By Mary Ellen Podmolik | Strong
demand for its crystalline products used by LED chip manufacturers
enabled Rubicon Technology Inc. of Franklin Park, to lessen its
fourth-quarter loss.

The company said it lost $755,000, or 4 cents a share, compared to a
loss of $1.8 million, or 10 cents a share, in 2008’s fourth quarter. 
Revenues during the quarter increased 49 percent to $8.5 million.

For the year, Rubicon reported a loss of $9.6 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with a 2008 profit of $4.4 million, or 19 cents a share.

The company said while pricing for its products used by the light-emitting diodes (LED) market is not back to pre-recession levels, pricing increased 7 percent in the fourth quarter and it expected at least a 15 percent pricing increase during 2010’s first quarter.