Scottish chip-maker clinches deal with China as production milestone reached

Citation

(2012), "Scottish chip-maker clinches deal with China as production milestone reached", Microelectronics International, Vol. 29 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/mi.2012.21829aaa.003

Scottish chip-maker clinches deal with China as production milestone reached

Article Type: Industry news From: Microelectronics International, Volume 29, Issue 1

Compound Semiconductor Technologies Global Limited (CST), the Scotland-headquartered manufacturer of optoelectronics devices, has secured a six-figure supply agreement with one of China’s emerging tele and data communications developers. The company’s recent successes, which sees the High Blantyre-based company develop and manufacture customised laser chips for use in industrial, communications and defence applications, is set to double the company’s turnover to £5 m within the next three years.

The news comes as CST also reaches a production milestone, with the company having manufactured two million high performance laser chips since acquiring its new manufacturing premises in 2010.

Neil Martin, Chief Executive Officer of CST, said: “We have been making considerable headway in the Chinese market for some time and have now reached a key milestone, which underscores the significant investment we’ve made in developing our own proprietary modular process technology platforms. This commitment now sees CST firmly at the forefront of this global market”.

“Chinese companies are increasingly looking to develop their own operations beyond pure manufacturing. Even though these markets have been traditionally high volume low cost, we have achieved considerable success in working with such companies to incorporate their custom-built CST laser technologies into their products”.

“The development of our own modular technology platforms has allowed us to remain both competitive and agile. From a practical perspective, it means we don’t need to go back to R&D team every time a new requirement comes along, which accelerates time to market for our customers”.

The optoelectronics sector is experiencing rapid growth, with significant demand coming from the data and telecommunications sectors.

Compound Semiconductor Technologies Global Limited (CST) was founded in 1999, as a commercialisation vehicle for University of Glasgow and University of Strathclyde. The company received its first private equity investment in 2002 and a further investment in 2009, which saw CST expand out of its Glasgow facility. A total of £4.5 m has been raised to date.

CST purchased Intense Photonics in January 2010 and employs 27 staff at its High Blantyre, Scotland UK, facility.