The oversupply situation in the LED industry this year has urged large Korean LED companies to size down, according to a Money DJ report by citing Korean media ETNews.
Iljin Group intends to get rid of its LED chip and package business, which has failed to turnover losses into profit since its founding. The article was not specific on which LED business was being spun-off, and only offered a vague detail that the parent company was Iljin Materials. The group has two LED chip and package businesses respectively Iljin LED founded in 2012 that is focused on manufacturing LEDs for automotive, lighting, lighting and backlight applications, and Iljin Semiconductor founded in 2007 that is an expert in LED package products for display backlight. Based on a Bloomberg’s introduction of the LED businesses, Iljin LED is a subsidiary of Iljin Materials, but this was not mentioned for Iljin Semiconductor.
According to the article, the company has sent its application to Seoul Central District Court as of Dec. 18, 2015, and is waiting for the judge’s final ruling. It is rumored the LED business restructure was made to avoid negatively impacting the parent company Iljin Materials finances.
In addition, Korean company SKC also intends to integrate its LED lighting business SKC Lighting back into the parent company by March 2016. SKC Lighting was established as an independent entity in September 2011, at the time SKC was upbeat about the LED lighting industry’s sustainable development, but the lighting business operation flopped, and its revenue performance has been mediocre.
Additionally, Samsung Electronics announced plans to down size its LED business in September this year. Its rival LG Innotec, which intended to become a leader in the LED industry has secretly sold its sapphire wafer business to Samsung Sumitomo LED Materials, a joint venture established by Samsung and Sumitomo Chem.
(Translator/Editor: Judy Lin, Chief Editor, LEDinside)