Tower, a foundry of high-value analog semiconductor solutions (NASDAQ/TASE: TSEM), a foundry of high-value analog semiconductor solutions, recently announced that it has placed multiple customers' 1.6 Tbps silicon photonics products into volume production on its newest silicon photonics (SiPho) platform. The platform doubles data rates from current 800 Gpbs products by utilizing a number of innovative technologies. These innovations were made possible by Tower's close collaboration with several customers who have already designed breakthrough 1.6Tbps products on this enhanced platform and are already ordering volume capacity.
The latest process supports data rates of 200Gbps per channel, with eight channels built in parallel for a total of 1.6Tbps transceiver throughput, compared to the current data rates of only 100Gbps per channel for a total of 800Gbps.
We recently announced 1.6Tbps optical transceivers based on silicon-optical technology and are accelerating the launch of 8x100G transceivers based on silicon-optical technology,” said Dr. Jack Xu, vice president of Coherent's transceiver business. We are pleased to have a strong partner like Tower that will not only help us bring our advanced technology to market, but also has extensive experience in the volume production of silicon photonics products for the benefit of our mutual customers.”
Tower's high-capacity silicon-optical platform delivers every key feature required for high data rate optical transceivers, including high-bandwidth optical modulators and low-loss edge coupling from the laser to the fiber. These features are critical in the development of high-speed datacom components and play a key role in enabling transmission rates from 100Gbs per channel to 200Gbs and beyond.
We are very excited to announce this achievement to the industry and are pleased to see well-known names in high-speed datacom, such as Coherent, begin to adopt this technology,” said Dr. Marco Racanelli, President of Tower Semiconductor. Tower will continue to be committed to providing advanced technology solutions that help our customers shape and drive their markets.
According to Fiber Optics Online, Tower reported third-quarter revenue of $371.0 million, beating Wall Street estimates of $370.3 million, and earnings per share of $0.57, also exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.53. According to LSEG's data, Tower Semiconductor expects revenue to reach $387 million in the fourth quarter of this year.
Tower Semiconductor's silicon photonics business is growing rapidly, with revenues expected to double to $100 million this year and expected to continue to double next year. The company dominates the pluggable products market with more than 50 silicon photonics customers based on its leadership in silicon-germanium and silicon photonics and a highly customizable process to meet customer needs.
Tower's fabs are located in Israel, the U.S. and Japan, with state-of-the-art process technologies at mature process nodes ranging from 45 nanometers to less than a quarter-micron. According to Craig-Hallum analyst and electrical engineer Richard Shannon, Tower has more than 50 silicon photonics customers, seven of which are among the top 11 datacom transceiver manufacturers. This is a testament to the company's market reach and customer base in the silicon photonics space.