As the LED industry enters the traditionally low 4Q season, Taiwanese manufacturer Lextar LED backlight and lighting business eased, with utilization rates reduced to 60-70 percent. Order visibility is around one month and less than one month for the company’s lighting business.
LED TV backlight went through inventory adjustments in 3Q13, Lextar pointed out. Notebook backlight demands continued to drop due to erosion by tablet computers. With the Christmas holiday season coming up in December, lighting consumer 4Q orders in Europe and the U.S. will gradually slow down. Utilization rates for this quarter are anticipated to drop to only 60-70 percent with order visibility at around one month, lighting operations is expected to be even shorter than one month.
After the merger with Wellypower in March 2013, legal persons estimate that the conclusion of T5 tube production in September will affect 4Q revenue performance. It is estimated that 4Q revenue will be 15-20 percent less than 3Q NT$ 3.7 billion (US$ 125 million).
