IQE plc : IQE secures major order for advanced ...

Cardiff, UK, 4 December 2012: IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "IQE" or the "Group"), the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafer products and services to the semiconductor industry, has received its first single order valued at more than £1 million for advanced laser wafers to enable a new generation of fibre-optic communications devices.

This order is to be delivered during the first half of 2013 with further significant follow-on orders expected, driven by strong demand in China for datacentre applications and infrastructure build out. The wafers will be produced at IQE's Cardiff manufacturing facility utilising its state-of-the-art 100mm InP platforms.
  
Optical interconnects are on the brink of rapid growth driven by strongly increasing demand for "big data" applications across data centres, fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), backbone interconnection of 4G/LTE base stations and active optical cable (AOC) interconnects between computers and peripheral consumer electronic devices, to replace current copper USB2 cables.

Dr Drew Nelson, President and CEO of IQE, said:

"IQE has established a clear leadership position in the design and supply of advanced semiconductor wafers for a wide range of optoelectronic applications. This latest order for a new range of low-cost, high-performance optical fibre components marks a key milestone in the adoption of optical interconnects for a range of high volume applications."

CONTACTS:

IQE plc ([phone])
Press/Investors: Chris Meadows
Technical: Dr Wynne Jones

Note to Editors

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. The Group also manufactures advanced optoelectronic and photonic components such as semiconductor lasers, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and optical sensors for a wide range of applications including optical storage (CD, DVD, BluRay), thermal imaging, leading-edge medical products, pico-projection, finger navigation ultra-high brightness LEDs, and high efficiency concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar cells.

 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 customised 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 nine facilities located in Cardiff (two), Milton Keynes and Bath in the UK; in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Somerset, New Jersey, Greensboro, North Carolina and Spokane, Washington in the USA; and Singapore. The Group also has 11 sales offices located in major economic centres worldwide.

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Source: IQE plc via Thomson Reuters ONE

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