For third-quarter 2017, South Korean LED maker Seoul Semiconductor Co Ltd has reported revenue of KrW305bn, up 14% on KRW267bn last quarter due to strong sales of its Acrich MJT, Wicop, UCD and filament LED products.
Within the lighting division, more than one-third of customers have already shifted to adopt Acrich MJT (multi-junction technology), which is expected to account for over 50% of sales in general lighting next year. Filament LEDs are rapidly becoming popular in the decorative lighting market, where they are replacing conventional LEDs, says the firm.
In the Display segment, sales grew due to strong adoption of Acrich (which enables optimal local dimming in premium UHD TV ultra-high-definition televisions) and UCD (which brings exceptional color rendering to displays, it is claimed).
The package-free LED Wicop (which features greatly enhanced brightness and enables slim displays, says the firm) already accounts for double-digit overall sales. The application of Wicop has now extended beyond automotive daytime running lights (DRLs) to automotive headlamps. Year-on-year automotive lighting sales growth of more than 30% in Q3/2017 proved highly profitable, notes the company.
Despite a continued decline in average selling price (ASP), operating profit has risen 27% quarter-over-quarter and 54% year-on-year to KrW30.6bn, boosted greatly by sales of high-end products (due to their differentiated technologies) as well as continued cost and process innovations. The firm expects its new factory in Vietnam and the implementation of smart factory systems to further strengthen cost innovations in the future.
For fourth-quarter 2017, Seoul Semiconductor expects revenue of KrW270-290bn - relatively high considering the exceptional Q3 results and the fact that Q4 is typically off-season for LED makers.
Chief financial officer Sangbum Kim says that SunLike (a new LED technology launched in June which produces light that closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight) has been very well received, with great interest from customers worldwide. Also, the previously launched LED drivers (which integrate invertors into chips) will continue to grow sales and profit in future, he adds.
