CONNECTING THE COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR COMMUNITY
June 2010 Volume 16 Number 4
Editor-in-Chief David Ridsdale
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Consultant Editor Richard Stevenson PhD
richardstevenson@angelbc.co.uk
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News Editor Dr.Su Westwater
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Director of SOLAR & IC Publishing Jackie Cannon
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Account Managers Shehzad Munshi
+44 (0)1923 690215 Tommy Beazley
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USA Representatives Brun Media Tom Brun
Tel: 724 539-2404
Janice Jenkins E:
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Director of Logistics Sharon Cowley
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Design & Production Manager Mitchell Gaynor
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Circulation Director Jan Smoothy
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Subscriptions Manager Debbie Higham
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Chief Operating Officer Stephen Whitehurst
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Directors
Bill Dunlop Uprichard – CEO Stephen Whitehurst – COO Jan Smoothy – CFO Haroon Malik, Jackie Cannon, Scott Adams, Sharon Cowley, Sukhi Bhadal
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dh@angelbcl.co.uk
When the company was founded in 1985 its primary goal was to provide GaAs ICs to defence companies working on the Star Wars project. But this business plan was left in tatters when communism was overthrown in Eastern Europe, and the US reacted by declining its interest in Star Wars and slashing the nation’s defence budget.
Anadigics then shifted focus, targeting new markets. But it failed to clinch any major deals for several years, lost millions, strained its relationships with investors and came close to bankruptcy. It could well have gone under, had it not been for a deal struck with a UK company to provide GaAs ICs for the emergent satellite TV industry. This contract brought the company close to break- even, and held the key to winning further investment.
By then the killer application was on the horizon: the cellular handset. Anadigics wanted a partner to develop its power amplifiers with, and Europe obliged, with the company teaming up with Ericsson. It was a win-win relationship, delivering rocketing revenues and healthy products for Anadigics.
But the glory days didn’t last long, with the company’s MESFET being trumped by the new kid on the block, the HBT. It’s been catch up time ever since, with the company continuing to also develop its satellite and cable TV businesses.
The latter of these is also being targeted by the other twenty five year old GaAs chipmaker, TriQuint. On page 15 it describes how GaAs can play a critical role in the delivery of advanced video, data and telephony services by cable. Silicon bipolar transistors have been the incumbent technology in that market for many decades, but III-Vs are making inroads by offering lower distortion, greater bandwidth and greater efficiency.
It will be interesting to see how well TriQuint, and Anadigics for that matter, fare in the cable TV market. Sales should be healthy for the foreseeable future, but if we’ve learnt anything from the last 25 years, it’s that it is impossible to predict all the long term twists and turns in the GaAs market. Where that will be in 2035, and whether it will include two 50 year veterans TriQuint and Anadigics, is anybody’s guess.
Richard Stevenson PhD Consultant Editor
June 2010
www.compoundsemiconductor.net 3
js@angelbcl.co.uk mg@angelbcl.co.uk sc@angelbcl.co.uk E:
tbrun@brunmedia.com
This year marks a significant anniversary for two of the world’s leading GaAs chipmakers, with Anadigics and TriQuint celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversaries. Both US stalwarts feature in this issue.
On page 24 you can read Anadigics’ story, a topsy-turvy journey that has been strongly influenced by events in Europe.
sm@angelbcl.co.uk tb@angelbcl.co.uk
Happy anniversary
jc@angelbcl.co.uk dr@angelbcl.co.uk
editorialview
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