01 Jul 2008

IQE plc (AIM: IQE, “IQE” or the “Group”) is pleased to announce that it has received significant orders from its largest customers for various products from the Group’s New Jersey facility which bring the total order book for this site to a record high of over US $20 million, deliverable within the next 12 months.

These record orders follow the announcement on 26 June 2008 of an approximate US $20 million multi-year contract extension as sole supplier of GaAs based pHEMT epi-wafers to a major US wireless component manufacturer at the Group’s Bethlehem business unit. Both of these orders are in line with the Board’s expectations for the current financial year.

The New Jersey orders come at a time when IQE is increasing production capacity, particularly in terms of its MOCVD capability for wireless products manufactured at its Somerset, Cardiff and Bethlehem facilities. Overall, MOCVD production capacity is planned to grow by more than 50% by the end of 2008 compared with 2007, in order to meet the increasing demand. Primary drivers for this growth are components for 3G and other high speed wireless applications such as WiFi 802.11n and WiMAX.

Alex Cerruzzi, GM and VP of IQE-RF in Somerset commented;

“We are strongly focused on delivering a highly cost effective service to our customers, using leading edge epitaxial growth technology and are very pleased to have won these orders. Currently, our order book is the largest in our history. As a result of the growing demand for our products, we continue to bring on line further capacity to meet the needs of our customers.”

Dr Drew Nelson, President and Group CEO said:

“Global demand for our products for wireless devices continues to go from strength to strength. Coming on top of our recent announcement of a large contract extension for products manufactured by MBE tools at our Bethlehem, PA facility; this increase clearly demonstrates the continuing high market growth for high-end wireless mobile components and the strength of our business model.”



Contacts:

IQE plc (+44 29 2083 9400)
Drew Nelson
Phil Rasmussen
Chris Meadows

College Hill (+44 20 7457 2020)
Adrian Duffield
Kate Norton

Noble & Company Limited (+ 44 20 7763 2200)
John Llewellyn-Lloyd
Sam Reynolds

Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (+44 20 7459 3600)
Aubrey Powell
Ashton Clanfield



NOTE TO EDITORS

ABOUT IQE www.iqep.com

IQE plc is the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafers with products that cover a diverse range of applications. It is able to provide a 'one stop shop' for the wafer needs of the world's leading compound semiconductor manufacturers, who in turn use these wafers to make the chips which form the key components of virtually every high technology system.

IQE has particular focus on the growing global wireless sector for applications including; mobile handsets, wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, base stations, GPS and satellite communications; as well as for the optical communication sector including; optical storage (CD, DVD), laser optical mice, laser printers & photocopiers, thermal imagers, leading-edge medical products, bar-coding, high efficiency LEDs and advanced solar cells.

The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to outsource wafer production to specialist foundries such as IQE in order to reduce overall wafer costs and accelerate time to market. IQE is unique in being able to supply wafers using all of the leading crystal growth technology platforms including Metal Organic Vapour Phase Epitaxy (MOVPE) and Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and the Group is able to leverage its global purchasing volumes to reduce the cost of raw materials.

IQE also provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customized materials for specific applications and offers specialist technical staff to manufacture to specification either at its own facilities or on the customer's own sites. This is backed by a strategy of duplicating each key product processes over multiple sites to assure customers of security of supply as well as provide compelling customer benefits in terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, thereby significantly reducing operating risk.

IQE operates six manufacturing facilities; two in Cardiff and one in Milton Keynes in the UK; two more in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Somerset, New Jersey in the USA; and its most recent acquisition in Singapore. The Group also has 11 sales offices located in major economic centres worldwide.