June revenues of Taiwanese-listed LED makers totaled NT$8.8bn (up 1.12% month-on-month, but down 5.6% year-on-year), according to LEDinside. Benefiting from rising demand for consumer electronic appliances and the traditional lighting peak season, the LED industry’s revenue for second-quarter 2012 reached NT$25.82bn (up 22.7% quarter-on-quarter).
Looking towards second-half 2012, the LED industry will face a severe challenge – affected by the lukewarm economic outlook and the European debt crisis, the future for end markets does not seem bright, and the peak season performance may fall short of expectations yet again.
In the LED backlight sector (TV, notebook or mobile phone) demand has been shrinking, so brand vendors have concerns about hitting their shipment targets. As for LED lighting, affected by the European debt crisis, orders from Europe and the USA have also fallen. Consequently, the outlook for third-quarter 2012 remains murky, and fierce competition will persist well into second-half 2012.
Benefiting from the large-sized backlight orders and high demand for consumer electronic appliances, revenues for Taiwanese-listed LED chip foundries amounted to NT$3.83bn in June (down 0.4% month-on-month and 11.5% year-on-year). Given the rising demand in the display market, Taiwanese LED packagers have started to receive orders from Chinese chip makers since May, says LEDinside. Those Chinese firms aim to make inroads into Taiwan’s low-price LED market. So, Taiwanese firms need to put more emphasis on product quality and reliability in order to set themselves apart from Chinese competitors.
In June, revenue for LED epiwafer and chip maker Epistar Corp rose 4.3% to NT$1.73bn. Huga Opto’s revenue was NT$210m and its utilization rate rose to 70% due to orders from Korean firms. Revenues for FOREPI (Formosa Epitaxy Inc) and Chi Mei Lighting Technology Corp (CMLT) remained flat due to demand from Asus’ new tablet PC.
June revenues for Taiwanese-listed LED packagers reached NT$4.97bn (up 2.3% month-on-month but down 0.5% year-on-year). Lite-On’s revenue rose slightly, to NT$1.09bn.
Lextar’s lighting application business accounted for 40% of its revenue in June; aside from cashing in certain global brand vendors’ orders, the firm’s efforts in China also began to take effect and yield orders. Moreover, its Suzhou plant’s lighting assembly lines were certified by clients and reached an economy of scale that triggered Lextar’s lighting business and market share to grow in first-half 2012.
Furthermore, the new model that Unity Opto Technology jointly developed with its client has gone into mass production. Also, the firm’s backlighting orders grew considerably, coming from Taiwanese TV and tablet PC OEMs and Chinese TV brand vendors. As a result, Unity Opto Technology’s revenue soared by 19.9% in June to NT$700m.
However, Taiwanese LED firms noted that, although the peak season is nearing, no prominent growth momentum is in sight. Coupled with weak consumer confidence, the outlook for the LED market remains conservative.
