- CEO
- Jutta Meier
- Full Time Employees
- 577
- Sector
- Technology
- Industry
- Semiconductors
- Address
- Pascal Close Cardiff United Kingdom CF3 0LW
- IPO Date
- Jul 14, 2017
- Business
- IQE plc, founded in 1988 and headquartered in Cardiff, United Kingdom, serves as the leading global supplier of advanced compound semiconductor wafer products and material solutions to the semiconductor industry. The company operates through three primary segments—Wireless, Photonics, and CMOSS++—manufacturing and selling compound semiconductor materials including epitaxial wafers for radio frequency devices in wireless communications such as mobile handsets, base stations, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, GPS, and satellite systems; photonic materials for light transmission and sensing applications encompassing lasers, sensors, LEDs, optical communications, thermal imagers, medical products, and infrared devices; and advanced silicon-related materials combining compound semiconductor properties with lower-cost silicon technologies for enhanced processing, MEMS, and nanotechnology uses. IQE supports diverse end-markets spanning smart connected devices, communications infrastructure, automotive and industrial applications, aerospace, security, and power electronics, with manufacturing facilities in the UK (Cardiff, Newport, Milton Keynes), US (Taunton Massachusetts, Greensboro North Carolina, Spokane Washington), and Taiwan. Recent developments include a joint development agreement with X-FAB announced in April 2025 to create a European-based gallium nitride (GaN) power device platform; expansion of its partnership with Quintessent in January 2025 to establish the world's first large-scale quantum dot laser production amid rising AI demand; issuance of convertible loan notes in March 2025; completion of a £1.1m ULTRARAM industrialisation project with Quinas Technology; initiation of a strategic review in late 2024 expanded in September 2025 to encompass a potential company sale, advised by Lazard, alongside progressing negotiations for the sale of its Taiwan operations to repay debt including the HSBC revolving credit facility; leadership change with Jutta Meier appointed permanent CEO in May 2025 following Americo Lemos's departure in October 2024; and finalisation of the sale of its decommissioned Bethlehem, Pennsylvania site in December 2024.