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Editorial: CS & SSL Stock Portfolio Performance as of Oct. 4th
... Jo Ann McDonald, author of "The McDonald Report" and holder of a modest stock portfolio of publicly-traded companies considered typical leaders in the compound semiconductor (CS) and solid state lighting (SSL) industries shares with readers the results of September performance. The 13 stocks currently in the portfolio,...
Jump down to the full story
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Features:
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Emcore Solar Cells Power Dutch Team's Solar Car to Victory
Scott McMahanOctober 4, 2005...A number of solar car races have taken place around the world with various levels
of competitors. In one race, the Dell-Winston Solar Challenge, high school teams
from around the United States descended on Brady, Texas(Ref: editorial coverage). Even at the high school
level, the the technology and the knowledge of the competitors was extraordinary.
Each event brought its own competition, technology, and funding. While
not part of the same competition the events all supported a movement toward vehicles
with alternative energy sources. None of the events surpassed the World Solar
Challenge that took place in Australia in terms of the state-of-the-art technology, the
funding, and the prestige. This year's event attracted 23 cars from 10 countries
including first-time entries from Belgium and Iran.
The Nuon Solar team from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands
used Emcore’s triple junction gallium arsenide solar cells to dominate
the race, winning for the third consecutive year, according to an Optics.org
article. The Nuon Solar team continued their dynasty with an improved design
for their car, called the Nuna 3. It is reportedly covered with approximately
9 square meters of Emcore solar cells. The cells said to have 26% efficiency
(among the most efficient available), are only one of the improvements the group
made since last years race."Changes include new aerodynamics, lower weight
(189 kg), better batteries, better solar cells, better strategy and telemetry
system, new suspension, nitrogen filled tires - actually everything about the
Nuna 3 has improved compared with the Nuna 2," Jorrit Lousberg, Nuon Solar
team leader told Optics.org. The only thing that has lasted from the previous
two cars is the motor!”
The race began on the morning of Sunday September 25 in Darwin, Australia and
ended three days, seven checkpoints later in Adelaide. The teams had to stop
for each of the seven required checkpoints and had to set up camp each day by
5:00 pm. The time for the race was the combined time for each day’s results.
The Australian car Aurora was next across the finish line in a time of 32 hours,
35 minutes and an average speed of 92 kph. The third placed car was Momentum
from the University of Michigan closely followed by Japan's Sky Ace Tiga and
Taiwan University's Formosun.
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Triquint Introduces Wave AmplifiersOctober 4, 2005...Triquint located in Hillsboro, Oregon USA, has introduced four new wave amplifiers
manufactured with its 0.15 micrometer gate power GaAs PHEMT process. The products
are reportedly for applications such as: point-to-point radios, point-to-multipoint
communications, and commercial or military satellite communications requiring
wide bandwidth. The company says that the wave amplifiers combine high output
power and wide bandwidth to provide exceptional performance. The lead free and
RoHS devices will debut at the European Microwave Week conference and symposium
in Paris, France (3rd-7th October 2005).
The TGA4521 is a wideband millimeter wave driver amplifier covering the 32
to 45 GHz frequency range. The TGA4522 is a balanced version of the TGA4521:
it offers a higher output power capability with +27.5dBm saturated and +27dBm
one-dB compressed performance at 38GHz. The TGA4040 is a medium power amplifier
/ frequency multiplier MMIC for applications including military and commercial
satellite communications, electronic warfare, digital radio and instrumentation.
The TGA4046 is a balanced high power amplifier MMIC for Q-band applications,
particularly military and commercial satellite uplink communications. This new
product provides excellent saturated output power of +33dBm and one-dB compressed
power of +32dBm. Company
News Release DARPA Awards Sensors Unlimited $4.5 Million Contract
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 30, 2005...While infrared night vision is used to detect people in the dark, it is limited in its ability to identify that person. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has taken on the goal of identifying a human target at 100m in a no-moon night condition. DARPA has awarded a 12-month, $4.5 million contract to Sensors Unlimited to develop an InGaAs dual wavelength focal plane array (FPA) with both visible and shortwave infrared. The uncooled, 1280 x 1024 array will reportedly have sensitivity to wavelengths from 0.4 to 1.7 µm, using pixels on a 15 µm pitch. The yet to be developed FPA will reportedly have less than 10 electrons readout noise while operating at video rates. This will mean that criminals, terrorists, and all-too-human boogey men will not be able to hide under the cover of darkness. Company News Release
Aixtron Gets Repeat Orders From Korean LED MakersSeptember 29, 2005...Aachen, Germany MOCVD equipment maker, Aixtron AG has sold a number of their
MOCVD systems to high brightness LED manufacturers in South Korea. One MOCVD
system is a repeat order for an AIX 2600G3HT model to be shipped to Samsung
Electro Mechanics of Suwon-City ("Samsung City"), near Seoul. The
company is affiliated with Samsung, which manufactures mobile phones and their
sub assemblies, such as LED backlights and keypad LEDs. Aixtron also sold systems
to South Korean startup LED and wafer producer, EpiValley Co. Ltd.and the Korean
Photonics Technology Institute (KOPTI). Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Intel and Microsoft Join Ranks of HD DVD Proponents
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 28, 2005...Chip making giant, Intel, and software trendsetter, Microsoft have chosen to
support the HD DVD standard. The HD DVD standard put forth by Toshiba, NEC,
and Sanyo started out with a 15 GB capacity and has increased now to 30 GB.
Initial estimates were that two hours of HD video would require around 15 GB
of memory. So far, HD DVD has proven 30GB capacity while currently, Blu-ray
only delivered 25 GB outside of the lab, half of what proponents promised, according
to HD DVD supporters. "HD DVD format is extremely important for the
development of both the PC and AV markets, as it fulfills the needs of PC applications
requiring high-capacity data and AV applications that require the recording
and playback of high definition images," said Hiroshi Gokan, NEC's
Executive General Manager of Computers Storage Products Operations Unit. "We
are fully confident that Intel and Microsoft's affiliation with the HD DVD Promotion
Group will significantly contribute to the propulsion and penetration of the
HD DVD format."
Both formats said they would develop a standard that supports playing of both
current DVDs and their next generation standards. Thus far, only HD DVD has
delivered. Also, HD DVD proponents point to its lower production costs and the
much higher factory upgrade costs of Sony’s Blu-ray technology. "The
capacity for volume production of HD DVD discs is already in place, and the
content industry has great expectations of HD DVD as the key product to sustain
the growth of the next-generation audio-visual software market," said
Shiroharu Kawasaki, President and CEO of Memory-Tech. "We welcome the
participation of Intel and Microsoft as further enhancing HD DVD's potential
applications." Microsoft has chosen the HD DVD standard perhaps in part because it supports iHD interactivity
standard that uses extensible markup language (XML), a text based computer
language for showing data. Microsoft’s new operating system,, Vista uses
XML. The Blu-ray technology does not support the iHD interactivity standard.
HD DVD
Promotion Group News Release IXYS Increases Production High Power Compound Semi Products in Wake of Hurricanes
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 28, 2005...Power compound semi company, IXYS of Santa Clara, California USA, has increased
production of its MOS and Bipolar modules as demand for personal alternative
electrical power sources surges as a direct result of the recent hurricanes
and power outages they have caused. IXYS says it is one of the few semiconductor
companies that supplies all the required semiconductor components to convert
energy into AC electric power using the variety of alternative electrical power
options available to the public including gas powered generators, solar PV,
and wind turbines. Additionally the company produces insulated (or sometimes
called isolated) gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and polar field effect transistor
(FET) technology for both backup and “uninterruptible” power supplies.
The company has also seen greatly increased demand for these products in light
of the recent natural disasters. With increasing gasoline prices, demand for
“green” and “uninterruptible” electricity will likely
increase significantly. Some experts predict double digit growth rates. IXYS
which will likely benefit from this trend, says it will “continue
to focus its sights on serving this market in a leadership position.”
"We are moving very quickly to provide fast delivery of our products
to OEM customers around the world in order to meet the demand for portable generators
and other industrial equipment such as soft-start controllers and motor generator
sets," stated Dan Schwob, Senior VP of Marketing and Business Development.
"The unfortunate natural disasters of the last 20 months again highlight
the importance of alternative sources of electricity as well as back-up sources
of energy, like uninterruptible power supplies." Company
News Release
Anidigics Introduces HELP2 PAsSeptember 28, 2005...Anadigics of Warren, New Jersey USA, has introduced a new generation of High-Efficiency-at-Low-Power
power amplifiers (PAs) for Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA) protocol applications.
The company’s second generation HELP (HELP2) CDMA PAs use InGaP Plus technology,
integrating bipolar and field effect transistor (FET) structures on the same die.
The PAs boast what the company touts as industry leading efficiency especially
at low and mid-range power levels where the PA typically operates in handsets.
Therefore, it dramatically increases handset talk-time and standby-time. The company
says that the level of integration and performance eliminates the requirements
for external voltage regulation. Additionally, the 3mm by 3 mm HELP2 CDMA PAs
are footprint compatible with the company’s 4mm by 4mm PAs.
"Next-generation mobile phones are being designed to deliver an unprecedented
level of multimedia services as consumers continue to demand greater functionality.
Our innovative HELP technology allows handset designers to extend battery life
in support of advanced multimedia features," stated Dr. Ali Khatibzadeh,
Senior Vice President and General Manager of Wireless Products at Anadigics.
"Through the introduction of HELP2 CDMA power amplifiers, customers
can further decrease bill of materials cost, minimize space requirements, and
reduce time-to-market." Company
News Release Dr. Shuji Nakamura and UCSB Team Develop Novel GaN Films for More Efficient LEDs and Laser Diodes
Scott McMahanSeptember 27, 2005...Blue LED breakthrough artist, Dr. Shuji Nakamura and his team of researchers from
the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) have made significant advances
in producing both nonpolar and semipolar GaN crystal films that the team hopes
will significantly improve the efficiency of blue LEDs and diode lasers. The research
is part of the ERATO program which gets funding from the Japanese Science and
Technology Corporation (JST). Within the program researchers from UCSB, the University
of Tsukuba, and the University of Tokyo are collaborating in the development of
next generation gallium nitride semiconductors. What makes the development of
these novel GaN crystal films important is that certain planes of the hexagonal
GaN crystal structure can have less or even none of the electric fields which
hinder the proper recombination of electrons and holes to make light, which as
the researchers point out is the whole purpose of having quantum wells at all.
Devices on nonpolar and semipolar GaN crystals films have the following potential
benefits, including: higher quantum well recombination efficiency;, higher p-type
doping efficiency;, lower turn-on voltage or threshold current density; and
polarized light emission from LEDs. Semipolar planes, as the name implies, have
partial polarity under most circumstances. If arranged properly however, quantum
wells on semipolar planes may have zero net electrical fields, just as those
of on the nonpolar planes do. The researcher found that the p-typed doped layers,
the positive part of the light emitting device, have lower resistance with the
new crystal structure. Less resistance may lead to less heating and therefore
more efficiency. Extended Feature For Subscribers 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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Commentary & Perspective...
CS & SSL Stock Portfolio Performance as of Oct. 4th
October 4, 2005...Jo Ann McDonald, author of "The McDonald Report" and holder of
a modest stock portfolio of publicly-traded companies considered typical leaders
in the compound semiconductor (CS) and solid state lighting (SSL) industries shares with
readers the results of September performance.
The 13 stocks currently in the portfolio, by Nasdaq stock ticker symbol (listed
in the order purchased) are: EMKR, CREE, TQNT, CLRK, ANAD, JDSU, SPIR, RFMD,
KOPN, WJCI, VTSS, AIXG, AXTI. And as announced in the September
CS Stock Report, TIR Systems is being added to the batch as soon as my broker
figures out how to purchase stock from the Canadian exchange (which is harder
than you might think for US investment firms). As I've now said repeatedly
(which is especially important in the eyes of the US Securities & Exchange
Commission) is that these are very modest investments as a means of taking
the collective pulse of the industries we cover in these pages. These are long-term
purchases and the selection criteria is primarily because that these are companies
I personally believe have staying power, based on their past performance and
status in the CS and SSL industries. After 30 years as an advanced semiconductor
technology journalist (recently turned strictly industry commentator),
I suppossedly know what I'm talking about, but please do not take my word for
who's doing what... and why. Do your own independent due diligence before making
any personal investments!
With that said, and picking up where we left off in that Sept.
6 editorial, we start at the top of the charts with my oldest favorite,
Emcore (EMKR), the company so many of us who read these pages worked so closely
with in years past. For those not familiar with my background, of the 30 years in this field,
the only time I went inside a company was when consulting to Emcore for 3 years
in the late 1990s, serving as their Director of Corporate Communications. That
was back in the heydays in Somerset, New Jersey prior to that division selling to Veeco.
I purchased Emcore's stock this summer at $3.63. It rose by August 3rd to $4.54,
reached $5.24 in by Sept. 6 and moved up almost one more dollar to $6.06 as
of this morning. A very impressive steady upward climb. The Emcore Exes Club as well as current employees undoubtedly shares in the pride. As to what Emcore is up to these
days... well, that's always hard to figure. They've wisely learned to keep their
cards rather close to their chest. The most exciting not-very-publicized news,
however, gives you a clue as to why I have great faith in them. As Scott McMahan
recently reported in an excellent
article, the solar car Nuna 3 wins the 2005 World Solar Challenge
in a record-breaking time and average speed. Having gobbled up most of
the competition, Emcore virtually rules the triple junction solar cell space,
with Boeing's Spectralab sharing the remaining design wins... few as they are.
Like the Nuna 3, there's not much call yet for these space age cells. The trick
now is to get more of them functioning on Earth. The Nuna 3 solar car win provides
a great PR opportunity that should be maximized.
Cree (CREE) is another longtime favorite company of mine. As the most expensive
stock in the initial buy-in this summer at $24.27, Cree's stock stayed pretty
much where it was, even slipping a bit in August. Today it's up a whole dollar
and a quarter from when I purchased it, weighing in this morning at $25.70.
That probably is an indicator right there as to how both the CS and SSL industries
are doing right now, given Cree's product lines (SiC substrates through blue
spectrum LED and MMIC packaged parts, with blue lasers and GaN substrates waiting
in the wings) are at the soul of our industries. In my opinion, almost everyone
in our fields of business endeavor are still somewhat on hold until the
world economy settles down... or there's a major change in USA government "leadership",
which will still take some time to unfold. But... we diehard liberals retain
hope. That's why these stock purchases are for the long term. Surely sanity
and truth will sometime return!
That brings us to TriQuint's (TQNT) stock which was purchased originally at
$3.37. The price slipped and slid some reaching $3.71 this morning. I think
TriQuint will remain what it has always been, a stalwart winner in the compound
semi space. The company stays focused, it does the job, and is relied on by
major systems integrators. Plus, its management staff are truly wonderful people.
I'll take the slow rise and be content because that's exactly what's going to
happen in my estimation... a slow rise after a real bummer of a last few years.
So many companies in our sector had nowhere to go but up. I really
do blame the current political situation in the USA for the collective woes
of the semiconductor industry has suffered. And now they're throwing around
giveaway money like they had it. Go figure.
Thank goodness for the solid state lighting systems integrators, like Color
Kinetics (CLRK), to cheer us up. I bought CLRK stock at $11.27 in the first
batch of purchases, and it's moved up nicely each month since, reaching $15.11
this morning. This is a nice morning wake up call. It reminds us that the SSL
industry pioneers really are pulling us all up by our collective bootstraps.
To reflect how well the SSL supply chain is doing, our 2006 annual "BLUE"
event in Taiwan will be held May 9-11 and it's going to be renamed "SSLS
Forum" as we, like Color Kinetics (CK) itself, home in on what it'll take to make the SSL
industry truly thrive and take its rightful place in the lighting industry.
SSL stands for Solid State Lighting, of course, and the final "S"
stands for Supply or Suppliers. Some of us are jokingly calling it "The
event formerly known as Blue" or "TEFKAB" to tease ourselves
about the overuse of initials. But SSL, as CK so brilliantly points out, is
more than just blue spectrum lights. You'll see the latest from CK at SSLS Forum
2006 when CK founder and Chairman, George Mueller, is again one of our keynote
speakers, plus this time around, he's also going to serve as co-chair of this prestigious event. We'll be publicizing much, much more about SSLS Forum 2006, but for now, be sure to ink in May 9-11 Taiwan on your calendars and plan
to be there.
Because of limited space, I'll kind of rush through the other stocks in the
portfolio. Anadigics (ANAD, bought at $1.51) continues to move up nicely weighing
in this am at $3.60 and staying the course. JDS Uniphase (JDSU, bought at $1.60...
and I'm reminding myself I only bought in because it was such a ridiculously
low price) is finally climbing up out of the hole and is now at $2.18. JDSU
is threatening to do a dramatic reverse split to offset the equally ridiculous
huge number of shares it has currently floated due probably to all the acquisitions
and sell-offs. Talk about the yin yang of an industry! I bought JDSU stock primarily
because they have some key technologies that allow them to do some of the really
tricky installations like submarine telecom lines, that nobody else can do.
I'll hang in there and hope they do too.
Spire (SPIR, bought at $4.50) is now a whopping $10.99, RF MicroDevices (RFMD,
bought at $5.25) is now $5.70, Kopin (KOPN, bought at $4.43) reached $6.96 as
of this morning, WJ Communications (WJCI, bought at $2.06) slid further to $1.22,
Vitesse (VTSS, bought at $2.52) slid also, to $1.77, and Aixtron (AIXG, bought
at $3.64) slid a bit to $3.45. AXT (AXTI, bought at $1.25) is finally fighting
back reaching $1.45.
Spire is therefore our hero company again this month, with Color Kinetics right
up there in the hero category. Spire's stock price has jumped remarkably over
the summer months, reaching over $13 in July! That's about a $9 jump from my
original purchas price. To me, that rise reflects what a great job CS pioneer
and Spire's chairman, president/CEO, Roger Little, has done heading up this
company since its inception. Spire's a diversified company with compound semiconductors
as its root expertise. But the company's overall performance isn't really indicative
of our industries per se. And unfortunately, most of the positive action this
summer is on bio apps and the silicon side of Spire's solar business, but hey,
that's OK. As I pointed out early on in this report, silicon has ruled Earth-bound
apps for years while compound semiconductor multijunction solar cells, like Emcore is fielding in
the Nuna-3 car, rule space. If I know Roger, however, he'll figure out a way
to parley his longtime love and expertise for the compounds into Earth-bound
applications too and the Spire stock will likely skyrocket further as a result.
If you have news or
views to share about the compound semiconductor, LED or solid
state lighting industries
contact our Publisher, Tom Griffiths
His direct tel in Austin is +1-512-257-9888
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