Iqe Share Discussion Threads

[someuwin] 09/4/2018 08:58

I thought the direction of travel for non volatile memory was SSD (Solid State Drive) rather than HDD (Hard Disk Drive).

SSD - data stored on chip, no moving parts so faster access times and greater reliability. And smaller size etc.

HDD spinning disk, moving read / write head, motor, magnets. Bulky, heavy, costly, easily damaged etc. Old tech.

[edjge2] 09/4/2018 08:42

With short interest just wonder if this is a temp DCB. 111p looked bit preemptive of H&S fall. Short covering could mangle results.Headed 120p at present 8:52 but weather changes in an instant!
But is a stonking company as per sweenoid so plenty of profit in 120s.

[sweenoid] 09/4/2018 07:59

Maxwell
I am pretty sure that Apple/Finisar ‘news’ was false- news, they have only just ‘granted’ them $390million and it’s mainly for a facility to produce VCSEL arrays rather than wafers. As for validation , it’s something I have been banging on about for ages and where IQE have a PROVEN HUGE advantage over competitors.
I have also banged on about the shortage of both VCSEL wafers AND 3D sensing chips- the technology for both is hugely complex and betting good yield is critical.

You asked why Apple don’t grant or invest in IQE directly - I personally think what they HAVE done is GUARANTEED IQE a multi- year supply contract via its OEM’s. :-) ;-) IQE don’t need ££ for a factory - it’s being provided by the Welsh Assembly and local government :-) and rent free at that, all the £95milliin placing is likely going on reactors and the necessary R+D. By the way and at the risk of religion , APPLE are also funding AMS - the wafer level optics module supplier. People will eventually catch on this market has high barriers to entry and Apple and everyone else are scrambling for supply.

An update on Seagate’s HAMR hard drive technology
HAMR=heat assisted magnetic recording, and is ENABLED by VCSELS that will be supplied by IQE.

There is an insatiable demand for ‘memory’storage especially for cloud and data centres. Hard drives will HAVE to increase their storage capacities.As more and more data is required to be stored 2 competing technologies have emerged - MAMR championed by Western Digital and HAMR championed by Seagate. Obviously you will know which I prefer to win.;-)

This HAMR technology is scheduled to debut in late 2019 but it’s heartening to see the efficiency and reliability Seagate are achieving with its partners, the reliability of VCSEL driven recording has been attacked by rivals( they would, wouldn’t they) but the data shown is frankly astonishingly good.We already know that Seagate are able to incorporate this HAMR technology on conventional production lines, and that millions of test drives have already been produced.



This is going to be another huge market for IQE VCSEL technology , keep an eye on it
Dave

[maxwellsdemon] 08/4/2018 21:46

This is odd (see first link). It looks as if Apple are having a hell of a job aquiring their VCSELs???



The other puzzle is why Apple are validating VPECs epi wafers (see link below) when I would have thought that this logically would be done by the chip makers (e.g Luminar, Finisar and others)

Apple seem to lack faith in the chip makers delivering.

VCSELs are in IQE's DNA. I am sure that there are people at IQE who have the know how and materials to fabricate VCSEL chips at research volumes. I believe they have been at it for decades. I guess, what will be lacking is the equipment to manufacture in large volume. Instead of Apple funding Finisar why not IQE?.



............The report's sources dismissed the groundless market speculations that VPEC had failed the Apple validation............

[thecrunk] 08/4/2018 18:32

Well tomorrow the question of how much does the NASDAQ/US influence can be put to the test I think.

[picobird] 08/4/2018 10:51

thanks for the link grity, keep trying to understand this stuff & that article helped :)

[grity] 08/4/2018 10:30

Don’t think this has been posted ?
Great educational article gives us a mention too.

[sandlab] 08/4/2018 09:54

How many shares does the cat have? ;-)

[suffersnofools] 07/4/2018 18:31

Exactly.ALL companies have a level of short interest. There was a significant short position in IQE at 20p.......

[bocase] 07/4/2018 17:56

Kazoom:

I take your point and stand corrected..I think, but my point to B & B stands.

ie for every one institutional investor who thinks the price will fall, nine approximately, think it will rise and are the 'long' institutional holders less well researched than the shorters... I doubt it so would you swim against the tide or with it.

[horneblower] 07/4/2018 15:09

When you 'lend out' shares you don't have them any more, only the promise of getting them (or their value) back. The total number of shares never alters from 100%.

[aimingupward2] 07/4/2018 14:43

I know strange things can and do happen in the quantum world, but feel it is more sensible to limit the total number of shares to 100% - that, by definition, meaning 'all of them'.

If you accept double ownership, then 100% are owned by 'long' holders and 8.19% by 'short' holders. There is no need to delve into the quantum world and postulate that there are 108.19% of shares out there.

[kazoom] 06/4/2018 23:09

bocase 6 Apr '18 - 17:42 - 16107 of 16113 0 2

"The latest long position is therefore 91.81%."

Well actually NO. Holders of "Long positions" in the company actually currently own 108.19%.

8.19% of those shares are actually owned by two bodies : (1) Whoever the short borrowed them from and (2) whoever the shorter sold them too.

And they say quantum maths is hard !

[wattene] 06/4/2018 22:08

bocase: Re Times - ditto. Automated initial email reply saying that they take complaints very seriously...yeah, right!!

[edjge2] 06/4/2018 20:27

Bounced back from 120 made it again at close, could go either way on monday. AS posted above 135 needed for upswing. Enjoy the weekend all.

[bocase] 06/4/2018 19:10

B & B

Re. The Times.

As expected no response at all.

[sweenoid] 06/4/2018 18:02

Splendid


If VPEC passes the validation, the company is likely to become Apple's second supplier of epi wafers needed to manufacture VCSEL components of 3D sensors for iPhones, iPads and other devices. At the moment, the UK-based IQE is the sole supplier of VCSEL epi wafers.

So won’t get validation till May for their wafers, what it doesn’t say is that VCSEL array OEM’s like Lumentum and Finisar will have already have had massive experience and confidence in using IQE’s VCSEL wafers, and each ‘batch’ of modules they produce and send off to AMS have to be qualified, as does each reactor used.VPEC will get qualified and I am sure Apple will look to a 3rd source but IQE has secured pole position by a mile. If VPEC’s yield and quality is not superb, they are in for trouble.

Thanks Maxwell
Remember Apple’s new iPad PRO AND almost certainly ALL 3 flavours of the 2018 iPhone WILL be 3D sensing.

Within a month ALL of our major OEM’s will have reported their 1st 1/4 2018 earnings and more importantly given us a flavour of their 2 nd quarter when the VCSEL ramp REALLY gets going , it’s going to be a very good newsflow time for IQE IMHO , I am also betting the likes of Qorvo and Skyworks continue to be bullish on IOT 5G etc and Macom will hopefully be starting to ship or at least start talking positively about GAN ON SILICON for RF basestations orders

An exciting 4 weeks ahead, gotta say this volatility is suiting me down to the ground
S

[belt n braces] 06/4/2018 17:51

Bocase

The £ 1.40 brigade will be long gone, out at the first spike. But otherwise I like your reply.

How did you guys get on with the Times, any response?

[maxwellsdemon] 06/4/2018 17:46

.........The report's sources dismissed the groundless market speculations that VPEC had failed the Apple validation. Other supply chain sources have revealed that it will still take a few weeks for the validation process to be finished, and therefore the validation result will not become clear until April-May at the earliest.

If VPEC passes the validation, the company is likely to become Apple's second supplier of epi wafers needed to manufacture VCSEL components of 3D sensors for iPhones, iPads and other devices. At the moment, the UK-based IQE is the sole supplier of VCSEL epi wafers..........

groundless ???

[bocase] 06/4/2018 17:42

Belt and Braces

The latest long position is therefore 91.81%.

When I think of investing, I try to take all the known facts into account.

The institutions who scrambled for the shares at £1.40 at the placing would have been highly profitable organisations that carry out deep research and back this up with their own cash. Do you ever consider who makes these buying decisions and why?

You pays your money and takes your choice!!

[suffersnofools] 06/4/2018 17:39

A strong close on 1/4/D charts. Nice pin bar / hammer. Expect a test of resistance at 135p next week.

[belt n braces] 06/4/2018 17:30

The latest short position is noted at 8.19%. There may have been some shorts profit taking today which in part may explain today’s rise?

When I think of investing, I try and take all the known facts into account. The percentage short is one of these. The punters on this board may view the shorters as Muppets, but they are not. They are usually highly profitable organisations that carry out deep research and back this up with their own cash. Do you ever consider who makes these short decisions and why?

[raggyiom] 06/4/2018 16:50

The volitility is disturbing and unsettling. As I've said previously, it needs to steady up however with the last week's events it's not suprising to have come off.

I firmly believe we will have some bumps but a move towards 150s in the next month which is fair value.

R