News

posted on 08 August 2008 05:57

Holographic storage developer InPhase has reportedly laid off half its workforce as persistent final haul product development issues delay the product launch date.

In early June the company laid off 40 of its 130 employees and deferred the shipment of its Tapestry 300GB holographic storage drive to December. The product requires highly precise laser beam placement and focussing and the company was working to resolve shock and vibration absorption and laser reliability issues before shipping finished product.

Holographic storage places multiple stored items in the storage medium and uses holographic principles and technology to differentiate one item from another. The tolerances for the laser positioning and focussing are very fine indeed.

It was expected and hoped that these issues would be resolved this month. CEO Nelson Diaz had said product development would then resume in August. The company has a persistent history of product development delays. This latest report indicates that InPhase is burning up the last of its cash and the company must be regarded as being on a narrowing tightrope. Everything depends upon timely shipment of a reliable product with revenue results and strong revenue potential.

InPhase has and is developing bleeding edge technology and may now be bleeding to death unless a cash transfusion, either from customer revenues or willing lenders, can be found.

^{[Martin Edwards, news writer.]}