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GigOptix Announces Leadership Position in Point-to-Point Wireless Backhaul Market with Production Volume Delivery of E-Band Radio Chipsets
[April 16, 2014]

GigOptix Announces Leadership Position in Point-to-Point Wireless Backhaul Market with Production Volume Delivery of E-Band Radio Chipsets


SAN JOSE, Calif. --(Business Wire)--

GigOptix, Inc (NYSE MKT: GIG), a leading supplier of advanced high speed semiconductor components for use in long-haul, metro, Cloud connectivity, data centers, consumer electronics links and interactive applications, through optical and wireless communications networks, today announced leadership position in point-to-point (PtP) wireless backhaul with production volume delivery and continuous revenue growth of E-Band radio chipsets, and, the appointment of industry veteran Sushil Kumar to the newly created role of Sr. Director of IC Development for the Wireless Product Line. Mr. Kumar's appointment is effective immediately.

Strong Wireless Product Line Growth

Holding true to GigOptix's innovative business strategy to gain access to advanced technologies and partner with some of the most highly skilled technical teams in the world, GigOptix's Wireless Product line was launched in June 2012 when GigOptix augmented its internal GaAs power amplifier program with the license of the Silicon Germanium Millimeterwave Technology from IBM for E-band chipsets, for both 71-76GHz and 81-86GHz frequency bands.

"Today we are proud to announce that we have received a substantial purchase order of $1.5 million of our leading E-Band devices from one Tier 1 customer. In comparison, the total fiscal 2013 revenue from the Wireless Product Line was $1.7 million. With the strong demand that we have seen so far this year, and considering our current GaAs power amplifier backlog, the Wireless Product Line is in an excellent position to about double the revenue of E-Band devices in 2014 compared to the previous year," said Dr. Raluca Dinu, Vice President and General Manager of the High-Speed Communications division at GigOptix, Inc.

GigOptix EXP7602-DNT and EXP8603-DNT devices were the first GaAs E-band high performance power amplifiers with general availability - since September 2013 - and include integrated power detectors specifically designed to meet ANSI and ETSI (News - Alert) requirements. Among other best in class RF performance metrics, the amplifiers have exceptionally good linearity, OIP3's better than 31dBm, and typical power dissipation lower than 2.2W.

"This is an exciting time at GigOptix for the wireless product team with such positive acceptance of our products in these early stages of the market. With increasing shipments of RF chipsets we have great momentum to continue to lead the market with best in class differentiated products. The Wireless Product Line is following a visionary path demonstrating GigOptix' relentless roadmap innovation." said Dr. Dinu. "GigOptix's roadmap continues to lead the industry with improved performance, lower costs, and higher levels of integration. Customers can expect to receive samples of the new integrated SiGe transceiver chipset in Q3 fiscal 2014."

The E-Band radio market, still in its early stages only two years ago, is entering its maturity stage with significant volume deployment. Market estimates are that approximately 3,000 E-Band radios per month are currently being shipped and, based on strong demand from Tier 1 customers, the number of deployed radios is expected to grow to 6,000 per month with total shipments in 2014 in excess of 50,000 radios. The demand for E-Band radios in the first few months of 2014 has been very strong, driven by the deployment of LTE (News - Alert) cellular infrastructure in support of the ever growing demand for mobile data for smartphones. If the current trend continues it is expected that in 2015 the E-Band radio will become one of the most deployed solutions for wireless back-hauling with volumes in the range of200,000 radios in 2015 and doubling in 2017.



The deployment of small cells will be part of the second wave of LTE deployment with volume installation to start in 2015 and it will be addressed by V-Band devices, 60GHz band. With small cell density expected to be one order of magnitude greater than regular cells in urban areas, the demand for V-band radios is expected to boom in the next two years with volumes at much higher than E-Band. GigOptix is also uniquely positioned to be a dominant supplier in V-band chipsets based on our specialized core skills, leading RF performance, and disruptive roadmap.

According to EJL Wireless Research's 9th Edition (May 2013) of the Global Digital PTP Radio Market Analysis and Forecast, 2013-2017 report, a shift towards high capacity radios will continue to drive more value added products in the market, based on 4G networks launched in 2010 and continuing deployments through 2015. The market report accounts for the impact of microcells, as well as the demand for new sites and capacity upgrades within the mobile infrastructure market. At 60GHz Gigabit Ethernet unit shipments are forecasted to grow from 20,000 in 2014 to 200,000 in 2017. At 70/80GHz Gigabit Ethernet unit shipments are forecasted to grow from 18,000 in 2014 to 120,000 in 2017. Gigabit Ethernet is expected to dominate the 60GHz and 70/80GHz frequency bands in the forecast period.


Wireless Product Line Engineering Leadership

With this rapid business growth and customer demand, GigOptix appoints industry veteran Sushil Kumar to the newly created role of Sr. Director of IC Development for the Wireless Product Line. Mr. Kumar, who will be based at GigOptix's headquarters in San Jose, will be leading the engineering teams for the Wireless Product Line.

"Now that significant GigOptix product shipments have started to ramp, we hired Mr. Sushil Kumar to take the next generation of the E-Band and other wireless band products to the next level. I am happy to welcome Sushil to the GigOptix team. Sushil has more than 25 years of high speed RFIC and MMIC transceiver development experience to benefit GigOptix," said Mr. Andrea Betti-Berutto, Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at GigOptix, Inc. "Sushil will lead our advanced RF and E-Band initiatives and will help us accelerate our development of the next-generation mmWave IC transceivers."

Prior to joining GigOptix, Mr. Kumar held Director of Engineering role at RFMD (News - Alert). At RFMD Mr. Kumar led GaN and GaAs MMIC development in the San Jose design center. Mr. Kumar's experience includes participation in more than 100 MMIC designs with frequencies from near base band up to E-Band. Additionally Mr. Kumar worked in various engineering and research roles for more than 20 years, including Sr. RFIC/MMIC Design Engineer at Avago Technologies in San Jose, Sr. RFIC/MMIC Design Engineer at Agilent (News - Alert) Technologies in San Jose, Design Engineer at Hewlett Packard in Santa Clara, and a Senior Scientist at the Defense Research and Development Organization in India. Mr. Kumar has published numerous RF papers, has been awarded 3 patents, and is actively involved in activities of the IEEE (News - Alert) and International Microwave Symposium. Mr. Kumar begins his role at GigOptix immediately.

For sales inquiries please contact [email protected].

Financial Results Webcast / Conference Call On May 1, 2014

GigOptix will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the E-band contract, the first quarter fiscal 2014 financial results, and it business outlook on Thursday, May 1, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time). Investors and other interested parties may access the call by dialing (480) 629-9760. No passcode is needed for the live call. The replay dial-in number is (858) 384-5517, and the passcode is 4678214. Additionally, this conference call will be broadcast live over the Internet and can be accessed by all interested parties on the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at http://www.gigoptix.com.

About GigOptix, Inc.

GigOptix is a leading fabless supplier of high speed semiconductor components that enable end-to-end information streaming over optical and wireless networks. The products address long haul and metro telecom applications as well as emerging high-growth opportunities for Cloud and data centers connectivity, and interactive applications for consumer electronics. GigOptix offers a unique broad portfolio of drivers and TIAs for 40Gbps, 100Gbps and 400Gbps fiber-optic telecommunications and data-communications networks, and high performance MMIC solutions that enable next generation wireless microwave systems up to 90GHz.

GigOptix also offers a wide range of digital and mixed-signal ASIC solutions in a wide range of technology geometries from 28nm to 0.6um, and enables a complete product life cycle support form swift introduction of new product through its ASIC SunriseTM program to extension of legacy products through its GigOptix Sunset RescueTM program.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements of GigOptix within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including bringing of products to market with full documentation. Such statements contain words such as "will," and "expect," or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, and include (without limitation) statements regarding the plans for GigOptix, new product development and introduction, product sales growth and projected revenues. Forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those discussed in any such statement. These risks include, but are not limited to: the ability to extend product offerings into new areas or products, the ability to commercialize technology, unexpected occurrences that deter the full documentation and "bring to market" plan for products, trends and fluctuations in the industry, changes in demand and purchasing volume of customers, unpredictability of suppliers, the ability to move product sales to production levels, the ability to compete for client design-in opportunities, the ability to cross-sell to new clients and to diversify, the success of product sales in new markets or of recently produced product offerings, including bundled product solutions, and the ability of GigOptix in furtherance of its operational objectives. Additional factors that could cause actual results to differ are discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" and in other sections of the GigOptix' filings with the SEC, and in its other current and periodic reports filed or furnished from time to time with the SEC. All forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the date hereof, based on information available to GigOptix as of the date hereof, and GigOptix assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.


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