25 June 2014

IQE wins new multi-million pound volume supply deal for photonics epiwafers

Epiwafer foundry and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK has entered into a new multi-year volume manufacturing agreement expected to be worth over £1m a year to supply epitaxial wafers for optical communications applications.

The new supply deal is with an existing key strategic customer that already has a significant presence in the Asia-Pacific region and includes the rapidly growing market for photonics in China. The contract increases IQE’s share with a guaranteed minimum of 80% of the customer’s business, which is expected to be worth more than £1m in additional annual revenues to IQE’s photonics business unit.

IQE says that customers are increasingly seeking to ensure security of supply through entering into long-term agreements to support products and devices for LTE backbone communications for base-stations, Gigabit passive optical networks (GPON) and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) at 2.5G and 10G, migrating to 100G over the coming years.

The agreement also includes scope for adding new products that are currently undergoing qualification, such as avalanche photo-diodes (APDs) for high-speed, long-reach detectors.

The new contract takes the form of a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) agreement, which enables IQE to optimize production efficiency and manage any short-term fluctuations in demand.

“IQE provides the key enabling technology that is helping to meet the ever increasing demands on optical communications driven by trends such as ’big data‘ and ’The Internet of Things’,” says CEO Dr Drew Nelson. “As the importance of photonic applications continues to grow, customers increasingly need to ensure security of supply to meet the needs of their technology roadmaps and are seeking to enter into volume manufacturing agreements,” he adds. “IQE is the global leader in wafer outsourcing and is seen by its customers as their key strategic partner to support this rapidly growing industry sector.”

Tags: IQE APD

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