RDRT has been moving up the past few days. Maybe this is why:
Teravicta Technologies and Read-Rite Announce Alliance for Volume Manufacture of Teravicta's RF MEMS Switches
September 09, 2002 09:02:00 AM ET
Alliance Set to Accelerate Commercialization of RF MEMS Switches for High Volume Applications
FREMONT, Calif. and AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Teravicta Technologies, Inc. and Read-Rite Corporation RDRT today announced an agreement to utilize Read-Rite's manufacturing capabilities for the high volume production of Teravicta's line of low-loss, high linearity RF MEMS switches.
Teravicta currently produces its RF MEMS switches on its own low volume pilot production line. The alliance with Read-Rite will transition Teravicta's RF MEMS technology to high volume production at Read-Rite.
"We are very excited to be working with Read-Rite, one of the leading suppliers of magnetic recording heads. Magnetic recording heads currently represent the largest segment in the MEMS marketplace today with over 1.1 billion units produced annually. The low cost, high quality manufacturing capabilities of Read-Rite provide an excellent synergy with the manufacturing requirements of RF MEMS switches," said Robert Miracky, Teravicta's President.
"Teravicta's RF MEMS switch technology has clear performance, cost, and reliability advantages over other solutions," said Andrew C. Holcomb, Read-Rite's Senior Vice President of Business Development and the Company's CFO. Added Holcomb, "Teravicta's RF MEMS switch already has been sampled by leading wireless product companies, whose evaluation has shown that the RF performance of Teravicta's switch is far superior to that of conventional alternatives. Read-Rite's existing manufacturing infrastructure is a perfect fit for high-volume production of RF MEMS switches, and enables us to leverage our current process technologies and capital assets. We look forward to working with Teravicta on these and future products."
"Teravicta's alliance with Read-Rite to provide high volume manufacturing of Teravicta RF MEMS switches marks a significant step in the commercialization of RF MEMS technology," said Russ Craig, Research Director, Semiconductors at the Aberdeen Group. "Teravicta's partnership with Read-Rite will provide significant cost reductions while achieving the quality levels required for high volume wireless products."
Teravicta and Read-Rite are on a fast pace to transfer Teravicta technology into Read-Rite manufacturing to enable qualified production in 2003.
