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20 March 2007

CyOptics to acquire Apogee to expand 10 and 40Gb/s laser portfolio for optical networking

CyOptics Inc of Lehigh Valley, PA, USA has agreed to acquire Apogee Photonics of Allentown, PA. The combined company will employ 415 staff and have annual revenues of about $80m.

Apogee stems from T-Networks Inc (founded in 2000 by five former Bell Labs and Lucent researchers) merging in July 2005 with ASIP Inc of Somerset, NJ. The firm manufactures high-speed, integrated optical components for communications networks (from short-reach TDM links to long-reach DWDM links), including laser sources for the fast-growing 10Gb/s and emerging 40Gb/s markets.

CyOptics previously acquired Cenix (a maker of specialty packaging for chips ) in 2003 and TriQuint Semiconductor's Optoelectronics Division (which was had once been part of Lucent and later Agere ) in May 2005. CyOptics makes optical chips and components based on indium phosphide (InP) for integration into access, metro, and long-haul communications systems. The firm says the acquisition extends its high-speed source laser capabilities and gives it a comprehensive portfolio of InP-based transmit and receive optical chips and components for telecom and datacom applications.

“10Gb/s ports are really hitting their stride right now, accelerated by Ethernet at this speed,” according to Karen Liu, research director (Components) at Ovum-RHK. “10Gb/s ports overall will grow from 578,000 shipped in 2006 to over 3 million forecasted for 2011.”

Apogee’s 10 and 40Gb/s 1550nm Laser Integrated Modulator (LIM) supports optical link distances of up to 110km and incorporates integrated InP lasers, modulators and optical amplifiers in a standard 7-pin electro-absorption modulated laser (EML) -compatible package while providing higher output power and better dispersion performance than standard, monolithic EMLs, it is claimed. Apogee’s uncooled 1310nm 10Gb/s EML supports both 10Gb/s Ethernet and SONET links up to 10km and delivers the highest mask margin and bit error rate performance available, the firm claims. Also, Apogee is developing a family of uncooled coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM) EML lasers operating at up to 25Gb/s to support the deployment of next-generation 100Gb/s Ethernet optical links.

“The addition of the Apogee Photonics product family further expands our already broad product portfolio,” says CyOptics’ CEO Ed Coringrato. “The optoelectronics industry is continuing its consolidation and CyOptics is growing its revenue by offering our customers one-stop-shopping for best-in-class component solutions. Our primary integration focus is to serve Apogee Photonics’ customers with a continuity of supply, outstanding value and technical support, and continuous dialogue on our technology developments and product roadmaps.”

“The combination of Apogee Photonics and CyOptics offers highly complementary products and customers,” adds Apogee’s CEO Mike Decelle. “CyOptics is well positioned to address all of the high-growth markets for optical components, including 10Gb/s and 40Gb/s lasers and detectors for pluggable transceivers, tunable laser transmitters for agile optical networks, lasers and detectors in broadband access networks, and photonic integrated circuits (PICs), enabling the next-generation of optical network technology.”

* According to local Lehigh Valley news web-site The Morning Call, Apogee's CEO Mike Decelle will stay on for a transition period of up to six months while its 90 staff and manufacturing equipment move from its 50,000 square-foot facility. However, Coringrato and Decelle say it's likely there will be some job cuts because of redundant positions.

Visit Cyoptics: http://www.cyoptics.com

Visit Apogee: http://www.apogeephotonics.com