Fabrinet to Make Northlight Gear

SAN FRANCISCO -- Fabrinet, an engineering and electromechanical manufacturing services company, announced it has signed a three year volume supply agreement with Northlight Optronics, Järfälla, Sweden. Fabrinet will provide module packaging and manufacture of optical subassemblies for Northlight’s longwave optical transmitters and receivers.

Northlight Optronics designs and manufactures optical transmitters and receivers operating up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps) for long haul, metro, and high speed Ethernet applications. Northlight Optronics’ standard butterfly and new TOSA/ROSA products will be assembled in Fabrinet’s newly completed facility in Bangkok, Thailand. Process transfer is presently underway. Fabrinet expects to begin shipping product the third quarter of 2004.

“The demand for active components is picking up and we are getting very encouraging feedback from our customers regarding our new TOSA/ROSA platform,” said Dr. Dirk Sinerius, Chief Operating Officer at Northlight Optronics. “To comply with our customers’ requirements for quick turnaround and price competitive products while still maintaining the superior quality and reliability they expect from us, we decided to partner with Fabrinet.”

“Northlight Optronics is built on Ericsson’s 20-year plus track record of proven manufacturing and design capability for long wavelength optical transmitters and receivers,” said Siriwan Kaewchansilp, Fabrinet’s European Director of Sales. “They are a significant provider of optoelectronic components in Europe and around the world.”

“Thailand is becoming a major manufacturing location for European companies,” said Fabrinet’s chief financial officer Mark Schwartz. “Fabrinet’s skilled engineers, low cost labor force, and broad base of optical manufacturing technologies, combined with the stability of the Thai government, are attractive to companies seeking an outsourced manufacturing partner. Since formally opening our European office last year, we have seen a substantial growth in our European business.”

Fabrinet Co. Ltd.

Northlight Optronics AB