As the vanguard in the field, Samsung introduced the first series of LED TV and sold some 500 thousand units in the last six months. The launch triggered various brand vendors such as LG, Sharp, Sony to follow suit, and benefitted Taiwan's LED chip makers Epistar and FOREPI.
Samsung has increased its order quantity with FOREPI and Epistar, to pave the way for the introduction of its new 8 series and 9 series. Over 50% of FOREPI’s third quarter capacity is dedicated to Samsung and LG. Even though LG’s subsidiary LG Innotek has an in-house fab, but its chip technology does not meet the required specifications for LED TV, therefore, LG’s entire LH90 series is transferred to FOREPI, accounting for 24% of it capacity. If LG continues to increase its order in the fourth quarter, 60% of FOREPI’s capacity will be filled by LG and Samsung. The remaining capacity will be allocated to other Taiwan manufacturers such as Innolux and Coretronic as they prepare for the launch of their LED monitors, thus we can expect FOREPI’s capacity to be fully-loaded.
As LED TV garners more attention, its penetration will likely increase and underpin the growth of FOREPI’s revenue and margin after its record high revenue growth in July.