Interesting for sure.....would be nice to hear of a similar "joint venture" for Poet!

"Earlier this month, Rickman and Rockley revealed details of a joint venture deal with China’s Hengtong Optic-Electric to manufacture silicon photonics transceiver modules. Valued at $42 million, the Hengtong-led co-investment will commercialize Rockley’s particular take on silicon photonics.

The modules that result are intended to meet the burgeoning market for high-speed data communication, including carrier networks, data centers, and high-performance computing. Rickman said, "Demand for high-speed optical interconnects is increasing at an unprecedented rate, and technology providers must demonstrate capacity to deliver solutions at high volume scale. Hengtong is a recognized manufacturing leader for fiber-optic technologies, and we are excited to partner with them."

"According to one analyst, the global market for optical network hardware will grow at double-digit rates and be worth nearly $25 billion by 2021. Mushrooming mobile data traffic, high demand for data centers and new 5G networks are just some of the drivers of that predicted boom. Rickman observed: "This is a growing market but it’s an under-supplied sector and a lot of people have a lot of problems manufacturing these products."

Rockley’s transceivers are slated to appear later this year, with initial plans for three 100G models offering different distance capabilities. "They will be made to industry standard specifications but better than the competition by being less expensive to produce and with a smaller energy demand," Rickman said. And those products will provide the first chance to test his thesis: is bigger better?"