Business briefs

• New for this year's Photonex07, taking place on 17-18th October 2007 at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry, UK, is an executive panel discussion at which industry executives will share their views on current issues facing the photonics market. An exhibition of 135 companies will feature a range of manufacturers, distributors, system integrators and universities, showcasing their new products and services.

• Amplitude Laser is a new US subsidiary formed by the French companies Amplitude Systemes and Amplitude Technologies. Headquartered in Boston and with an office in San Diego, it will provide sales and service support to the North American territory. Amplitude Systemes develops and manufactures diode-pumped ultrafast solid-state lasers for scientific and industrial applications, while Amplitude Technologies specializes in ultra-high energy Ti:Sapphire ultrafast lasers.

• Telops, a manufacturer of optronic test systems, has entered a strategic business alliance with Opto-System in Japan. Opto-System will commercialize Telops' optical analysis product line in the country, while Telops will promote and distribute Opto-System's laser diode and photodetector-related products.

• LG.Philips LCD, the Seoul-based manufacturer of liquid-crystal displays, reported its biggest profit in more than three years after a shortage drove up prices of computer screens. Net income for Q3 2007 was 524 billion won ($570 million), compared with a deficit of 321 billion won a year earlier. Sales, including revenue from overseas affiliates, rose 43 percent to 3.95 trillion won. The company plans to boost capital spending to 3 trillion won next year, 2.5 trillion won of which will be invested in the eighth-generation manufacturing line, which is due to begin production in the first half of 2009.

• Third-quarter global demand for LCD panels rose 12% compared to the previous three months, according to figures from Lehman Brothers Holdings. Sales of LCD televisions are forecast to rise 86% to 78 million sets this year, while plasma TVs will increase 22% and glass-tube TVs will fall 18%. Growth in demand will outpace supply in 2008 as combined spending by LCD panel makers is poised to decline 10%, the third consecutive yearly drop, according to the company.

• Goodrich has been awarded a five-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract by the US Army worth $187 million for up to 855 AN/AVR-2B(V) laser warning systems, which detect rangefinders, target designators and beam rider laser-aided systems. The company has to date delivered over 8500 aviation and ground laser warning systems to the US and other armed forces around the world.

• A contract worth $4.4 million for long-range night vision surveillance systems has been received by the Optical Systems division of Zygo, a supplier of optical metrology and precision optics. The systems will serve a variety of applications for the US departments of defense, energy and homeland security.

• AIXTRON, a provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, has acquired Nanoinstruments, a manufacturer of chemical vapor deposition and plasma enhanced CVD systems for nanomaterials. AIXTRON Nanoinstruments will focus on R&D and industrial-scale equipment for carbon nanotubes. Key members of the Nanoinstruments management team will join the new AIXTRON Nanoinstruments technology unit, including company founders Ken Teo and Nalin Rupesinghe.

People

• Pirjo Tuomi has been appointed senior vice president of worldwide cable and field operations by OpVista, as part of the company's growth in optical network solutions. She most recently served as senior VP of sales for BigBand Networks.