Something to consider
I think there could be more to yesterday's announcement than we all realize. POET is not going to do anything that takes away from their focus on building VCSEL based optical transceivers (the optical engine). I think it is very possible that POET is being financed by a third party in this effort announced today. This is a joint development agreement that includes the following condition. Poet will have joint ownership of any developed intellectual property with IMRE, with a right of first refusal related to exclusive rights to any developed IP.
I think this initiative is probably driven by a customer which would be consistent with the highlight below. If so the right of first refusal could be part of that deal and be what the customer is getting in return to finance POETs part of this development?
Just a thought but I really can’t see POET allocating significant funds towards this right now without knowing first where that money is coming.
Sensing and microdisplays – striving for new optical applications
10:55 – We believe POET really holds the pole position here, in this race. From that perspective the future is very bright, ah, pardon the pun.
11:04 – To capitalize on these megatrends, we’re also working to accelerate our evaluation of an expanded product roadmap to include both displays as well as sensing technology. We have received very specific interest in these applications from prospective customers and actually are in advanced discussions to license for NRE fees and transfer our proprietary integrated Planar Opto-Electronic Technology. Included in these talks is the proposed establishment of a platform for the development of integrated sensing applications.