| Type | Public (NASDAQ: JDSU) (TSX: JDU) S&P 500 Component |
|---|---|
| Industry | Optical products and broadband communications |
| Founded | Merger of JDS Fitel and Uniphase Corporation in 1999 |
| Headquarters | Milpitas, California, United States |
| Number of locations | 80 offices, serving customers in more than 160 countries |
| Key people | Thomas H. Waechter, President & CEO David Vellequette, Chief Financial Officer |
| Products |
Communications test and measurement equipment; optical communications components, modules, and subsystems. Lasers used for biotechnology, semiconductor manufacturing, and materials processing. Thin film coatings, components, and assemblies used to manage light for displays, instrumentation, office automation, and aerospace/defense. Optical solutions for brand protection and document authentication; and decorative coatings for brand enhancement and differentiation |
| Revenue | $1.3 Billion USD (FY2009) |
| Employees | ~4,000 (2008) |
| Website | www.jdsu.com |
JDS Uniphase (NASDAQ: JDSU) is a company that designs and manufactures products for optical communications networks, communications test and measurement equipment, lasers, optical solutions for authentication and decorative applications, and other custom optics. It is headquartered in Milpitas, California in the United States. It was formerly known as JDS Uniphase, prior to a rebranding of its corporate image on September 14, 2005. The legal entity is now called JDS Uniphase Corporation, whereas elsewhere the company always refers to itself as JDSU.
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JDSU was formed by the 1999 merger between two fiber-optic companies, JDS Fitel of Canada and Uniphase Corporation in the U.S., and became known as JDS Uniphase subsequent to the merger. In 1981, JDS Optics was founded by Jozef Straus, Philip Garel-Jones, Gary Duck, and Bill Sinclair. The "JDS" is short for Jones, Duck and Straus/Sinclair. The company became JDS Fitel when it formed a partnership with Fitel, a fiber optic and optical connector company. Three other major fiber companies merged with JDS Uniphase during the telecom boom: Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. (OCLI) based in Santa Rosa, California, E-TEK Dynamics and SDL bought for 45 B$, both based in San Jose, California. With the changes in executive membership that came as a result of these mergers, JDS Uniphase moved its headquarters first to San Jose, California, and then in 2006 to nearby Milpitas.
A list of mergers and acquisitions since 2005 can be found on the JDSU public website.[1]
During the 1990's, JDS Uniphase stock was a high-flyer tech stock investor favorite. Its stock price doubled three times and three stock splits of 2:1 occurred roughly every 90 days during the last half of 1999 through early 2000, making millionaires of many employees who were stock option holders, and further enabling JDS Uniphase to go on an acquisition and merger binge. After the telecom downturn, JDS Uniphase announced in late July 2001 the largest (up to then) write-down of goodwill. Employment soon dropped as part of the Global Realignment Program from nearly 29,000 to approximately 5,300, many of its factories and facilities were closed around the world, and the stock price dropped from $153 per share to less than $2 per share.
On September 23, 2005, JDSU announced a reverse stock split one-to-eight to one-to-ten.[2] On December 2, 2005 JDSU stock holders authorized the reverse stock split after its 2005 annual meeting. [3]
As of April 2011, JDSU stock trades just over $20.
After the 2001 crash of the telecommunications industry, the state of Connecticut filed a lawsuit against the company and four key executives, claiming that they had, and hid from company shareholders, advance knowledge of the company's impending downturn. Unlike most similar lawsuits, which are dismissed or settled before trial, Connecticut's lawsuit went to trial in October, 2007. JDSU was acquitted of all charges in November, 2007.[2]
The logo of the former JDS Uniphase was an open multi-colored box, intended to evoke a feeling of thinking "outside the box" among employees. The logo of the new re-branded JDSU represents the cycle of innovation that begins and ends with the customer.
1. Dan Levine. "JDS Uniphase Scores a Win in Securities Case," Law.com, November 28, 2007
2. Kevin M. Lacroix. “Defense Verdict in JDSU Securities Trial,” The D&O Diary, November 27, 2007
3. Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse, November 2007