Taiwan's LED Industry Has Benefited From Simmering Anti-Japan Sentiment in China

Taiwan's LED industry has benefited from simmering anti-Japan sentiment in China, due to nationalization of the Diaoyutai islet. Formosa Epitaxy Incorporation (FOREPI) and Epistar to see booming revenues in September, because many LED-related orders diverted from Japan to Taiwan.

According to insiders, rising sales of color TVs in China drive demand for LED-backlit chips; while anti-Japan there has moved many Chinese LED TV factories and system providers to transfer chip orders from Nichia to Taiwan's Epistar, FOREPI, Unity Opto Technology, Lextar, and I-Chiun Precision Industry Co., Ltd.

Meanwhile, due also to anti-Japan protests in China and appreciation of Japanese Yen recently, many Japanese integrated device manufacturers are outsourcing orders to factories in Taiwan.

According to Chinese online media Chinanews, sales of many Japanese color TV brands as Panasonic and Sharp in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou in August have declined at least 20% from July, with Toshiba and Sanyo suffering at least 40% drops.

So the top-three color TV brands in Guangzhou in August diverted orders to Korean Samsung, China-based Skyworth and TCL from Sony and Sharp.