Epistar, the largest Taiwan-based maker of LED epitaxial wafers and chips, on December 9 reported consolidated revenues of NT$2.075 billion (US$70.1 million) for November, representing growth of 4.68% on month and 39.84% on year, and those of NT$20.203 billion for January-November, rising by 8.25% on year.
The growth in November consolidated revenues was mainly due to steady shipments of red-light AlGaInP chips and larger than originally expected demand for blue-light LED chips used in backlight and LED chips used in lighting, Epistar pointed out.
Overall utilization of production capacity stood at 80-90% in November and will drop to 70% due to supply chain makers' adjustment in inventory, Epistar indicated.
Red-light AlGaInP chips are particularly used in display boards and outdoor display panels and have significantly higher gross margins than blue-light LED chips, Taiwan-based supply chain makers indicated. Epistar has more than 30% of its consolidated revenues coming from red-light AlGaInP chips, the sources pointed out.
