Taiwan-based LED epitaxial wafer and chip maker and chip packager Lextar Electronics expects the proportion of LED backlight unit (BLU) orders for clients other than AU Optronics (AUO) - Lextar's parent company - to increase from 40-50% currently to 50-60% in 2013, according to company chairman David Su.
Lextar currently supplies almost 100% of AUO's demand for LED BLUs used in LCD TV panels, 60-70% in LCD monitor panels and over 50% in notebook panels, Su indicated. Lextar expects orders for LED BLUs used in Open Cell panels from makers other than AUO and affiliates to significantly increase in 2013, Su pointed out. Therefore, the proportion of Lextar's consolidated revenues for shipments to the AUO group will drop from 50-55% in 2012 to 40-45% in 2013, Su said.
The expected large increase in LED BLU in 2013 is because Lextar will take over orders originally released to Wellypower Optronics following merger with the latter and has successfully entered supply chains of six main China-based LCD TV vendors, Su indicated.
Holding an optimistic business outlook on global demand for LED backlight and lighting in 2013, Lextar will start expansion of LED epitaxial wafer production capacity at its factory in Suzhou, eastern China, in the second half of 2013, with 16 MOCVD sets to come into operation in 2014, Su noted. The 16 MOCVD sets will have a monthly production capacity equivalent to 160,000 2-inch LED wafers or one-third increase in Lextar's total production capacity in Taiwan, Su indicated. In addition, Lextar will upgrade its MOCVD sets in Taiwan from making 2-inch wafers to 4-inch ones by the end of 2013, Su pointed out.
Lextar expects its overall utilization of production capacity to stand at 60-70% in the first quarter of 2013 and to rise to 100% in the second quarter. Lighting and backlight are expected to account for one-third and two-thirds, repectively, of Lextar's 2013 consolidated revenues, Su indicated.
