Rakon
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Founded in 1967 Rakon is the world leader in the development and production of high performance quartz products (TCXO) and crystal components for demanding applications.
Based in Auckland, New Zealand Rakon has become the dominant source for timing references used by the worlds leading GPS companies. Over half of the worlds GPS systems use Rakon oscillators or crystals.
It has been claimed that the GPS system that the United States Military use in its 'smart bombs' use Rakon products. Rakon marketing director Darren Robinson said in August 2005 that the company's technology went into "smart bombs and missiles" used by the US military. The NZ Herald pursued this story and attempted to link the export of crystals to military applications. The NZ Government has cleared Rakon of any export breach.
The owners of Rakon are in the New Zealand rich list.
[edit] Recent Controversy
NZ Herald - Rakon - Tuesday 30th May
The 38-year old company employs around 500 people at it's Auckland factory and earned revenue of over $70 million in 2005. Rakon has a 60 per cent global market share in crystals for GPS. Rakon managing director Brent Robinson claims less than 1% of the work that Rakon does is for military applications. Asked by the New Zealand Herald whether the companies oscillators were being used in the war on Iraq, the company said they "didn't really want to draw attention to where they [the US military] are using it".
In July 2006 Rakon was the target of protests by Global Peace and Justice Auckland(GPJA). During the Israeli attacks on Lebanon in July 2006, GPJA issued a media release appealing"to the Prime Minister to close the loophole which allows New Zealand’s Rakon Industries to export parts for Israeli bombs being dropped on Lebanon and Palestine.". All lamb, apple and kiwifruit exports should also be restricted as they made be fed to soldiers.
The Green Party of New Zealand has issued a press release calling for an end to the exports of Rakon's oscillators for use in military equipment.
In June 2006 the New Zealand Ministary for Foreign Affairs and Trade cleared Rakon products for export. Stating that they were unlikely to of been specifically designed for military use.
Rakon said in a media release that they are "not privy to the end-use systems, equipment or applications developed by its customers". Peace Movement Aotearoa responded that this comment "reveals either a startling level of irresponsibility or of duplicity. [Since] A 2003 Investment NZ publication describes them thus: "Rakon manufactures GPS-enabled, temperature-compensated quartz crystal transistors used for ultra-demanding applications such as aircraft navigation, satellite communications and smart munitions.""<http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/nw240805.htm/>
Guidance systems such as JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition) - for which Rakon has supplied a key component for the past 10 years - are made as tail kits which are then attached to a bomb.
Worlds smallest integrated GPS receiver developed by Rakon - Jan 2006 -
Brent Robinson- “Our R&D team has come up with a high sensitivity unit that can enable quite weak signals to be received, which is a real breakthrough in an industry that needs to have products that will function in urban environments with very high interference.”
He says the company is now further developing the unit to provide up to three times greater sensitivity in its next generation, even before the first development is out the door.
Brent Robinson says the miniaturisation of the GPS RF module is strategically very important for Rakon as it provides more value-add on its core technology. He says it has the potential to provide between 20-30% of the company’s revenue over the next two years.
Rakon produces high performance crystals and oscillators and the company is regarded as a world leader in the field. Currently over half of all GPS products manufactured today have a Rakon crystal or oscillator driving them.
All GPS receivers use quartz crystals in the decoding of satellite positioning data by oscillating at very specific frequencies; Rakon was the first to develop temperature-controlled crystal oscillators that were small, inexpensive and yet still precise enough under the dynamic temperature changes that GPS systems experience.
