STMicroelectronics and MicroOLED

STMicroelectronics and MicroOLED Move to Revolutionize High-Resolution Micro-Displays for Consumer Applications

Cooperation agreement and minority investment in MicroOLED to play a leading role in the fast-growing market of high-resolution OLED micro-displays

Geneva, August 30, 2012 -

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and a leading supplier of imaging technologies, today announced a strategic agreement with MicroOLED, a Grenoble, France-based company dedicated to the development and commercialization of state-of-the-art organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), as well as a minority equity investment of approximately 6 million Euros in the company. With exceptionally high resolution and extremely low power consumption that is the most power efficient on the market, OLEDs are ideally suited to micro-displays in a wide range of portable applications, spanning from camera viewfinders, video goggles to medical and security applications.

 At about half the power consumption of competitive displays, MicroOLED’s cutting-edge technology provides superior pixel density for enhanced image quality. The technology produces OLEDs with pixel densities double those of alternate displays and contrast ratios 10 to 100x better. To complement these technology advantages, ST brings its outstanding manufacturing machine, broad consumer-market expertise, and deep IP portfolio, in the form of design, development and supply services for new micro-displays, targeting a broader range of customers and applications with the next generation of the technology.

ST owns several fully integrated CMOS processes that will be used to develop a complete product roadmap. With a large portfolio of design IP, ST will contribute to better integrate micro-display functions that today are on external controllers, which add cost and complexity to the final solution. ST’s experience in designing for low-power is key to enabling applications like video goggles.

“In recognition of the substantial growth opportunities for Electronic View Finders in digital still cameras and other applications, and in line with ST’s strategy to diversify and enhance our offerings in Imaging, we sought and found in MicroOLED the high-resolution OLED micro-displays with the best performance/quality and lowest power consumption on the market,” said Eric Aussedat, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of STMicroelectronics’ Imaging, BiCMOS ASIC and Silicon Photonics Group. “Bringing ST’s deep manufacturing and technology expertise, customer relationships and IP portfolio will accelerate adoption of OLEDs and significantly expand the market.”

“Dramatically increasing the pixel density and the picture quality while cutting the power consumption in half has greatly impressed customers,” said Eric Marcellin-Dibon, CEO and cofounder of MicroOLED. “By establishing our strategic relationship with ST, and being in a position to leverage their strong manufacturing capabilities, we’ll be able to bring the technology to the next step, expand the potential market, and help consumers see the world through amazing low-power micro-displays.”

About MicroOLED MicroOLED makes highly power-efficient micro-displays with superior image quality for mobile near-to-eye viewing devices used by consumers, medical professionals, and the defense and security industry. Through its micro-displays, MicroOLED makes it easier to integrate high definition in camera viewfinders, 3D goggles, head-mounted displays, and other visual devices. The company’s exclusive high efficiency OLED (organic light-emitting diode) technology license provides significant advantages in high efficiency, contrast, uniformity, and image sharpness making its micro-displays superior in quality to the full HD image in today’s flat screens. MicroOLED’s products also benefit from very low power consumption. Founded in 2007, MicroOLED is a privately held company with headquarters, R&D and a new production facility located in Grenoble, a renowned center of excellence in France for chipset and nanotechnology development.

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About STMicroelectronics ST is a global leader in the semiconductor market serving customers across the spectrum of sense and power technologies and multimedia convergence applications. From energy management and savings to trust and data security, from healthcare and wellness to smart consumer devices, in the home, car and office, at work and at play, ST is found everywhere microelectronics make a positive and innovative contribution to people's life. By getting more from technology to get more from life, ST stands for life.augmented.

In 2011, the Company’s net revenues were $9.73 billion. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com.

Source Link: http://www.st.com/internet/com/press_release/c2689.jsp

Cree Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2012

DURHAM, N.C., August 7, 2012 - Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE), a market leader in LED lighting, today announced revenue of $306.8 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, ended June 24, 2012. This represents a 26% increase compared to revenue of $243.0 million reported for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 and an 8% increase compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2012. GAAP net income for the fourth quarter was $10.0 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, a decrease of 49% year-over-year compared to GAAP net income of $19.8 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 was $29.2 million, or 0.25 per diluted share, a decrease of 4% year-over-year compared to non-GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 of $30.6 million, or $0.28 per diluted share.

For fiscal year 2012, Cree reported revenue of $1.16 billion, which represents an 18% increase compared to revenue of $988 million for fiscal 2011. GAAP net income was $44 million, or $0.39 per diluted share, a decrease of 70% compared to $147 million, or $1.33 per diluted share for fiscal 2011. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for fiscal year 2012 was $109 million, or $0.95 per diluted share, a decrease of 42% compared to $187 million, or $1.70 per diluted share, for fiscal 2011. Cree generated $242 million of operating cash flow and $130 million of free cash flow (cash flow from operations less capital expenditures) during fiscal 2012.

"We finished the year strong in our fiscal fourth quarter with record revenue and non-GAAP earnings per share on the high end of our target range," stated Chuck Swoboda, Cree Chairman and CEO. "Overall, LED lighting adoption continues to increase and we remain focused on being the leader in innovation to grow our business by enabling our customers to realize the tremendous benefits of LED technology. While we are encouraged by our progress, the macroeconomic environment is impacting our growth outlook in the near term."

• Gross margin decreased 10 basis points from Q3 of fiscal 2012 to 34.8% on a GAAP basis and increased 70 basis points to 36.3% on a non-GAAP basis.
  
• Cash and investments increased $34 million from Q3 of fiscal 2012 to $745 million.
  
• Accounts receivable (net) decreased $16 million from Q3 of fiscal 2012 to $152 million, with days sales outstanding of 45.
  
• Inventory decreased $8 million from Q3 of fiscal 2012 to $189 million and represents 85 days of inventory.

Recent Business Highlights:

• Released our new CS Series LED linear luminaire to deliver fast payback to low bay lighting applications;
  
• Introduced the XLamp® XP-G2 LED to deliver luminaire manufacturers up to 20 percent more lumens per watt and 2.5 times the lumens-per-dollar over the original XP-G LED;
  
• Expanded our CR Series LED downlights, offering high performance and low prices for mainstream residential and commercial lighting applications;
  
• Raised the industry standard with a new 170 lumen-per-watt prototype LED light bulb which leverages breakthrough innovations to optimize performance, lower cost and drive LED lighting adoption;
  
• Enabled the largest municipal street lighting project in China, as the Beibei district of Chongqing recently completed the installation of 20,000 street lights featuring 1.9 million Cree LEDs;
  
• Settled our patent infringement litigation with SemiLEDs. As part of the settlement, SemiLEDs agreed to the entry of an injunction effective October 1, 2012 that prohibits the importation and sale of the SemiLEDs accused products in the United States and has made a one-time payment to us for past damages.

Business Outlook:
For its first quarter of fiscal 2013 ending September 23, 2012, Cree targets revenue in a range of $305 million to $325 million with GAAP gross margin targeted to be 36%+/- and non-GAAP gross margin targeted to be 37%+/-. Our GAAP gross margin targets include stock-based compensation expense of approximately $2.1 million, while our non-GAAP targets do not. Operating expenses are targeted to increase by approximately $2 million on a GAAP basis and approximately $1 million on a non-GAAP basis. The tax rate is targeted at 19.0% for fiscal Q1. GAAP net income is targeted at $10 million to $16 million, or $0.09 to $0.14 per diluted share. Non-GAAP net income is targeted in a range of $27 million to $33 million, or $0.23 to $0.28 per diluted share. The GAAP and non-GAAP net income targets are based on an estimated 116.0 million diluted weighted average shares. Targeted non-GAAP earnings exclude expenses related to the amortization of acquired intangibles and stock-based compensation expense of $0.14 per diluted share.

About Cree, Inc.
Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and making energy-wasting traditional lighting technologies obsolete through the use of energy-efficient, mercury-free LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor products for power and radio frequency (RF) applications.
Cree's product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and RF devices. Cree products are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, power supplies and solar inverters.
For additional product and company information, please refer to www.cree.com.

Panasonic's LED Light Bulb Wins IDEA Gold Award in the U.S.

Panasonic's clear LED light bulb has swept gold awards at three competitive design contests in the U.S., Germany and Japan, winning raves for its incandescent-like sparkling light effects.

Osaka, Japan - Panasonic Corporation announces that they have won the Gold Award in the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) sponsored International Design Excellence Awards 2012 (IDEA 2012) for the 20W LED lamp Clear Type (Model for markets outside Japan: LDAHV4L27SCG, Model for the Japanese market: LDA4L/C)^*1.
The Gold-winning LED lamp Clear Type provides sparkling light, just like a clear incandescent light bulb. Using Panasonic's proprietary light emission and diffusion technologies, this LED light bulb has achieved virtually the same size, shape, light source position, light color, brightness and light distribution as clear incandescent light bulbs commonly used worldwide. Its similarity to a conventional clear bulb in terms of its shape and quality of light makes users feel comfortable with it in their homes, encouraging consumers to replace conventional bulbs with long-life energy-saving LED bulbs. Therefore, it is expected to contribute greatly to global energy-saving efforts.
The LED lamp Clear Type has also obtained Gold Awards at the 2011 Good Design Award in Japan and the 2012 iF Product Design Award in Germany, sweeping Gold awards at three competitive design contests in the U.S., Germany and Japan. The international acclaim received by the bulb also includes the 2012 Universal Design Award in Germany and the 2012 red dot design award also in Germany.

[Features of the LED lamp Clear Type]

(1) LED technology that produces sparkling light similar to that of a clear incandescent light bulb

(2) Works with a wide variety of lighting fixtures, as it is very similar to the clear incandescent light bulb in terms of shape and light quality^*2.

(3) Energy-saving and long-life (Consumes about 78% less energy, and lasts about 26 times longer than an incandescent light bulb)^*3.

Notes:

*1. Announced by the Industrial Designers Society of America on July 2, 2012.

*2. May not work with all light fixtures, depending on the bulb dimension, heat emission or other specifications of the fixture

*3. Comparison between the model LDA4L/C for the Japanese market (rated power of 4.4 W, rated life of 40,000 hours, and total flux of 210 lumens) and a 100-volt 20-watt light bulb (rated power of 20 W, rated life of 1,500 hours, and total flux of 175 lumens) as specified in the Japan Industrial Standards JIS C7501 "Tungsten filament lamps for general lighting purposes." The rated life is the number of hours of use until the total luminous flux (brightness) becomes 70% of the initial value. The rated life shows an average value and is not guaranteed.

			Model for markets outside Japan LDAHV4L27CG Model for the Japanese market LDA4L/C
Product site: http://www.panasonic.co.uk/html/en_GB/Products/Lighting/Overview/4725139/index.html Design site: http://panasonic.net/design/

[About IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards)]

Started in 1980, the IDEA program fosters business and public understanding about the impact of industrial design excellence on the quality of life and the economy. The Henry Ford houses IDEA winners in its permanent collection to continue to tell the story of American innovation.

About Panasonic

Panasonic Corporation is a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of electronic products in three business fields, consumer, components & devices, and solutions. Based in Osaka, Japan, the company recorded consolidated net sales of 7.85 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2012. Panasonic's stock is listed on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and New York (NYSE:PC) Stock Exchanges. The company has the vision of becoming the No. 1 Green Innovation Company in the Electronics Industry by the 100th year of its founding in 2018. For more information on Panasonic, its brand and commitment to sustainability, visit the company's website at http://panasonic.net/.

*The content in the following news releases is accurate at the time of publication but may be subject to change without notice. Please note therefore that these documents may not always contain the most up-to-date information.

 

SOURCE LINK: http://panasonic.co.jp/corp/news/official.data/data.dir/en120702-5/en120702-5.html