News in brief: IQE, Accent Optical and TDK
IQE looks forward to a better year
UK-based epiwafer supplier IQE posted sales of £18.8 million ($34.5 million) for its fiscal year ended December 31st 2003, down 18% on the 2002 figure.
With the effect of declining revenue exacerbated by the weak US dollar, the company recorded an operating loss £12.6 million, down from £22.0 million (with exceptional items contributing a further £96.2 million) in the previous year.
Despite the fall in revenues, IQE said that it actually increased wafer volumes by 28% to over 110,000 in 2003. IQE’s CEO and president Drew Nelson explained that the company’s aggressive pricing policy had contributed to the lower revenue figure.
Thanks to its raising of £17.8 million in November 2003, IQE now has a cash balance of £21.7 million. In fiscal 2003, the company registered a cash outflow of £10.1 million.
However, IQE’s board is confident about the coming year, saying it was “confident that the bottom of the industry downturn is behind us”.
TDK joins Blu-ray club
Japanese electronics manufacturer TDK has joined the Blu-ray Disc Founders (BDF) group. The move marks the first entry into the consortium from a maker of recording media.
TDK says that it has conducted a number of technical developments for the next-generation DVD equipment, which will provide drives that allow users to handle Blu-ray discs in the same manner as current DVD discs.
Matsushita recently announced that it would be introducing a Blu-ray DVD recorder this summer.
Accent goes for IPO
Accent Optical Technologies, a maker of process control and metrology systems for chip and wafer manufacturers, has filed a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for its proposed initial public offering (IPO) of shares in its common stock.
Merrill Lynch & Co will be the sole book-running manager for the public offering of the Bend, Oregon, company.
