Lucent to Quadruple Optoelectronics Component Production Capacity

Lucent Technologies Inc.h after discovering the high price of under-supplying customers in a high-growth industry, <%=company%> (Murray Hill, NJ) has unveiled plans for a $30 million expansion of the optoelectronics components operations of its Microelectronics Group (Breinigsville, PA).

Lucent posted its first-ever earnings shortfall last month, attributing the weak performance to an inability to meet customer demand for optical networking equipment. The expansion program will shore up at least part of the production shortfall by quadrupling the output of components. The program includes a new 143,000-sq.-ft. building at the Breinigsville facility and a $6 million renovation of the nearby Reading optoelectronics facility. With production nearly complete in Breinigsville, the company expects to begin phasing in manufacturing operations in March of this year.

Expansion has been the buzzword for the year, with players like Nortel Networks (Brampton, ON), Corning (Corning, NY), and JDS Uniphase Inc. (San Jose, CA) investing hundreds of millions of dollars to expand capacity and enhance production (see Nortel Plans $400 Million Expansion to Triple Production Capacity, Corning to Increase Fiber Manufacturing Capacity by 50% with $750 Million Investment, JDS Uniphase to Begin $125 Million Expansion). In addition to its expansion, Lucent will also invest approximately $1 billion in optoelectronics research and development over the next three years.

Edited by Kristin Lewotsky