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WHERE
THE HECK HAS THE LED NEWS GONE?
You'll find it, along with other key solid state lighting industry supply
chain news, at LIGHTimes
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
February 12, 2008...The USA economy is in flux, Washington DC is mired in election year politics on the way to explosive presidential and congressional election year, the renewable
energy bandwagon is only starting its uphill roll (and hasn't as yet been
fully decorated nor properly fueled), people are only just now starting
to get wind of what the field of concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) is all about,
yet one of the mainstay compound semi chip and system companies, Emcore Corporation
of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is talking seriously about spinning out its CPV division
into a stand-alone publicly held company via an independent public offering
(IPO).
Don't get me wrong. I love Emcore. Always have, always will. There's simply
something about their CEOs, past (Norm Schumaker) and present (Reuben Richards)
that evoke basic loyalty and confidence, especially if the loyalist is uniquely
close to the company. Ask anyone from Aixtron and they'll likely tell you that
I've spent way too many words of praise on Emcore over the years. Indeed, I
spent a three year "sabbatical" from journalism to consult to Emcore
as its director of corporate communications during the era (1998-2000) when
it gradually moved from its pioneer status in Somerset, New Jersey as one of
our industry's major suppliers of MOCVD equipment (competing head-to-head with
Aixtron) to also become a leading materials and device foundry. That was also
the timeframe when Emcore built the Albuquerque facility and solar division
and started making its way up the supply chain into the satellite solar and
fiberoptics device provider it is today.
A journalist who gets to go inside a key company for a lengthy consulting gig
at the level at which I dwelled inside Emcore can attest to the fact that you
get to know more about that company, and the overall industry, better you ever
could as a journalist covering the industry. Most importantly, when you've been
party to ghostwriting many of their words, when you step outside again, you
know how to read between the lines. When I put my model CS stock portfolio together
three years ago, after having established CompoundSemi Online, Emcore (Nasdaq:
EMKR) was the first one in the portfolio, which now includes a mere 100 shares
each of: Aixtron (AIXG), Anadigics (ANAD), AXT (AXTI), Cree (CREE), JDS Uniphase
(JDSU), Kopin (KOPN), RF Micro Devices (RFMD), Spire (SPIR) and TriQuint Semiconductor
(TQNT). The ying-yang they all routinely and collectively go through makes for
interesting column fodder, which is the only reason I set it up. As it turns
out, right now Spire and Emcore are the only two yielding +$1,000 gains since
the original investments. Both include CPV in their product offerings. I bought
the original Emcore shares in April of '05 at a mere $3.08/share, and it's trading
today at $14.50/share. I bought Spire shares at $4.45 in May of '05, and it's
trading today at $17.93. Go CPV technology!
But that doesn't mean it's a smart time for Emcore to spin off its CPV division
via a stand-alone IPO. I think the USA economy is shaky enough, with a coincident instability in the political arenas added into the fact that CPV is still in its technological infancy, that going for an IPO might not
be the best thing for Emcore shareholders, who will vote on the matter at their
upcoming annual meeting in March. Listening to Emcore's recent earnings conference
call, it all sounds rosy and promising. And it is. Reading between all the tiny print
that the SEC mandates they send out to shareholders, however, isn't easy, but my instinct tells me there's more to the story.
And as any semiconductor industry veteran will tell you, progress in a relatively new
sector is always slower than anticipated. Ask anyone in the world of silicon
and they'll readily remind you that niche markets are especially fickle. What's more, the renewalable energy sector is especially subject to fickleness in the face of the entrenched oil company giants who don't welcome in challengers.
Listening to the Emcore recent conference call, (which is accessible
online until Feb. 14th) there was considerable emphasis on the pending CPV
deal via a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Emcore and SunPeak Solar
LLC of Palm Desert, California. The caveats are that SunPeak Solar is depending
heavily on two things: acquiring and maintaining huge hunks of cheap land in
Southern California near the Arizona border and in the Sultan Sea, and the whims
of the US Congress. Doing a bit of online sleuthing, one notes that the only
online information available on SunPeak Solar appears to be in connection to
the Emcore MOU (Ref: Jan 31, 2008 company
news release). Otherwise, no news or information is available about SunPeak
Solar. The company has only a bare-bones website
and when googling its principals by name, despite the claim that they have "over
90 years combined experience in the development and operation of energy projects
in North America and Europe" you get virtually zip on those principals.
Plus, when googling the company that evidently preceded SunPeak Solar, UPC International,
(and note that you have to add "renewal energy" or you get nothing that relates),
it was evidently involved in the acquisition of very large land tracks for
wind farms with a bit of controversy.
According to Emcore, SunPeak Solar is depending heavily on the US Congress
to grant companies like SunPeak renewable energy investment tax credits (ITCs)
via the so-called "economic recovery package" currently before Congress.
Anyone who objectively tracks the US Congress these days knows that not much
legislation actually gets passed, no matter how many "campaign promises"
are spouted. Plus, it doesn't take much to realize
that most of the pending economic incentive talk is largely election year eyewash.
Then there's the pesky holdover fact that Emcore hasn't yet regained its former
profitability status from back when it was primarily a CS materials and equipment company.
When it went public in the mid-1990s after Reuben Richards and chairman of the
board Tom Russell took over the helm from Norm Schumaker, the IPO share price
was $10. It reached a whopping $150 at its peak, before the telecom collapse,
and now, almost 10 years later, it's just re-approaching $15/share. Plus, Emcore
remains in the final throws of settling its stock option difficulties and fully
integrating the new management team that results from the headquarters move
to Albuquerque and resignation of various members of senior management.
Emcore's top leaders, President
and COO Hong Hou and CEO Reuben Richards, however, have been with Emcore for
quite a long time now and are obviously extremely knowledgeable about CPV technology
and the nascent CPV marketplace. Solar division VPs David Danzillo and Ed
Fuller who are likely to be tagged to run the spin off, are doing excellent work
and are extremely well-credentialed. So, I have high hopes for the idea in the
longrun. If anyone can make it work, they likely can. But personally, I think
spinning out the solar division with an IPO when the dust hasn't completely
settled from so much change is premature. Shareholders may elect to wait until
things settle down a bit more and the path looks a little more defined. We'll
see what happens in March.
If you have questions about the compound semiconductor
industry, news or views to share, I'm Jo Ann McDonald, Editor of CompoundSemi
News. Feel free to contact me directly, anytime. Email: 
Or 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 as part of her "model CS/SSL stock portfolio". Be sure to read
her disclosure at some point in time...
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Veeco Expects Substantial Growth in LED and Solar Process Equipment
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 12, 2008...Veeco projects that sales of its Turbo Disc MOCVD systems will be bolstered by increasing demand for LEDs.
John Peeler, Veeco’s president and CEO stated, “We expect continued strong order patterns in the LED market given the broadening adoption of LED. The overall LED market is forecasted to growth from $4.2 billion in 2006 to $9.4 billion in 2011, which as an 18% compounded annual growth rate.”
Peeler added, “Some applications are forecasted to grow at much higher rates, for example, LED’s for architectural and retail lighting are forecasted to grow nearly 40% over the next several years. Our customers are seeing increased penetration in exterior as well as interior automotive lighting and a recent strategy analytics survey estimated that this market alone could be worth a billion dollars by 2014.” In addition, Peeler noted, “LED’s are also experiencing increased adoption in laptop backlighting, with the industry players expecting growth at the expense of traditional CCFL solutions.”
Overall the company expects sales revenues from both LED and Solar Process related equipment to be up 20 to 25 percent for the year. (Ref: Transcript of Quarterly Financial Results). Emcore to Spin-off CPV Unit
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 10, 2008...Backlog orders for concentrator photovoltaic systems have stacked up at Emcore in the previous quarter ending December 31, 2007. Emcore cited a delay from November to January as the reason that the revenues from the CPV segment declined 18% on $15.8 Million last quarter. The delay was in the delivery and installation of die-attach equipment for the new concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) solar cell and receiver manufacturing line. Ultimately the delay caused a shortfall of about $3 Million on scheduled CPV receiver shipments. Emcore says backlog order shipments should start soon because new manufacturing equipment is expected to go online quickly. Richards said that the first fiscal quarter of 2008 opened up CPV opportunities in Canada, South Korea, and Spain. Then, at the end of January, SunPeak solar ordered 200MW to 700MW of CPV for the American Southwest.
“Progress in each of our business segments continues to point towards the path of separating Emcore into two separate companies,” concluded Richards. “Given the fact that the size of renewable energy projects contemplated will require dramatic and unprecedented expansion, it is likely that the board of directors at this March’s meeting will determine that, in order to finance this rapid growth, Emcore will split into two separate businesses: a standalone fiber-optics company and a renewable energy company that would be spun off to Emcore shareholders after an initial public offering (IPO) to raise the capital in support of the significant growth in the terrestrial power business,” Richards said. Emcore Quarterly Financial Results for Q1 Fiscal 2008 Ending December 2007
Enablence Technologies Acquires ANDevices
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 11, 2008...Enablence Technologies Inc. of Ontario, Canada, a developer of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) transceivers for optical modems, has completed the acquisition of U.S.A. - based ANDevices, Inc., (“ANDevices”), a supplier of photonic devices for the access, metro, and long-haul communication markets. As part of the acquisition agreement, all of the issued and outstanding shares of ANDevices were acquired for an aggregate price of US$13.5 million and 9,085,113 common shares of Enablence.
According to Enablence, Dr. Jacob Sun has been re-appointed president of ANDevices and will continue to run Enablence’s new U.S. subsidiary. Additionally, Dr. Sun has been appointed to the position of Chief Operating Officer of Enablence, replacing the former Vice President of Operations whose position was eliminated on January 30, 2008.
‘“Enablence now has its own internal large volume optical wafer fabrication facility for the production of PLCs for its FTTH transceivers as well as a suite of complementary optical products, ” explained Mr. Chhatbar, Chief Executive Officer of Enablence. “The acquisition gives us a strong U.S. presence and the ability to expand our product offerings into emerging markets by combining our dispersion bridge technology with the capabilities of the ANDevices team.” Enablence Technologies News Release RFMD Makes 3G Transmit System Available
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 11, 2008...RF Micro Devices, Inc., a maker of high-performance radio systems and solutions, announced general market availability of the RF6280 3G transmit system. The RF6280 is a flexible 3G multi-mode solution designed to simplify implementation of multi-band and multi-mode 3G handsets and mobile device platforms.
RFMD says that the new system supports all major WCDMA frequency bands and is comprised of a front end power management IC optimized for use with either one or both of two available power amplifier (PA) options: the RF6281 and/or the RF6285.
The RF6280 has dynamically controlled PA operating conditions which utilize analog bias control and patent-pending DC to DC conversion technologies. It enables mode-optimized PA efficiency and linearity performance across all power levels, data rates (voice-only to HSPA) and non-ideal load conditions (also known as "antenna mismatch").
The company notes that the system leverages a balanced (quadrature) PA architecture, offering improved total radiated power (TRP) and specific absorption rate (SAR) performance. It thereby eliminates the need for costly RF isolators and simplifies multi- band platform implementation. Company News Release Cree Agrees to Acquire LED Lighting Fixtures Inc.
LIGHTimes StaffFebruary 8, 2008...Cree, a long-time innovator in producing LEDs, has signed an agreement to acquire LED luminaire and retrofit maker, LED Lighting Fixtures Inc. (LLF). The agreement with LLF is a cash and stock transaction worth $77 million, plus an addition 26.4 million over a three-year period. The $77 million is comprised of a combination of cash and stock to be determined at closing. The stock portion of the transaction will be based on the average share price of Cree stock over the last 20 trading days, $28.32 per share. The $26.4 million dollars of additional consideration is tied over the next three calendar years to new product milestones and key-employee retention.
LLF will be renamed Cree Lighting Solutions. Neal Hunter, chairman and CEO of LLF and a Cree co-founder, will rejoin Cree as president of Cree LED Lighting Solutions. The remaining members of LLF’s management team will continue in their roles within the organization. The agreement will allow the company to make luminaires and retrofit fixtures and will put the company in direct competition with solid state lighting giant Philips.
Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Northrop Grumman Wins Contract for Phase 2 of MDA’s ATILL Laser
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 6, 2008...Northrop Grumman Corporation, based in Redondo Beach, California USA, has received a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) contract for Phase 2 of a five-and-a-half year program to develop the Advanced Track Illuminator Laser, or ATILL. The ATILL is a six-kilowatt-class, solid-state, pulsed laser with a high quality beam for advanced MDA missions.
The contract is part of a four-phase program to support MDA and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) in building the next generation Cryo Yb:YAG (ytterbium: yttrium aluminum garnet) solid-state laser track illuminator. The goal of the four phase project is to make the ATILL smaller and more efficient.
During Phase 1 of the contract, Northrop Grumman performed laser system modeling, analysis, and trade studies. The company presented options at a conceptual design review in December to complete Phase 1. Q-Peak Inc. of Bedford, Massachusetts USA, Northrup Grumman’s teammate for the first two phases of the project, has built the second most powerful Cryo Yb:YAG laser to date.
Following the 12 months of Phase 2, MDA will select a single industry partner for the remaining two phases. The fourth phase of fabrication, integration, and testing will culminate in 2012 with delivery to the government of a flight-qualifiable brassboard laser system. Northrop Grumman News Release TriQuint Introduces 50 Percent Smaller Hadron II PA Module Family
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 6, 2008...The Hillsboro, Oregon USA-based RF front-end maker, TriQuint Semiconductor, introduced the first two members of its HADRON II PA Module family; the TQM7M5012 and TQM7M5005.
According to TriQuint, the second-generation EDGE PAs were designed using the company’s CuFlip copper bump technology. TriQuint says that the two new PAs have improved RF performance, reduced power consumption, and increased battery life. The 5mm x 5mm footprint of the PAs is 50 percent smaller than previous models.
The new products build on the success of TriQuint's first-generation HADRON PA Module family, found in some of the industry's most popular mobile devices, including Samsung's BlackJack, LG's Shine and Chocolate 3G, Palm's Treo, and HTC's Advantage. The HADRON II PA Module family will be displayed at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain (11th-14th Feb. 2008).
The company cited the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) in its January 15, 2008 update, which stated, "Most WCDMA-HSPA networks combine with EDGE for service continuity and the best user experience." Given this need, TriQuint's EDGE PA module shipments to 3G phones experienced 178 percent growth in 2007.
Tim Dunn, Vice President for Handsets at TriQuint, said, "Our CuFlip copper bump technology enables us to shrink the module footprint to 5x5mm while extracting heat from the PA more efficiently and reducing current. The result is improvement in size, performance, cost, and reliability." TriQuint News Release NEC Develops High Output Power Wireless Transceiver
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 6, 2008...NEC Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, announced the successful development of a 60-GHz-band wireless transceiver with what the company says is the world's highest output power. According to NEC the newly developed transceiver is based on low-cost standard CMOS technology, and it enables consumer wireless systems with multi-gigabit data transmission.
According to NEC, its new design techniques have enabled what the company contends is the world's highest output power of 7 milliwatt (mW) at a supply voltage as low as 0.7 volts. The company noted that the transmitter and receiver chips were fabricated based on standard 90-nm CMOS technology and demonstrated a data rate of 2.6 gigabits per second (Gbps). NEC says that the transceiver has the reliability of CMOS with the performance of Compound Semiconductors.
The 60-GHz band is suited to high-speed wireless transmissions with bit rates exceeding 2 gigabits per second (Gbps) that would allow applications such as true HDTV signal transmission and mobile terminals. Company News Release
Emcore Signs Letter of Understanding to Supply CPV Systems for the Southwest
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 4, 2008...Emcore Corporation a pioneer in multi-junction solar cells and concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) systems, reported that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to supply between 200 MW and 700 MW of turnkey CPV systems for the southwestern region of the United States. The systems, which were developed at Emcore’s facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, will go towards utility scale projects in the region. SunPeak Solar, the project developer, is reportedly securing land and grid access throughout 2008. SunPeak plans to begin project construction in early 2009. The principals of SunPeak Solar have been successfully developed wind power projects in North America and Europe over the past decade. The principals of SunPeak are well funded through the sale of certain wind power assets, and they are now focusing on large-scale terrestrial solar energy projects in the US.
The agreement is dependant on the renewal of the federal investment tax credit (ITC) extending into 2009 and beyond. It is not expected to contribute to Emcore’s revenues until 2009.
Earl Fuller, Vice President and General Manager of Emcore's Solar Power Systems division stated, "Emcore's CPV systems are optimized for the lowest cost-per-watt of any utility-scale photovoltaic power system. The use of our gallium arsenide based multi-junction solar cells has the added advantage of retaining high efficiency even in the hot summers in the desert southwest. Emcore is committed to continuous improvement on the performance of terrestrial solar cells and the cost structure of the CPV system." Emcore News Release Infineon Ships CMOS RF Switches with GaAs Performance
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 4, 2008...Infineon of Neubiberg, Germany has begun volume shipping of RF switches made with a CMOS-based process on silicon wafers that have performance equivalent to gallium arsenide switches. Previously to achieve the performance of GaAs switches the company says that CMOS-based RF switches had to be manufactured on dedicated and more expensive sapphire wafers. The new Infineon RF switches combine the benefits of CMOS with outstanding RF performance. The switches have the RF performance traits such as low insertion loss, low harmonic distortion, good isolation and high power levels. The RF switches also have the inherent CMOS advantages including high integration capabilities, cost effectiveness, and excellent electrostatic discharge (ESD) robustness.
Infineon notes that its CMOS-based RF switches allow longer battery life than PIN diodes, because current consumption is significantly reduced. The BGS12A, the first of the new family, comes in a wafer-level package (WLP) and measures a mere 0.79mm x 0.54mm, about 60 percent smaller than the smallest GaAs RF switch on the market.
Michael Mauer, senior director, Silicon Discretes at Infineon Technologies commented, “With the increasing complexity of modern mobile devices, RF switches are expected to substitute today’s PIN diodes in the next five years.” Company News Release Fujitsu Develops CMOS-based PA that Operates at 77 GHz
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 4, 2008...Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan reported the development of a millimeter-waveband power amplifier (PA) using standard 90nm CMOS process technology. Fujitsu Labs developed a standard CMOS modeling technology and design techniques targeted at millimeter-wave applications. According to the company its design techniques minimize high-frequency signal loss thereby enabling what the company claims is the world's first CMOS-based PA that operates at 77GHz. The technology integrates CMOS radio frequency (CMOS RF) front-end circuitry and a PA on a single chip for use in millimeter-wave automotive radar systems. This technology will be presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2008 to be held in San Francisco from February 3-7. (Session 31.3). Company News Release We are always looking forward to hearing
from you.
Contact the news editor, Scott McMahan, with an email to
Editor - at - CompoundSemi.com or
call +1 (512) 219-0158
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