Demand for Mobile Handsets to Drive Growth at IQE
Source/Type: News - Staff reports

May 30, 2006... Dr Drew Nelson, IQE President and CEO, said the company has continued to show strong growth in 2006. The company expects increasing handset demand to lead to increased demand for its gallium arsenide (GaAs) materials. He added that the increasing sophistication of handsets will further require more radio frequency components and therefore more GaAs. Dr. Nelson says its major outsourcing contracts are performing ahead of expectations. He also indicated that IQE has moved into full production of the qualifications it carried out in the second half of 2005, and he reported that new qualifications including several in the Far East continue well. He reported that the company’s opto electronics and vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) markets are strong, with growing demand for short distance communications, laser printing and copying, and laser mouse applications. Dr. Nelson explained that the markets for its silicon and wafer technology are also showing good strength. However, He said that the growth has increased the company’s need for capital funding. For this reason, the company secured a 3 million loan and 2 million overdraft facility towards the end of 2005.

Dr. Nelson concluded, "We are now moving into a situation in the market where outsourcing is featuring more prominently in many companies' strategic considerations because the semiconductor industry is now becoming capacity limited in several areas. We see this as an advantage to the Group as our breadth of product range, large scale production capacity and economies of scale are key considerations in attracting new business. We therefore look forward to continued strong growth as the Group’s capacity utilization continues to increase and the industry continues to expand."Company News Release

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