Vertically integrated LED manufacturer Lextar announced revenue for Jan. 2014 was up 11 percent to NT$ 1.22 billion (US$ 40 million) compared to the previous month, or 28 percent YoY.
Although, 1Q is conventionally the LED industry’s off-season, revenue was back to NT $ 1.2 billion levels due to orders in the backlight and lighting industry, said Lextar. In the backlight market, notebooks and monitor applications have shown most growth, as downstream manufacturers begin making orders before the Chinese Lunar New Year.
In addition, direct-type LED TV market is expected to grow 50 to 60 percent in 2014 compared to 40 percent in 2013. Therefore, Lextar has been proactive in the backlight market. The direct-type LED TV market is expected to take up 60 percent market share by 2014. Currently, thin direct-type LED TV products have also entered Japanese brand supply chain. In terms of smartphone applications, Lextar has entered seven major Chinese smartphone brands after developing clients and investing in R&D in 2013.
In the lighting application market, Lextar has continued to ship products to major European and Japanese manufacturers in Jan. 2014, and is preparing to ship new products during 2Q14. Lextar highly efficient LED tubes were well received by clients in 2013, and the company is shipping 160 lm/W tubes to Japan. The company will continue to introduce new technology to increase product efficiency. In addition, lighting modules have showed good performance in Europe, and the company has increased production capacity in its Turkey packaging factory, where the product is shipped to European markets.