Business briefs
17 Jun 2002
Including news from Three-Five Systems, Southampton Photonics, JDS Uniphase, Alcatel and more.
US firm
Three-Five Systems, a manufacturer of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), has reported a net loss of USD 2.7 million compared to a net income of USD 2.5 million for the same quarter in 2000. The company blames the loss on continued investment in its liquid-crystal-on-silicon microdisplay product line and the reduced selling prices of LCD modules.
Alcatel of France has reported fourth quarter sales down 52% to EURO 69.9 million (USD 60 million) compared with the same period last year. For the coming quarter, Alcatel says it is anticipating a sequential drop in sales of 50% and an operating loss of approximately EURO 50 million (USD 43 million).
UK-based
Southampton Photonics (SPI), a supplier of fiber Bragg gratings and fiber amplifiers, has opened a specialty optical-fiber manufacturing facilty. The USD 10 million plant will primarily provide fiber for use in the company's own in-fiber optical components.
JDS Uniphase has reported quarterly sales of USD 286 million, a 13% decrease from the USD 329 million sales announced for the previous quarter. "Our commitment to being the leading provider of optical components and modules remains unshaken despite the downturn in the telecoms industry," said Jozef Straus, president of JDS Uniphase.
Enterprise Ireland is to invest EURO 6.5 million (USD 5.6 million) in fellow Irish company
FireComms. The investment will be made over the next two years and will allow FireComms to continue their development of plastic optical fiber for photonic and optical communication technologies.
Aixtron of Germany is to supply US-based
LumiLeds with a further MOVCD system. As a developer of blue, green, cyan and white high-brightness LEDs, this purchase sets LumiLeds up with the one of the world's largest platforms for LED fabrication allowing it to ramp-up production capacity in a short period of time.
