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Editorial: Feb '07 CS/SSL Stock Portfolio Update
... It's been awhile since Jo Ann has reported on her model portfolio of compound semi (CS) and solid state lighting (SSL) industry stocks, most of which are traded over the USA's Nasdaq exchange. The delay is because the majority of stocks have continued to underperform, certainly compared to last...
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Hittite Microwave's Profits More Than Double in 2006
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 19, 2007...Hittite Microwave Corp., a maker of ICs for RF, microwave and millimeterwave
applications, reported that its net income more than doubled in
2006. For the year 2006, Hittite reported revenues of $130.3 million, an increase
of 61.5 percent over 2005. Net Income for 2006 was $42.7 million, an increase
of 112 percent over the 2005 total. The company ended the year with a great
fourth quarter with revenue of $35 million or 55.8 percent more than the same
period a year ago. This was up just 2.2 percent over the previous quarter. Hittite
reported that 52 percent of its business for 2006 came from outside the United
States. About 48 percent came from customers within the United States.
“Our fourth quarter was an excellent finish to the year, and our
employees should be proud of the results they delivered in 2006,”
said Stephen Daly, Chairman and CEO. Daly commented that the company improved
its product portfolio and expanded its sales channels. “We strengthened
our business during the year in many ways, adding three new product lines, introducing
91 new standard products, and opening one new design center and two new sales
offices. For 2007, we will remain focused on growing our revenue by expanding
our product lines and sales channels, and continuing to invest in our R&D
team and new product pipeline.” Year-End
Company Financial Results for 2006 Cree Rectifier Named Finalist for 2007 EE Times’ ACE Award
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 19, 2007...Cree Inc. of Durham, North Carolina USA, reported that CMP Technology’s
EE Times made Cree’s 2-amp Zero Recovery rectifier as a finalist
for the third Annual Creativity in Electronics (ACE) Awards. The Cree device
was honored as a finalist in the Interconnect, Passive, and Electromechanical
(IP&E) category. The rectifier, which operates at 600 volts because it successfully
addresses the need for highly efficient and compact power supplies for desktop
PCs. Cree points out that the rectifier can reduce the power supply’s
size by as much as a third, and can simplify power supply design. "We
are honored that our silicon carbide rectifier is considered an Ultimate Product
of the Year by the readers of EE Times," said John Palmour, Cree executive
vice president for advanced devices. "We continue to advance our SiC
power devices and are pleased that Cree is being acknowledged for addressing
the needs of the power-supply design industry."
According to Cree and EE Times, the Ultimate Product Awards are given to producers
of products, which demonstrate leadership and innovation in the global industry
and shape the world we live in. "The 2007 finalists represent the execution
of forward-thinking technologies and creativity that captures the imagination
of consumers, illustrating the influence that electronics and embedded design
professionals have on today's culture," said Brian Fuller, editor
in chief, EE Times. Cree
New Release February 19, 2007...Compound Semi device maker, Avago Technologies Inc. of San Jose, California
USA, reports that Elan Microelectronics Corp’s motion to dismiss Avago’s
lawsuit alleging patent infringement was denied. The patent complaint, filed
in December 2004, alleges that Elan Microelectronics Corp. and its U.S. subsidiary
Elan Information Technology Group infringed on Avago’s U.S. patents 6,433,780
and 5,786,804.
The patents, which were awarded several years ago when Avago was the compound
semiconductor group of HP, relate to optical mouse sensor technology. With the
court decision made by Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern
District of California, Avago’s patent lawsuit against Elan will proceed.
Avago is seeking to stop Elan’s sales of allegedly infringing optical
mouse sensors. Avaogo noted that it is also seeking damages from Elan and its
U.S. subsidiary for unauthorized use of Avago’s patented optical mouse
sensor technology. Avago
News Release
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Bookham President and CEO to Step Down
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 16, 2007...After eight years at the helm of Bookham Inc., its president and chief executive
officer (CEO), Dr. Giorgio Anania, will resign his position and his seat on
the board of directors effective immediately. The company indicated that the
decision to resign was reached mutually between Dr. Anania and the board of
directors. According to Bookham, Dr. Peter Bordui, the company's current non-executive
chairman of the board of directors, has assumed the position of president and
CEO on an interim basis. During his eight years with the company, Anania transformed
the company’s acquisition policy. Some of the company’s acquisitions
during Anania’s presidency included Ignis Optics (Ref: Coverage),
and New Focus in 2003 (Ref: Coverage),
optical amplifier maker, Onetta Inc. in 2004 (Ref: Coverage),
and VSCEL maker, Avalon Photonics in 2005. (Ref: Coverage).
Through several acquisitions and the resulting increase in the company’s
market share, Anania lead the company from being a silicon photonics company
to being a supplier of telecom optical components. Anania had hoped that consolidation
and creative financing, and restructuring would lead the company to profitability.
However, during the eight years that Anania was in control of the company, Bookham
failed to have a profitable quarter. In a recent financial news release, Anania
announced the latest in a series of cuts of the company’s InP manufacturing
facility in Caswell, UK. The company also cut its GaAs IC manufacturing to focus
exclusively on optoelectronics in 2004. Despite the acquisitions, and numerous
attempts at creative financing, Anania was not able to turn the company around.
Company
News Release TriQuint's EDGE Module Shipped for New Samsung Wireless Phone
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 14, 2007...TriQuint Semiconductor, a leading manufacturer of RF components, reported that
it is shipping production volumes of its EDGE quad-band transmit module, the TQM6M5001,
to Samsung. TriQuint’s EDGE module will appear in Samsung’s newest
EDGE wireless phone, the SGH-E490. According to TriQuint, the TQM6M5001 and
other members of the Quantum Tx Module family provide full GSM / EDGE capability,
and like its predecessor, it shares the same 6mm x 6mm footprint. Paul Cooper,
TriQuint’s Strategic Marketing Manager for Handsets said that the module
uses in-house HBT and pHEMT technologies.
The TQM6M5001 provides quad-band signal amplification and switching, plus power
/ switch control and ESD protection integrated into what TriQuint contends is
the smallest form factor available. The TriQuint TQM6M5001 offers all-in-one
RF transmit functions with full GMSK (Gaussian minimum shift keying) and EDGE
linear capabilities, combining a quad-band EDGE power amplifier (PA), a transmit
(Tx) / receive (Rx) switch, plus PA and switch control along with ESD (electro
static discharge) protection – all in a form factor no larger than TriQuint’s
present GSM / GPRS transmit module family. The board space that the device saves
allows added features which handset consumers want. Another benefit of the module
is that its power added efficiency (PAE) extends battery life. TriQuint
News Release Skyworks Debuts Helios WEDGE Transceiver
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 13, 2007...Skyworks has unveiled its Helios WEDGE Tranceiver which is designed to eliminate
some of the problems of 3G cellular phones such as size, cost, and battery life.
Skyworks also debuted its very low cost Intera family of power amplifiers and
front-end modules for GPRS, EDGE, CDMA, and WCDMA. According to the company, one
of the main design features that allows the size, cost, and battery life improvements
in the Helios WEDGE Transceiver is that it does not require interstage filters
in the transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) paths. The company says that because the
device does not have interstage surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters, it saves
board space, reduces production cost, decreases design time, and enables high
speed data communication of up to 14.4 Mbps. The company says its Helios WEDGE
Transceiver is 40 percent smaller than comparable solutions, and it greatly improves
battery life beyond that of other solutions. Skyworks points out that the reduced
board space allows room for features such as WiFi, Bluetooth, FM receivers, and
DVB-H. Skyworks says the device’s direct conversion transmitter architecture
effectively permits shared Tx EGPRS and WCDMA modes - enabling extremely high-speed
data communication. Company
News Release.
Skyworks also added a new high-power, high-efficiency quad-band solution compatible
with system-on-chip (SoC) architectures designed for handsets in emerging markets.
The new SKY77531, which is part of the company's InteraLite portfolio of solutions
targeted at emerging markets, offers many of the same advantages as its dual-band
transmit and receive GSM/GPRS front-end module, mainly low cost and small form
factor, improved reliability and battery life.
Skyworks will make samples of the Helios WEDGE transceiver available in the
fourth quarter of 2007. The SKY77531 front-end module will be available for
sampling in the second calendar quarter of 2007. The Skyworks will be showcasing
its portfolio of Intera front-end modules and Helios radio solutions in Hall
8, Stand C132 at 3GSM World Congress 2007, being held February 12 - 15 in Barcelona.
Company
News Release Molecular Imprints Debuts New Imprint Lithography Tool
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 13, 2007...Molecular Imprints Inc. (MII), an Austin, Texas-based company that specializes
in nano-imprint lithography, has unveiled its Imprio 1100 lithography system
at the Strategies
in Light conference in San Jose, California. Like the company’s
other imprint lithography tools, it uses a fused silica template with a circuit
pattern etched into it that its tools press into a silicon containing monomer.
The monomer is separated from the template and hardened with UV light to make the
desired circuits. A circuit pattern left on the substrate is now ready for semiconductor
processing such as etching or deposition. The company calls their patented imprint
lithography technique, Step-and-Flash Imprint Lithography (S-FIL). Molecular
Imprints boasts that to date it has made features as small as 20 nm using its
technology, and its systems can easily make sub-50 nm features. Unlike the company’s
previous devices, the new Imprio 1100 system is a high throughput, whole wafer
imprinting device. It is fully automated and combines the resolution and circuit
design control of e-beam lithography with the throughput, overlay, and operating
simplicity of a mask aligner. The system is designed to fabricate circuits for
an array of applications including: LEDs, high density disk substrates for hard
disk drives (HDD), and optical components requiring fine resolution patterning
and three dimensional features.
“MII has made tremendous progress over the last 18 months adapting
the S-FIL process, originally developed for step and repeat imprint lithography
on CMOS wafers, to the specific needs of the compound semiconductor industry.
MII can now provide turnkey lithographic processes capable of high throughput
and long process life on the fragile, non-flat surfaces of compound semiconductor
wafers.” said Mark Melliar-Smith, CEO of Molecular Imprints. “In
addition, the I-1100’s conformal S-FIL technology is providing an enabling
technology for similar high resolution applications like the patterning of discrete
track and bit patterned media for hard disk drive development and precision
grating structures for optical components.” 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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Commentary & Perspective...
Feb '07 CS/SSL Stock Portfolio Update
Jo Ann McDonaldFebruary 14, 2007...It's been awhile since Jo Ann has reported on her model portfolio of compound
semi (CS) and solid state lighting (SSL) industry stocks, most of which are
traded over the USA's Nasdaq exchange. The delay is because the majority of
stocks have continued to underperform, certainly compared to last year at this
time, and disappointing news is never that enjoyable for us to report. But there
are positive signs and some good performers, particularly Anadigics and Color
Kinetics, as you'll see in this issue of The McDonald Report.
I began this experiment almost two years ago, in the Spring of 2005, when stock
prices of virtually all the USA's CS and SSL publicly held companies had reached
what I felt at the time of purchase was their all-time low. I bought 100 shares of each stock to simplify the
math, and because that was all I could afford to gamble, especially on
just an "experiment." I also pledged to hold the stocks long-term... at least as long
as I reported on them. In order of their purchases, beginning in April 2005,
the initial portfolio included: Emcore (EMKR), Cree (CREE), TriQuint (TQNT),
Color Kinetics (CLRK), Anadigics (ANAD), JDS Uniphase (JDSU), Spire (SPIR),
RF Micro Devices (RFMD), Kopin (KOPN), WJ Communications (WJCI), Vitesse (VTSS).
Later, I added Aixtron (AIXG) and AXT, all of which are traded over the Nasdaq
exchange. Most recently, I added TIR Systems, which trades on the Toronto exchange
under the symbol, TIRSF. (I still intend to add IQE in the UK, but my broker
still hasn't figured out how to buy 100 shares of London stocks). Total investment
added up to just under $7000.
So it's been almost two full years holding most of these stocks. As of February
of 2006, I truly thought we were on the rebound towards at least their original IPO prices. Doing the math, the value of the portfolio had increased
an impressive 43 percent. By mid-March, 2006, it continued the rise to 60 percent, and . As
reported at the time, a 60 percent "unrealized gain" (as they say in stock circles) was a metric that any USA stock market
follower would have said was "huge and exciting news." In real money terms, my initial investment
had grown to just over about $10,000. If I had made the level of investment most shareholders do, a zero
or two would have been added all around and, hey, I'd have probably cashed in.
But this is a model. An experiment. Something to write about periodically. And
a barometer of what's happening throughout the CS/SSL industries. As it turns out, the portfolio's "unrealized gain" as of this month, has fallen
to just over $2,000. But hey, we're still up, with only a few stocks in the
minus zone.
Here's how they stack up, as of the close of the market February
13th, the day before Valentine's Day. The sweethearts in the portfolio are Anadigics
(ANAD) at +$993 and Color Kinetics (CLRK) at +$809. The poorest performer turns out to be Cree weighing in at -$775, which is really sad and really misleading given that Cree has rolled out
nothing but excellent new technology and customer design wins over recent months.
Go figure! In alphabetical order, here's how the 14 stocks in the portfolio
performed: AIXG +$135, ANAD +$993, AXT +$358, CLRK +$809, CREE -$775, EMKR +$62,
JDSU +$29, KOPN -$51, RFMD +$255, SPIR +$411, TIRSF +$6, TQNT +$137, VTSS -$153,
WJCI -$53. That should add up to +$2163. Take that gain and divide it by the
cost and we still get an approximate 30 percent increase in value. Not bad, given the current state of the economy (and the miserly interst rate one gets from a savings account or CDs in a bank).
Why didn't the portfolio, overall, continue on last last year's roll? I've come to understand that it has very little to
do with the performance of the individual companies. The big picture right now portrays two totally opposing schools of thought.
One school, call them the pessimists, says that the USA's economy is recession-bound
due to what they're calling "the housing bust" and that the slow down
in housing will spread negative aspects to other sectors. The other school,
call them the optimists, says that despite housing being down, the rest of economy
is so strong that it will carry housing and that we may actually be facing inflation.
Diametrically opposed schools. Fiscally conservative brokers are advising clients to play it safe and sit on their cash. They're waiting out the continued
uncertainty because either extreme could actually be right. Only the gamblers are playing.
I think that's what's happening to a great deal of America's wealth. Investors are keeping their money safe by sitting on their cash. Not rolling of the dice. And that extends
over to the technology sector big time. Investing in technology stocks is always considered risky business. (That's why there aren't added zeros to my CS/SSL portfolio.)
The Nasdaq exchange itself is considered a high risk
game. But when you look at the individual companies, like those represented
in the portfolio--and beyond, to the numbers of stocks I wasn't able to purchase
simply because they were priced out of my league, the vast majority of the companies are, in fact, strong.
And we know their technology is strong because we understand leading-edge technology better than anybody. Anadigics and Color Kinetics were obviously the portfolio standouts, for good reasons. Anadigics
has been exceptionally diligent by steadily rebuilding its telecom business
after the bust that hit everyone in the CS sector so terribly hard. As CEO Bami
Bastami recently pointed out, "Anadigics scored its seventh consecutive quarter
of net sales growth and posted pro forma profitability ahead of expectations.
It is positioning itself to capitalize on all the top voice, data and video
segments of the wireless and broadband communications markets, offering a rich
breadth and depth of 3G/3.5G products that use the W-CDMA, the HSDPA, HSUPA
& EDGE standards, 4G products for WiMAX and WiBRO systems, WiFi products
that use the 802.11 a/b/g and 802.11 n (draft-n, MIMO) standards, CATV set-top
box and infrastructure, and FTTP products."
Color Kinetics continues to stay on its SSL roll by leading, not following.
As CEO Bill Sims put it most recently, "Today there is heightened awareness of the
potential for energy-efficient lighting to help conserve resources and spare
the environment. We believe such increased attention to the matter, along with
continued research, development, and government funding, will help set the stage
for an eventual transition to LED technology as the right long-term solution.
As the market opportunities for LED lighting continue to grow, Color Kinetics
is preparing in parallel to lead the transformation forward through important
new technologies, systems, and strategic partnerships."
Onward, thu the fog...
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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