I think the allure of the 40nm node was explained very well in a few posts. Here's one example:

http://agoracom.com/ir/POETTechnologies/forums/discussion/topics/621655-why-40nm/?message_id=1948098#message_1948098

POET is trying to break into the market so they need to provide a process that will unquestionably produce superior chips across all metrics (e.g., reduced power/heat, increased speed, etc.). I'm not sure if the statements you quoted suggest a sooner-than-expected deal. It could just be referring to the timeline PC has been projecting (Q4/Q1).

Nevertheless, I still see this as a short time horizon that only allows the traders a very small opportunity to play with our shares.

I haven't commented on the latest news releases, and there were some interesting bits that caught my attention, with one detail in particular that I found exciting.

The change of terminology from "TDK" to "PDK" may be significant. At the AGM, Lee S took time to explain that what POET calls a TDK has 2 components: "process design kits" used by chip designers to make application specific chip designs (i.e, arranging transistors to make the chip do what they want), and the "process transfer kits" used by the foundry to implement the design.

I noticed that the recent NR specifically used PDK - the one meant for the company that want's to design a POET chip. This suggests to me that there may be at least 3 parties that will bring POET to the market: 1) Synopsys 2) 3rd party foundry and 3) end-user of the PDK (possibly 2 of these in the short term).

This is the way I see things unfolding: The end user will use the PDK at 40 nm to produce a product and pay POET NRE money until the design is ready to be sold. POET will then receive licensing revenue on a per unit basis.

Looking back at the above linked post we see that global foundries lists the potential applications best suited for electronics at the 40nm node:

• Baseband SoC/DTV/Wireless
• Wireless Consumer
• Mobile Multimedia
• Mobile TV, Cable

Several mobile devices are given as examples. Recalling that POET included a section on their corporate presentation for integrating chips in mobile devices from 6 down to 1, and that they added and completed the radio frequency milestone I don't think it's a stretch to assume they are preparing to enter the mobile components market.

The fact that they named Synopsys and not the 3rd party foundry suggests to me (as it has to others) that the end user could be identified if the foundry was named.