NOVEMBER 6, 2007 -- Ignis Photonyx (search for Ignis), a 100% owned subsidiary of Ignis ASA, has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Accelink Technologies Co. Ltd. (search for Accelink), covering "significant deliveries" of athermal and thermal arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs) and optical splitters over the next three years. A formal supply agreement will be finalized later in Q4 of this year, and the two companies will also jointly develop new chip design and packaging technologies.
Accelink is a Chinese optical component provider, offering high-performance fiber-optic components, integrated optical subsystems, and test instruments for optical fiber communications systems. Under the terms described in the LOI, Ignis Photonyx will meet all of Accelink's demands for athermal AWGs and at least 50 percent of the demand for thermal AWGs and optical splitters.
In 2007, Ignis Photonyx delivered approximately $1 million worth of thermal AWGs to Accelink and expects sales to the company to increase to $2.5 to 3 million in 2008. The agreement is expected to significantly improve operational cash flow next year, Ignis believes. Delivery volumes under the agreement are expected to grow by 25 to 30 percent annually in 2009-2010.
"This is a breakthrough contract in the large and growing Chinese market", says Thomas Ramm, Ignis ASA's CEO. "The major operators are preparing to rollout higher bandwidth networks, and through this partnership with Accelink we can capture a larger share of this major market opportunity."
In addition to the supply contract, Accelink and Ignis Photonyx will enter into joint development of a new thermal AWG technology with regards to chip design and packaging. Ignis will also use Accelink as its preferred packaging partner.
Ignis' current AWG-technologies for WDM-PON networks have not yet been included in the agreement, but may be included in future agreement expansions.
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