Laser Industry Report

North American optoelectronics markets continue to boomAccording to a new report by Frost & Sullivan (San Jose, CA) on North American optoelectronics markets, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), optocouplers, photodetectors and laser diodes generated revenues of $1.97 billion in 1999. The optoelectronics market, driven by the booming telecommunications market, is forecasted to continue extraordinary growth, totaling $10.11 billion by 2006, as manufacturers bring out new and improved technologies across different segments and continue to meet the needs of demanding end-user industries. The study identifies LEDs, photodetectors and laser diodes as the fastest-growing segments.JDSU sells Zurich subsidiary to Nortel for DOJ approval of SDL mergerThe US Department of Justice has cleared the proposed merger between JDS Uniphase Corporation (JDSU; Ottawa, Ont., Canada and San Jose, CA) and SDL Inc. (San Jose, CA) in light of JDSU's agreement to sell its Zurich, Switzerland, subsidiary to Nortel Networks (Boston, MA). Nortel Networks will acquire JDSU's Zurich subsidiary (which designs and manufactures 980-nm pump-laser chips) for Nortel Networks common stock valued at $2.5 billion, as well as up to an additional $500 million in Nortel Networks common stock payable to the extent that Nortel Networks' purchases do not meet certain levels under new and existing programs through Dec. 31, 2003. Completion of the transaction is subject to completion of JDSU's pending merger with SDL Inc. In addition, JDSU and Nortel Networks have entered into other purchase and supply contracts with each other, which are expected to enhance their ongoing relationship. Stephen Reilly, general manager of the Zurich-based subsidiary, will continue to lead the Zurich team, reporting to Liam Nagle, VP of operations, High-Performance Optical Component Solutions, at Nortel Networks.Optoelectronics push semiconductor market over $200 billionThe optoelectronics market, which includes laser devices and image sensors, experienced year-end sales growth of 69.7% in 2000, totaling $9.8 billion, and helped to push worldwide semiconductor sales above $200 billion for the first time in history, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (San Jose, CA). "Driven by sales of communications solutions for data networking, broadband, wireless, optoelectronics, and the continued demand for the personal computer, the year-end sales numbers represent a 37% growth rate for our industry over last year," said George Scalise, SIA president. "This was a very exciting year for our industry and reaching an all-time record high in sales of $204 billion is a great way to close the books for year 2000."Bandwidth9 increases manufacturing capacity for tunable VCSELsBandwidth9 Inc. (Fremont, CA) is expanding its Atlanta Systems Products Division manufacturing facility in Duluth, Georgia by about 50,000 sq. ft. to increase production capacity for its tunable VCSEL transmission modules for metro-area optical networks. The Atlanta Systems Division expects to become ISO9000-certified later this year and has already been awarded a Top Performing Vendors Award from Lucent Technologies for quality in design and manufacturing.Also in the news . . .Net sales totaled $53.8 million for the first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2000 at Rofin-Sinar (Hamburg, Germany and Plymouth, MI), 62% over the same quarter of fiscal 2000. The original Rofin-Sinar group contributed $35.2 million and the Baasel Lasertech group $18.6 million. . . . AXT Inc. (Fremont, CA) reported record revenues from continuing operations for the year ended Dec. 31, 2000 of $121.5 million, up 61% over 1999. The fourth quarter brightened further for AXT with the introduction of their first VCSEL wafers and a significant brightness increase in their green LED products.

Hassaun A. Jones-Bey