Two AU Optronics (AUO) subsidiaries, Lextar and Wellypower, are set to merge. According to David Su, chairman of Lextar, the only overlapping technology between the two firms is packaging. Wellypower currently has CCFL and SMD LED products that Lextar does not have, but Wellypower does not have upstream epitaxial wafer products that Lextar makes.
Wellypower's customers are mostly China- and Japan-based panel makers and Lextar has been focusing on providing backlight products to AUO. After the merger, resources will be combined and sorted, said Su. The merger is likely to complete on February 1, 2013.
Su believes the fourth quarter will be a low season with falling revenues. This is due to falling demand for LED backlight units (BLUs). Nevertheless, penetration rate of LED BLUs for TVs and monitors in 2012 has reached around 70%, and the penetration rate for BLUs for large-size products in 2013 is likely to reach 90%. Therefore demand for BLUs is expected to return in the second quarter of 2013.
Su indicated that the LED lighting market has been growing steadily but the sweet spot does not necessarily lead to significant increase in demand. Lighting applications need time to achieve commercialization, said Su. AUO plans to switch all lighting at its fabs to LED tubes or panel lights starting at the end of 2013 and expects the switch to complete in 2016. This will provide a stream of steady income for Lextar, said Su.
Lextar chairman David Su
Photo: Siu Han, Digitimes, October 2012
