AXT, Inc. Renews Substrate Agreement With IQE for up to $14.3 Million
January 05 2009 - 9:31AM
Marketwired
AXT, Inc. (NASDAQ: AXTI), a leading manufacturer of compound
semiconductor substrates, announced today that it has been awarded
a production order from IQE plc (AIM: IQE) for semi-insulating
gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates for IQE's 2009 worldwide
substrate requirements. This agreement is valued at approximately
$14.3 million. The substrates ordered by IQE in this agreement
include both 4-inch and 6-inch diameter semi-insulating GaAs to
support IQE's wide ranging materials needs.
IQE is a leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor
wafers with products that cover a diverse range of applications,
supported by an innovative outsourced foundry services portfolio
that allows the Group to provide a 'one stop shop' for the wafer
needs of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers.
"AXT continues to be a great partner for IQE," said Drew Nelson,
president and CEO of IQE. "Its strong customer service focus, ample
manufacturing capacity and diverse product portfolio allow us to
support diverse and unique requirements of our growing customer
base."
"We are very pleased to have been awarded a new contract from
our valued customer, IQE, for their 2009 substrate needs," said
Phil Yin, chairman and CEO of AXT. "As the industry continues to
move towards larger diameter substrates, we have made a firm
commitment to supporting this transition through targeted capacity
increases in our 6" manufacturing capability. We believe we are
well positioned to support IQE's substrate needs in the coming year
and we look forward to continued close collaboration between our
two companies."
About AXT, Inc.
AXT designs, develops, manufactures and distributes
high-performance compound and single element semiconductor
substrates comprising gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide
(InP) and germanium (Ge) through its manufacturing facilities in
Beijing, China. In addition, AXT maintains its sales,
administration and customer service functions at its headquarters
in Fremont, California. The company's substrate products are used
primarily in lighting display applications, wireless
communications, and fiber optic communications. Its vertical
gradient freeze (VGF) technique for manufacturing semiconductor
substrates provides significant benefits over other methods and
enabled AXT to become a leading manufacturer of such substrates,
particularly in optoelectronics applications. AXT has manufacturing
facilities in China and invests in five joint ventures producing
raw materials. For more information, see AXT's website at
http://www.axt.com.
About IQE plc
IQE is the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor
wafers with products that cover a diverse range of applications,
supported by an innovative outsourced foundry services portfolio
that allows the Group to provide a 'one stop shop' for the wafer
needs of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers.
IQE uses advanced crystal growth technology (epitaxy) to
manufacture and supply bespoke semiconductor wafers ('epi-wafers')
to the major chip manufacturing companies, who then use these
wafers to make the chips which form the key components of virtually
all high technology systems. IQE is unique in being able to supply
wafers using all of the leading crystal growth technology
platforms.
IQE's products are found in many leading-edge consumer,
communication, computing and industrial applications, including a
complete range of wafer products for the wireless industry, such as
mobile handsets and wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, base
stations, GPS, and satellite communications; optical
communications, optical storage (CD, DVD), laser optical mouse,
laser printers & photocopiers, thermal imagers, leading-edge
medical products, barcode, high efficiency LEDs and a variety of
advanced silicon based systems.
The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to
outsource wafer production to specialist foundries such as IQE in
order to reduce overall wafer costs and accelerate time to
market.
IQE also provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customized
materials for specific applications and offers specialist technical
staff to manufacture to specification either at its own facilities
or on the customer's own sites. The Group is also able to leverage
its global purchasing volumes to reduce the cost of raw materials.
In this way IQE's outsourced services, provide compelling benefits
in terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, thereby
significantly reducing operating risk.
IQE operates six manufacturing facilities located in Cardiff
(two) and Milton Keynes in the UK; in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and
Somerset, New Jersey in the USA; and Singapore. The Group also has
11 sales offices located in major economic centers worldwide.
Contacts: Wilson W. Cheung Chief Financial Officer (510)
683-5900 Leslie Green Green Communications Consulting, LLC (650)
312-9060
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