IQE renegotiaties long-term supply contract with unnamed customer

Semiconductor wafer products and services company IQE has successfully renegotiated its long-term supply contract with an unnamed “premier tier one” customer for the supply of wafer products used in wireless applications, it announced on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm said that in doing so, it extended the range of products covered and increased the overall IQE share of the customers’ epiwafer requirements.

It said the contract was estimated to be worth in the order of $60m through to September 2019.

The supply contract guaranteed IQE around 80% of the customer's demand for epiwafers, with the board saying it underlined the strength of the long-term customer relationship that IQE had developed over “many years”, having consistently been recognised as one of the customer’s best performing suppliers.

IQE's wireless segment was reportedly continuing 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 covered epiwafer products for radio frequency applications including power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, and switches which IQE said were used in a “wide range” of connected devices such smartphones, tablets, PCs, routers and other ‘internet of things’ devices.

Demand for compound semiconductor enabled devices was expected to underpin the roll-out of 5G over the coming years, the board added.

“This contract renewal confirms our position as a clear technology leader and the number one choice for advanced semiconductor products for wireless applications,” said IQE’s head of wireless Daily Hill.

“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.”