Taiwan LED Firms Are Keen to Compete for Backlighting Orders From China's LCD Panel Makers

Taiwan-based LED firms are keen to compete for backlighting orders from China's LCD panel makers, whose supply to local TV vendors is growing fast. China's top-six TV brands sourced only 5% of their panels from domestic suppliers in fourth-quarter 2011, but the proportion rose to 11% in first-quarter 2012, industry sources said. In 2011, 45 million LCD TVs were sold in China, making up 22% of the global market, the sources said. It is estimated that 50 million units will be sold in 2012. China's top-six local TV brands have about 70-80% of the domestic market. For China's LCD panel makers, the domestic market is promising. China is expected to become the world's third largest LCD panel producer following Korea and Taiwan in 2013, the sources said. In Taiwan, LED firms have stepped up shipments of TV backlighting applications to China's panel makers. Taiwan-based Unity Opto Technology said its LED backlighting applications have alrady entered the supply chain of China-based panel maker BOE Technology, as well as China TV vendors, such as TCL and Changhong. Unity Opto added that while it saw low profits in the first quarter it is optimistic that revenues will increase by 50% in the second quarter due to cooperation with China TV firms. Formosa Epitaxy said the China market acocunted for 11% of its revenues in 2011, but the proportion will rise to 20% in 2012. Formosa Epitaxy chairman Chien Feng- Ren said the company will add six MOCVD tools to its Taiwan plant and 12 more to its China production base this year. Demand from China comes at a time when Taiwan LED firms are facing growing pressure from Korean customers for stricter specifications and cheaper prices for backlighting applications. Source: www.digitimes.com