NeoPhotonics expands reach via Chinese buy-out
NeoPhotonics, the optical module supplier and chip manufacturer based in San Jose, CA, has completed its merger with Photon Technology Co. of Shenzhen, China.
According to the US firm, the acquisition positions the merged entity, which will be called NeoPhotonics, as a "top-tier" optical component manufacturer.
Revenue is expected to exceed $50 million in 2005, while the company now boasts more than 1200 employees and 100 customers, including key network equipment suppliers.
Photon Technology was set up in 1993 and is said to be China's largest active component manufacturer in the fiber-optic sector. NeoPhotonics became the largest shareholder in the company earlier this year when it acquired one-third of all outstanding shares formerly owned by the Chinese state.
NeoPhotonics specializes in planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) featuring integrated components, which are designed for long-haul, metropolitan and access networks.
And it is the access area that NeoPhotonics' CEO Tim Jenks is particularly excited about:
"The merged company [has] a complete line of active and passive modules from the core to the edge of the network "“ and a particularly strong portfolio for the booming fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) sector," said Jenks.
The CEO says that FTTP is already a market worth close to $1 billion worldwide, and the high-speed access technology appears to be penetrating fastest in the economies of Taiwan, China and Korea.
NeoPhotonics says that its photonic integration will ultimately drive lower costs and improve the efficiency of optical networks, allowing faster deployment of new, high-bandwidth, services.
"Key market opportunities include the integration of active lasers with passive filtering and alignment on PLC substrates for low-cost triplexers used in "˜triple-play' FTTP access networks," claims the company.
The merged company's headquarters will remain in San Jose, where NeoPhotonics has a wafer fabrication facility. The bulk of device assembly will take place in Shenzhen, while research and development activity will continue in San Jose, Shenzhen and Beijing.
