IQE makes advanced silicon and compound semiconductor materials that chip companies use in wireless communication circuits. These semiconductors allow products such as smartphones to offer high speed communication with less power consumption. So, with connected devices and smartphones becoming increasingly complex, demand for IQE's wafer products has soared.
- Robust smartphone-driven demand
- Booming optoelectronics business
- Earnings growing fast
- Shares look cheap compared to those of peers
- Mixed semiconductor outlook
- No dividend payout
Smartphone sales - these accounted for just 22 per cent of handset sales last year - are expected by industry analysts to grow at 28 per cent per year, and to surpass 1bn units by 2015. So, with IQE's wafers sitting in a third of all smartphones, including Apple's iPhone, it's little surprise that IQE's wireless division - which generates around 75 per cent of group sales - reported 21 per cent underlying sales growth in the first half.