24 July 2018
Cardiff, UK. 24th July 2018: IQE plc (AIM: IQE; "IQE", the "Group"), the leading global supplier of advanced wafer products and wafer services to the semiconductor industry, announces that it has successfully renegotiated its long-term supply contract with a premier tier one customer for the supply of wafer products used in wireless applications, and in doing so extended the range of products covered and increased the overall IQE share of the customers’ epiwafer requirements . The contract is estimated to be worth in the order of USD60 million through to September 2019.
The supply contract guarantees IQE ~80% of the customer's demand for epiwafers and underlines the strength of the long-term customer relationship that IQE has developed over many years, having consistently been recognised as one of the customer’s best performing suppliers.
IQE's Wireless segment continues to leverage its global manufacturing facilities to fulfill the supply contract from its North American facilities in Massachusetts, and North Carolina, as well as its main wireless manufacturing site in Taiwan.
The contract covers epiwafer products for radio frequency (RF) applications including power amplifiers (PAs), low noise amplifiers (LNAs) and switches used in a wide range of connected devices such smartphones, tablets, PCs, routers and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Demand for compound semiconductor enabled devices is expected to underpin the roll-out of 5G over the coming years.
Daily Hill, Head of IQE’s Wireless Business Unit said:
”This contract revewal confirms our position as a clear technology leader and the number one choice for advanced semiconductor products for wireless applications.
”IQE’s epiwafer products have been behind the global adoption of 4G/LTE and WiFi systems and this major supply contract underlines the world-leading performance which IQE products provide for current and next-generation wireless applications including the global roll-out of 5G.”
Contacts:
IQE plc Drew Nelson Chris Meadows | +44 (0) 29 2083 9400 |
Canaccord Genuity Simon Bridges Richard Andrews | + 44 (0) 20 7523 8000 |
Peel Hunt Edward Knight | +44 (0) 20 7418 8900 |
NOTE TO EDITORS
About IQE
IQE is the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafers with products that cover a diverse range of applications, supported by an innovative outsourced foundry services portfolio that allows the Group to provide a 'one stop shop' for the wafer needs of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers.
IQE uses advanced crystal growth technology (epitaxy) to manufacture and supply bespoke semiconductor wafers 'epi-wafers' to the major chip manufacturing companies, who then use these wafers to make the chips which form the key components of virtually all high technology systems. IQE is unique in being able to supply wafers using all of the leading crystal growth technology platforms.
IQE's products are found in many leading-edge consumer, communication, computing and industrial applications, including a complete range of wafer products for the wireless industry, such as smartphones and wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi, base stations, GPS, and satellite communications; optical communications, optical storage, printing, thermal imagers, leading-edge medical products, barcode, ultra high brightness LEDs, a variety of advanced silicon based systems and high efficiency concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) solar cells.
The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to outsource wafer production to specialist foundries such as IQE in order to reduce overall wafer costs and accelerate time to market.
IQE also provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customised materials for specific applications and offers specialist technical staff to manufacture to specification either at its own facilities or on the customer's own sites. The Group is also able to leverage its global purchasing volumes to reduce the cost of raw materials. In this way IQE's outsourced services, provide compelling benefits in terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, thereby significantly reducing operating risk.
IQE operates multiple manufacturing and R&D facilities worldwide.