IQE PLC
28 February 2008

                                    IQE plc

                          (the ''Company'' or ''IQE'')

                            Notification of Interest


The Company was informed on 27 February 2008 that Gartmore Investment Limited
and its subsidiaries ('Gartmore') had a notifiable interest of 44,218,440
ordinary shares in IQE, being 10.3% of the issued share capital of the Company.
Gartmore is interested in IQE through the entities as detailed below:


Registered Holding            Beneficial Owner                   Number of
                                                                 ordinary shares
HSBC Global Custody           Gartmore Fund Managers LTD         17,824,080
Nominee UK LTD                A/C Gartmore UK & Irish Smaller
                              Companies
BNY GIL A/C Noms LTD A/C NWSC Gartmore Growth Opportunities plc  3,486,494
BNY GIL A/C Noms LTD A/C LST  Gartmore Smaller Companies Trust   7,824,300
                              plc
Nortrust Nominees Limited     Strathclyde Pension Fund           15,083,566
Total                                                            44,218,440

The total number of the Company's ordinary shares in issue is 431,043,197.
The ordinary shares referred to above are the ordinary shares of 1 pence each.


Contacts

IQE plc                                                +44(0) 29 2083 9400
Leslie Coventry

Noble & Company Limited                                +44(0) 20 7763 2200
John Llewellyn-Lloyd
Andy Yeo


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