensing fees are eliminated. The cash cost of the French restructuring plan will be about $26 million, with the primary portion for severance costs. The cost will be disbursed over the next 15 months.
Avanex expects fiber-to-the-home and the Asia markets to grow significantly in the coming months. The company had a number of major Asia design wins. Jo Major, president and chief executive officer commented, “We are seeing improved market visibility because of recent design activity and strong order trends from both new and existing customers.” He added, “In the future, we expect Asia sales to increase significantly as these major design wins bear fruit.”
Avanex Corporation reported revenues of $40.3 million for its third fiscal quarter ending March 31, 2005. This was an increase in net revenues of $10.2 million over the same period of 2004. Mr. Major, concluded, "We are executing on our global restructuring plan to streamline our business by consolidating operations into a single low-cost location. The plans to transfer manufacturing have been designed to ensure smooth transitions for customers. Our plan to improve cost structure, coupled with increasing market visibility, positions us to generate positive cash flow from operations in the future." Company News Release
In other Avanex news, the company has elected CEO Jo major as the chairman of the board of directors. Mr. Major is succeeding Syrus P. Madavi, who has decided to leave the board for personal reasons.
The company has also elected Greg Dougherty as director, effective immediately. Mr. Dougherty is the acting CEO of Picarro, a startup focused on developing new lasers and optical networks. Prior to joining Picarro, Dougherty was chief operating officer of JDS Uniphase and SDL Inc. Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
May 6, 2005...Color Kinetics of Boston, Massachusetts USA is the kind of success story I
love writing about. It comes in exciting chapters, reminiscent of so many startups
in the compound semi industry. The story typifies the industry from
the depths of the supply chain through innovative systems integrators like Color
Kinetics. Chapters 1-3 are the struggles of the initial founders. Chapters 4-6
chart the exponential rise and prosperity for everyone with a low number on
their badge. Chapters 7-9 mark the phase that Color Kinetics is now entering.
Maturity. Chapters 10 and above are yet to be lived. One strives to avoid Chapter
13, however. (Switching analogies for a moment, we look towards many high-rise
buildings, where the 13th floor is just skipped over in the floor numbering).
Who knows how any company will eventually turn out? I do know there's never
been a more colorful field, and there's never been a more colorful company.
Color Kinetics lives up to its name. It's bright and clever, and it leverages
its collective intelligence.
That's why George Mueller, co-founder of Color Kinetics and the company's current
CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors, will be our featured keynote speaker
at BLUE 2005 in Taiwan on May 17th, just
before lunch on that first session day. As of July 1st, George's title will
be "Founder Chairman" as he hands over the hard work to current President and
COO, Bill Sims. With any luck, George will get to go back to doing the fun stuff:
Promoting the field and helping dream up the kind of innovative new product
lines that continue to set CK apart from many of its peers.
I especially liked George's quote in the news
release announcing the management changes slated for July. "By every
measure -- revenues, product lines, partnerships and international expansion
-- Color Kinetics is thriving, and I look forward to helping drive the company's
continued success in my new role. Additionally, as Founder Chairman, I will
devote my time more fully to working with industry thought leaders and influencers
to propagate the greater cross-industry adoption of intelligent solid-state
lighting."
Whereas Cree reminds me of Intel when at the same chapter of development (which
I've noted in previous columns), Color Kinetics reminds me of one of the
original microchip systems integrators, Apple Computer. I had the pleasure of
serving as Apple's original and first PR person when it was a startup. It was
sooooo cowboy and soooo risky an approach to PCs that my boss,
Regis McKenna (yes, the silicon valley PR legend), told me not to waste too
much time on Apple as they were likely to go belly-up early on. They didn't,
obviously. The cofounders, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, were two of the best
ever, and still are. And Cree is another obvious success story in the making
of a key company in the Wide Bandgap (WBG) material and device field. It's only natural
that George Mueller should follow in the keynote slot filled at last year's
BLUE event in Taiwan by Cree's President/CEO, Chuck Swoboda.
Based on that Apple/Intel perspective as case studies, what I see happening now at Color Kinetics, is natural maturation. The whole
company has grown over recent years, and this year marks the turn to big company
mentality and major league performance. Having successfully penetrated North
and South America, Europe and Japan, they are now heading into the China market
with two sales partners to be selected by the end of June (that should fuel
the buzz at BLUE; everyone making LEDs wants to sell to Color Kinetics), I predict
this company will go on to become very big and very successful. Color Kinetics
went public only this year on the Nasdaq exchange (Symbol: CLRK), in a USA economic
climate where only the strongest of young lions, like Google, can make a smash
hit of an IPO. They're working now with Future Electronics as their distributor. That association allows CK to work
more effectively with the very large-end system customers instead of spending
precious time and resources with the myriad of small lighting designers coming
on-line daily. Those grass roots relationships are what Future will handle for them now
and is yet another indication of maturity. And in my opinion, they're now handling their IP like a sophisticated, dignified company should.
As I've said before, if I could only pick two publicly held USA-based companies in the compound semi/solid state lighting field
to personally invest in, or to vote for as most likely to be huge many years
from now, I'd choose Cree and Color Kinetics. In fact, after 30 years tracking the compounds, I've finally decided to put together a very modest, personal portfolio that includes CREE, CLRK and the following others: EMKR, TQNT, ANAD, JDSU, SPIR, RFMD, KOPN, WJCI, and VTSS. These are personal favorites that I've elected to invest in for a number of reasons. Prime among those is my basic frugality. Most of the above are priced at a low enough level I can actually afford to buy 100 shares of each (my betting limit in this type game). I'm doing this primarily to see what happens over the upcoming years to that modest portfolio, which is also designed to provide incentive for more color commentary by me on the industry as I advance into retirement mode. Also, each of the selections was made because of their positive track record within the industry and each will probably be around if and when there's a real pickup in the USA economy. For those of you who are involved in the investment scene who want to access a secular listing, we're trying to put together a complete listing of all publicly held stocks that relate directly to the compound semi and solid state lighting industry. This "works in progress" can be found on our "CS
Stocks" chart, which is in the throws of a total overhaul. What you'll see there now are the initial listings, to which I hope readers will commentate on,
add to or subtract from. (Next up will be the big companies such as Northrop
Grumman, Honeywell, Rockwell, Agilent, etc. who have a relatively small (to them) involvement in the compounds, but are very important players to our field). As I said, I'm personaly a novice investor, so I'll update you more on what I'm trying to do in a future editorial. We'll also draft some official and proper "disclosure" message. Cree and Color Kinetics were at the top on my investment wish list (despite being somewhat expensive to this novice) because I truly believe they are both now on the cusp of moving from a company
worth millions to a company worth billions (at 100 shares each, I doubt I'll make even thousands, but hey, skin in the game is skin in the game, even if it's just a little scratch). Unfortunately, there aren't that many companies you can say that about in these "challenging" economic times.
In their quarterly earnings report conference call late Wednesday, April (link
to the replay), George Mueller expressed his excitement in changing
his title in July to "Founder Chairman" and he's also duly excited about speaking
at BLUE 2005. As he said in the call,
George intends to become an "industry-wide evangelist and educator" helping
mold the international process of totally rethinking the future of lighting.
Solid state lighting never had such an experienced advocate. Heck... George
can control a rock concert from a PC out front! One doesn't get any more influential
regarding the future than that!!!
Just look at any concert audience watching the Color Kinetics light show at
work and you'll see precisely where the world is headed.... which is wherever
the young people in that audience want to take it. George Mueller can share
our pulpit anytime, and that time is 11am Tuesday, May 17th in Hsinchu, Taiwan,
at the Ambassador Hotel. Plan to be there for BLUE
2005 and see and hear this exceptional solid state lighting industry leader
for yourself. 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... |
