Key Takeaways
- IQE specializes in engineering compound semiconductor materials that enable high-performance technologies across various applications, including power electronics and RF systems.
- The company addresses critical industry challenges by improving performance, efficiency, and reliability, while managing supply chain complexities and cost pressures.
- IQE differentiates itself through its world-class epitaxial technology, deep customer alignment, and focus on high-performance applications, particularly in the context of geopolitical uncertainties.
Jutta Meier is an experienced executive who has held senior positions at global semiconductor companies for over 25 years. She joined IQE in January 2024 as CFO, and was announced as IQE’s CEO in May of 2025. She joined IQE after serving at Intel Corporation as a Senior Finance Director at Intel Foundry Services, supporting Intel’s Foundry business transformation. Prior to joining Intel, Jutta served as Vice President of Finance at GlobalFoundries Inc, a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing and she also held various positions at AMD.
Tell us about your company.
IQE enables the technologies that power our everyday lives, from smartphones and data centers to electric vehicles and advanced communications systems – by engineering the compound semiconductor materials at their core. We don’t make chips; we make the epitaxial wafers that make high-performance chips possible.
For over 30 years, IQE has led in compound semiconductors. Today, we remain focused on advancing smarter, faster, more efficient technologies – responsibly and sustainably, while enabling a more connected, inclusive world.
What problems are you solving?
The world is demanding more from technology — more performance, more efficiency, more reliability — and materials are where that progress starts.
Our customers come to us when they need differentiated performance. That means improving power conversion, enabling higher data throughput, supporting ultra-small displays and pushing the boundaries of speed and miniaturization. We also help customers manage complex supply chains and cost challenges, especially as demand grows for domestic sourcing and regional resilience.
What application areas are your strongest?
We focus where performance truly matters. Today, that includes:
- Power electronics, where GaN on silicon is improving efficiency and reducing energy loss in everything from electric vehicles to AI infrastructure.
- RF and 5G systems, where GaN on Silicon and GaN on Silicon Carbide support ultra fast, low latency, reliable wireless performance.
- Optical communications, where our InP-based materials are helping move data faster and more efficiently.
- MicroLED displays, especially in RGB applications, where precision and uniformity determines display viability.
- Photonics, where our materials support sensing, imaging, and emerging applications like LiDAR and quantum.
What unites these together is our deep expertise in epitaxy. We don’t just achiebve performance, we scale it reliably.
What keeps your customers up at night?
A few things, depending on who you ask. From a technology standpoint, it’s about staying ahead of the curve while managing risk. Reliability, scalability and supply security are always top concerns.
But more broadly, I hear a lot of concerns around readiness. Is the ecosystem ready for the next wave of demand? Is the supply chain robust enough? Are the right partners in place? That’s where we come in, not just as a materials supplier, but as a long-term strategic partner who helps solve upstream challenges before they become downstream problems.
What does the competitive landscape look like and how do you differentiate?
The landscape is evolving quickly, especially as compound semiconductors gain mainstream traction.
What differentiates IQE is our ability to combine world-class epitaxial technology with deep customer alignment. We’re not trying to be everything to everyone. We focus where we know we can make a difference: in high-performance applications where material quality, consistency, and scale really matter.
We also bring a global footprint and a proven track record, which is important for customers navigating geopolitical uncertainty. That’s been especially critical in aerospace and security, where our work supports governments’ goals of building secure and resilient domestic supply chains.
What new features or technology are you working on?
As a pioneer in GaN with 20+ years experience, we’re doubling down across power and RF, to meet demand from AI to energy infrastructure. That includes scaling GaN on Silicon, improving performance and manufacturability at the epitaxy level.
We’re pushing forward in microLED, especially RGB, where our materials can enable brighter, more efficient and immersive displays. And our work in InP-based photonics is opening up exciting possibilities in data centers, telecom, and sensing applications.
Critically, we’re innovating in process, not just materials ensuring these breakthroughs scale from lab to fab.
How do customers normally engage with your company?
In Compound Semiconductors, the device performance is set with Epitaxy. Therefore, our engagement starts early, often at the design or feasibility stage because decisions made at the epitaxy level ripple through the entire device stack.
That means a lot of collaboration, problem-solving and trust which is underpinned by long-term partnerships that span decades with some customers. We’re also engaging with new customers and players across key growth markets, helping them ramp faster by sharing our experience and technical depth.
It’s a high-touch model, but we believe it’s the best way to deliver value, especially in a space where precision, reliability and innovation are non-negotiable.
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