TAINAN, Taiwan, Jan. 04, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Himax Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HIMX ) (“Himax” or “Company”), a leading supplier and fabless manufacturer of display drivers and other semiconductor products, today announced its Wafer Level Optics (“WLO”) laser diode collimator with integrated Diffractive Optical Element (“DOE”) has been integrated into laser projectors for next-generation applications. Himax has significantly reduced the size of laser projectors, enabling the integration of technologies, such as active 3D scanners, into mobile devices, automobiles, augmented and virtual reality devices, and IoT applications.
Himax's WLO creates a unique hybrid optical system to combine the collimator and the DOE into a height profile of less than two millimeters. Himax's component is then stacked on top of a laser diode to reduce the overall height of a coded laser projector assembly to five millimeters. The WLO laser collimator provides high alignment accuracy and both the collimator and DOE can achieve system and algorithm customization.
“We have supplied WLO in high volumes to leading camera module integrators for top tier smartphone and camera OEMs since 2009," began Jordan Wu, President and CEO of Himax Technologies. "We are currently collaborating with several major OEMs' product developments using our WLO as our expertise in WLO design and manufacturing enables significant size and cost reduction of coded laser projectors. For example, in an active sensing 3D camera projector, our technology can reduce the size of the incumbent laser projector module by a factor of 9, actually making it smaller than conventional camera modules. This breakthrough allows our WLO collimator to be easily integrated into next-generation smartphones, tablets, automobiles, wearable devices, IoT applications, consumer electronics accessories and several other products to enable new applications in the consumer, medical, and industrial marketplaces."
The WLO laser collimator and DOE will be manufactured by Himax’s Wafer Optics production facility in Taiwan. The first production run for 3D camera applications is scheduled for delivery and sampling by Himax's partners and select customers in the first quarter of 2016.
About Himax Technologies, Inc.
Himax Technologies, Inc. (HIMX) is a fabless semiconductor solution provider dedicated to display imaging processing technologies. Himax is a worldwide market leader in display driver ICs and timing controllers used in TVs, laptops, monitors, mobile phones, tablets, digital cameras, car navigation, and many other consumer electronics devices. Additionally, Himax designs and provides controllers for touch sensor displays, LCOS micro-displays used in palm-size projectors and head-mounted displays, LED driver ICs, power management ICs, scaler products for monitors and projectors, tailor-made video processing IC solutions and silicon IPs. The company also offers digital camera solutions, including CMOS image sensors and wafer level optics, which are used in a wide variety of applications such as mobile phone, tablet, laptop, TV, PC camera, automobile, security and medical devices. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Tainan, Taiwan, Himax currently employs over 1,900 people from three Taiwan-based offices in Tainan, Hsinchu and Taipei and country offices in China, Korea, Japan and the US. Himax has 2,712 patents granted and 612 patents pending approval worldwide as of September 30, 2015. Himax has retained its position as the leading display imaging processing semiconductor solution provider to consumer electronics brands worldwide.
Forward Looking Statements
Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, but not limited to, general business and economic conditions and the state of the semiconductor industry; market acceptance and competitiveness of the driver and non-driver products developed by the Company; demand for end-use applications products; reliance on a small group of principal customers; the uncertainty of continued success in technological innovations; our ability to develop and protect our intellectual property; pricing pressures including declines in average selling prices; changes in customer order patterns; changes in estimated full-year effective tax rate; shortages in supply of key components; changes in environmental laws and regulations; exchange rate fluctuations; regulatory approvals for further investments in our subsidiaries; our ability to collect accounts receivable and manage inventory and other risks described from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including those risks identified in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in its Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2014 filed with the SEC, as may be amended.
Company Contacts:
Jackie Chang, CFO Himax Technologies, Inc. Tel: +886-2-2370-3999 Ext.22300 Or US Tel: +1-949-585-9838 Ext.252 Fax: +886-2-2314-0877 Email: jackie_chang@himax.com.tw www.himax.com.tw
Nadiya Chen, Investor Relations Himax Technologies, Inc. Tel: +886-2-2370-3999 Ext. 22513 Fax: +886-2-2314-0877 www.himax.com.tw
Penny Lin, Investor Relations Himax Technologies, Inc. Tel: +886-2-2370-3999 Ext.22320 Fax: +886-2-2314-0877 Email: penny_lin@himax.com.tw www.himax.com.tw
Investor Relations - US Representative Lamnia International, LLC. John Mattio, CEO Tel: +1-203-885-1058 Email: jmattio@lamniaintl.com www.lamniaintl.com
