TransDimension Strikes Japan Pact; Odetics Sells Product Line
Orange County optical gear startups have been hot recently, but will that continue to be the case?
That seems to be the question begged following word that Newport Corp. would breakeven in the current quarter, lay off 190 employees and close a facility in Garden Grove. The Irvine-based producer of gear that helps make optical components blamed its customers,optical networking companies,saying they just weren’t shelling out money to upgrade production equipment right now.
“We have continued to experience cancellations and push-outs of existing orders and a deterioration of new order flow in our fiber-optic communications business as our customers deal with excess manufacturing capacity,” said Newport Chief Executive Robert Deuster.
The layoffs could test the resolve of venture capitalists. So far, venture backers have loved optical gear upstarts, dumping more than $60 million into local optical communications names such has OpVista, Newport Opticom and VSK Photonics.
Optical startups have been widely seen as a good opportunity compared to Internet companies that have gone bankrupt in the past year. After all, at least optical gear makers were making products for which the demand was obvious: building a faster Internet.
But that attitude could change. Capital spending at optical gear makers could stay weak, according to a recent report by brokerage house Robertson Stephens. There is still a huge backlog of inventory at many of the larger gear makers.
TransDimension Partners
Irvine chip designer TransDimension Inc. recently announced that it landed Japan-based Kobe Steel Ltd. as a partner to make software for its products going to the Japanese market.
TransDimension hopes its partnership will allow it to get better products to Japanese customers much faster. TransDimension makes chips for devices using the universal serial bus to transfer data between computers and other devices.
Both Kobe and TransDimension hope the pact yields embedded software that allows for quick transfer of data on TransDimension’s cheap processors. Ultimately, the partnership could help bring new types of devices, such as Internet appliances and set-top boxes, to market much quicker than earlier guessed.
“Our partnership with Kobe Steel Ltd. ensures that TransDimension’s market-leading solution has complete support in the Japanese market,” said David Murray, vice president of marketing for TransDimension. “This partnership will help our customers dramatically accelerate their design cycle and allow them to rapidly bring their USB host-enabled products to market.”
EBuilt Bulks Up Products
Looking to boost its customer base, Irvine-based eBuilt Inc. recently released new services that help customers build Internet portals.
The company’s new services allow companies to have a Web page where employees at large companies can access important information.
“That’s what makes a portal so useful. With the right security, one portal can serve as an intranet for employees, an extranet for partners, suppliers and distributors, and a self-service Internet site for customers,” said Jeff Lenardson, executive vice president of eBuilt.
Odetics completes Gyyr sale
Technology incubator Odetics Inc. recently completed the sale of its Gyyr subsidiary’s CCTV products to British Columbia’s Silent Witness Enterprises Ltd.
Anaheim-based Odetics sold the assets, which include inventory, capital equipment and intellectual property for $8.8 million in cash paid at closing, plus the assumption of $1 million in liabilities. Odetics expects to record a non-operating gain of approximately $2.6 million,a needed infusion of cash.
Under terms of the deal, Odetics will be providing at least three months of service to help ease the transition of assets.
“Consistent with our long business history in each of the Odetics businesses, our No. 1 priority is supporting the customer,” said Odetics Chief Executive Joel Slutzky. “Odetics and Silent Witness have constructed an agreement which we believe assures superior customer support throughout this transition.”
The sale allows Odetics to retire short-term debt and beef up cash reserves to meet its working capital needs, Slutzky said.
Exult Expands With BofA
Exult Inc. recently announced it would step up its partnership with Bank of America to handle its regional staffing functions. The new arrangement could provide $550 million in additional yearly sales for Irvine-based Exult.
