Taiwan-based LED epitaxial wafer and chip maker Lextar Electronics had December consolidated revenues of NT$1.098 billion (US$36.6 million), a decrease of 5.84% on month but an increase of 51.88% on year, while LED packaging house Unity Opto Technology saw those of NT$456 million drop by 14.14% on month and by 19.13% on year, according to the companies.
Lextar posted 2013 consolidated revenues of NT$13.734 billion, growing on year by 36.57%, while Unity Opto had sales of NT$6.919 billion, slipping by 8.39%.
LED penetration in the lighting market continued to rise to 20% in the second half of 2013 and may exceed 40% in the second half of 2014, Lextar indicated. Therefore, Lextar will increase shipments of LED components used in lighting and aims to increase the revenue proportion for LED lighting from 30% in 2013 to 40% in 2014, the company pointed out.
Lextar has landed orders for LED backlight units (BLUs) from main China- and Japan-based handset vendors, with handset applications accounting for 15% of total LED backlighting revenues currently, the company said. In addition, Lextar has begun shipments of LED components used in handset flashes to South Korea-based vendors.
Unity Opto saw a large increase in orders for LED light bulbs from the US and Europe in late December, the company pointed out. In expectation of growing demand for LED lighting beginning in the first quarter of 2014, Unity Opto will expand its production capacity for lighting-use LED products to double the current level at the end of the quarter, the company indicated.
