Business briefs

15 Aug 2003

Including news from Spectra-Physics, Jenoptik, Dai Nippon Printing, Universal Display Corporation and more.

•  Spectra-Physics is opening a subsidiary in China to help it take advantage of the country’s ballooning laser market. Based in Beijing, the company says the new office will provide in-country sales, service and support. The laser giant is also opening a satellite facility in Shanghai, which it says will focus on supporting the industrial laser market.

•  The photonics division of Jenoptik has reported an increase in sales, order intake and order backlog for the first six months of 2003. Compared with the same period in 2002, the division posted sales up 9% to EURO113.7 million, order intake was up 48.4% to EURO171.4 million, while the order backlog rose 17.5% to EURO353.2 million.

•  Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) of Japan is investing ¥15billion ($126million) in a new facility to develop and produce color filters for fifth-generation LCDs. The facility, which is set to include a new production line, will be built in the grounds of the company’s Mihara plant in Hiroshima. The company says the new line will go into operation by June 2004 and will be capable of making 640 000 units per month.

DNP is also investing an undisclosed sum in South Sintek Photronic Corp of Taiwan. Together the companies will build a color filter product line for fifth-generation LCDs capable of making 960 000 units per month. This is expected to go into operation by March 2004.

•  Special Optics, a US maker of precision optical components, has been awarded a Phase 1 SBIR contract by the US Air Force Research Laboratory. The aim of the project is to design a wide-angle, mid-infrared imaging system that can zoom in on specified regions within the field-of-view whilst maintaining a high resolution. The value of the award was not disclosed.

•  Universal Display Corporation, US, has seen its revenues for the three and six months ended June 30 rise to $1.35million and $2.53million respectively compared with $455 000 and $990 000 for the same period in 2002. The developer of organic light-emitting device technologies for flat panel displays also reduced its second quarter net loss to $4million, compared with $5.58million for the same quarter in 2002.

•  UK-based Photonic Solutions has been named as the exclusive UK and Ireland distributor of JDS Casix’s portfolio of laser crystal and optical components. The Edinburgh-based distributor is also offering the full range of Grenouille products from Swamp Optics, which are used to characterize ultrashort laser pulses.