It is not easy to grasp that POET as a novel IC manufacturing process.

Those to whom we try to explain POET seem to struggle to conceive of anything that does not have an end product sold for profit by a company. The concept that POET is Intellectual property, deeply protected by patent that then translates into a manufacturing process that makes products for other companies, causes potential investors concern as a money making enterprise to invest in. The reason is that neither the fabricator (Fab) of the manufacturer of the chips or the company that uses those chips belongs to POET Technologies Inc. (PTI). PTI intends to make its profits by selling its IP at various stages of the product development process from design to manufacturing. The economic benefits of this is hard to grasp for many investors particularly when we talk of POET being disruptive within the IC Industry. How so? - This needs more explanation.

The POET process combines optoelectical entities designed by Geoffrey Taylor (GT) and his technical team at the University of Connecticut, to work in the more advantageous semi-conductor medium of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) which has distinct benefits over Silicon CMOS Chips used for Integrated Circuits (Chips) by combining light (photons) as well as electrons for communications within and between chips. Nothing is faster than light so that speed, low power, resilience are easily understandable benefits of a light based technology but it is clear from other developments that POET is or will not be alone in utilising the benefits of light. Really, the most important benefit for companies that take up the POET over its rival companies, is that the POET manufacturing process combine multiples functions normally provided on a circuit board on one single chip. Consider the following statement by PTI's CEO.

'Suresh's Venkatsen (SV) CEO of PTI commenting on the recent agreement with Wavetek, said "Its manufacturing capabilities provide Poet the foundry services we need to meet the high volume and cost requirements that are critical to our success in delivering low-cost monolithically integrated optoelectronic transceivers”.

Here it is important that we understand what makes a clear distinctive benefit of the POET manufacturing process over, dare I say, all others competitive processes. To do this I reuse with thanks and great respect a quote that FJ recently provided

'The word integrated is often used to describe multiple components mounted on a single chip. As I recall Geoff went over a number of solutions in his EC presentation to provide some clarity around what is often reported as an integrated single chip solution as not the same as a monolithic solution performed with a single microfabrication flow.'

My understanding of this comment is that others firms combine entities on a single chip but not with a process using single microfabrication flow. It is the cost implications that this has for mass manufacturing IC that will give POET its disruptive effect on its industry. I believe this is what Geoffrey Taylor was getting at when he stated at the Empire Club event 'all roads lead to POET', there is nothing faster than moving light, there is nothing quicker than single flow manufacturing. Whether this mean that the patents protect the POET manufacturing process completely I cannot judge, but it is clearly important to be first past the post and to impose an industry standard.

I feel it is vital that we grasp this key feature of Geoffrey Taylor's genius The monolithic integrated POET chip, whatever effect it is designed and configured to produce, is made within a single microfabrication flow process during fabrication. This differentiates POET from other solutions in terms of cost to produce, through rapid mass manufacturing, a lower bill of parts and simpler packaging and assembly of products. Factors that are primary amongst it's other advantages of speed, low power, resilience and form factor. These combined benefits give rise to the disruption that will lead to an industry's realisation, that all roads lead to POET IP to gain such benefits.

Following yesterday's Wavetek announcement it is now quite clear that management have proceeded at pace with their commercialisation plan and appear to be on course to steal a march on their competition, but as yet I have not been able to perceive the other runners in the race with truly integrated monolithic solutions. Does this mean we are ahead of the baying pack.

What the consequences of PTI's management and technical teams efforts will be still remains to be seen but what we have seen already particularly by engaging a 'Pure Play' mass fabricator such as Wavetek is now certainly a strong motivation to become deeply invested in PTK right now . It will be interesting to see when the wider investment community realises what POET disruption actually means and the effect that has on the value of our investment.

Sula