UTCI is the one most likely to benefit, imo.
Kopin has some patents covering LEDs, but they've never followed through on anything in that area. Before they went public they raised some follow-on venture financing on the basis of talk about making LED tail-lights for automobiles. I'm not sure of the exact year (late '80s?) or the venture firms involved, but I remember the 'pitch' <g>.
Never materialized.
That was strike one for Kopin...
SmartSlide was strike two...
In their Jan 19 press release, UTCI says that "applications for high brightness LEDs include interior and exterior automotive lights, traffic signals and outdoor signs such as stadium score boards and video displays." I would rather invest in the company selling the final product, so I would favor UTCI over EMKR. The market doesn't seem to be very excited about it, judging by stock performance, but you always have potential for high volumes with an automotive application.
AIXTRON AG is the global market leader in sales of MOCVD reactors, primarily for production of compound semiconductors. A recent press release from them deals with the LED market:
aixtron.com
I'll probably just stay away from the wafer area for the time being. One company that appears to be expanding production at a good clip is SOITEC: the world's leading manufacturer and supplier of SOI wafers (see #reply-8362971). They may be worth following, though at present the stock trades only in Paris. I was told a NASDAQ listing is planned for a couple years out. I received some technical background information from them, but haven't seen anything on their financial performance.
WT
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