Audio Transcript of C.C.: POET Technologies operational update 2016-02-16 - AOC
posted on
Apr 05, 2016 01:18PM
From Rainer's transcript regarding AOC:
25:17 – Answer: As we said on September 30th, our plan is to introduce these optical engines – what we call optical engines – they are single-chip monolithically integrated optical transceivers, and for explicit applications in short reach and very short reach data communications in the form of active optical cables, or what are called AOCs. Ahead of that, we will clearly market and sell individual components, like for example the detectors, opportunistically. Not only to drive early revenue, but also to vet our solutions in the market. We believe that the POET solution could provide an immediate margin of expansion to customers using our solutions, even in otherwise low-margin or commoditized product lines, so we are extremely bullish about our market penetration here. We are all trying to complete our first devices in the current quarter. Our next quarter remains the target for basic component-level functionality. And that’s the basis, if you will, for prototypes in the second half of the year just as Subhash mentioned earlier when we talked about our on-going milestones. It remains early in our evolution at this point to precisely define and provide a roll-out for our first product. However, we do expect this to feature our unique ability to integrate optical components along with control electronics. So we’re talking about VCSEL-based, monolithic, single-chip optical transceivers.
26:48 – Question: Another question about the active optical cable: Can you briefly explain the benefits of POET’s active optical cables and how customers would use it?
26:58 – Answer: Well, that’s a great question. I want to kind of separate this into two parts:
29:48 – Question: The next question is again along the lines of the product itself: Does POET expect to sell the complete active optical cable or just the transceiver chips that go into the cable? That is, will they contract manufacture out the connector?
30:04 – Answer: I think initially, while developing our solutions, we would be partnering on demonstrating a complete AOC and prototyping. But POET as a company does expect to focus on selling its integrated optical engines, and then we’d work with CMs, or contract manufacturers, who would attach the fibers and wrap the plastic around it.
30:27 – Question: Another question along the same lines: What do you see as being the biggest challenge for adoption of POET AOCs? What do you see as the biggest challenge for broad market adoption of the POET process?
30:40 – Answer: Of course the biggest challenge for POET at this point in it’s evolution is demonstrating the technology capabilities and mitigating technology risks. I mean, I think making progress in a startup company is all about mitigating risks, and for the most part there are three fundamental risk elements that any company faces. There’s financial risks, there’s market risks, and then there’s of course technology risks. So over the past four, five, six months, we believe that at POET, we’ve well mitigated the first two risks. So, one is the strength of our balance sheet and the second is from the significant vetting we’ve already done with key players in the market. That has allowed us to really mitigate, if you will, the financial risk and the market risk. So, today the risk of market adoption is driven more by the actual implementation of the base technology itself, demonstrating the proof points necessary over the next couple of quarters. Of course the fact that we’ve already demonstrated functional VCSELs, detectors, transistors, in the UConn labs has already mitigated some of these risks, but demonstrating commercially relevant devices in a high-volume manufacturing environment is really our next hurdle to jump.