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13 Feb 2004
Including news from Alcatel, Cambridge Display Technology, Strategies Unlimited and more.
• Alcatel of France and Draka of the Netherlands plan to combine their optical fiber and cable businesses. The agreement will see Draka owning 50.1% of the new venture with Alcatel holding the remaining 49.9%. The companies expect to complete the merger by the end of the second quarter of 2004.
• Sumitomo Chemical of Japan and Cambridge Display Technology of the UK are joining forces to develop polymer OLEDs (PLEDs) for use in flat-panel displays. The companies plan to focus their efforts on solution-processable phosphorescent materials, such as dendrimers, which exhibit high efficiencies and good stability.
• Vitex Systems, a US maker of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, has raised $24 million in equity financing at the initial close of its series B funding round. The company says the round will remain open for an additional 60 days to accommodate other investors. Vitex develops thin-film moisture barriers that are used to package OLED displays.
• The recovery in the telecoms sector and the growing use of 10 gigabit optical links will drive steady growth in the long-wavelength laser and transceiver market, according to Strategies Unlimited. In its report, Long-wavelength, high-data rate lasers 2004, the US-based market analyst predicts the market will recover in 2004 and grow at a compound annual rate of 24% by 2008.
• Lumenis, the Israeli maker of medical lasers, has announced that its ordinary shares have been delisted from the NASDAQ. In a letter to its customers, the company explained that “the NASDAQ delisted our stock because we were unable to file the auditor’s report for our third quarter financial statements in a timely manner”. Lumenis’s ordinary shares are now being traded on the Pink Sheets.
• Finland is to become the eleventh member state of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Following official ratification of the agreement, Finland is expected to formally join the ESO on July 1, 2004.
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