Taiwanese LED industry underwent significant changes in senior management including in leading LED manufacturer Everlight, Optotech, and Unistar Opto, reported Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times.

Bangyang Liu, General Manager of Business Unit at Everlight announced his retirement in November 2016. Huizheng Fu, the company spokesperson and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will be appointed as the new GM.

The LED industry faced intense market competition in 2016, which resulted in frequent changes in company management. Liu’s retirement announcement was the most surprising in the industry, but he started notifying upstream and downstream suppliers about his intentions long before the official company statement was released in Dec. 30, 2016. Liu’s retirement is immediately effective as of Jan. 1, 2017.

Another senior manager in Taiwan’s LED industry, who announced their retirement, includes Hongdong Wang, the general manager of Opto Tech. Company Chairman Y.C. Huang will step in as the interim GM of the company, which global leading LED chip maker Nichia holds a 5.82% share in the company.

LED package manufacturer Unity Opto’s supervisor Wei Xin Ma stepped down from his role as the company board supervisor. Ma holds no shares in the company. The company’s largest shareholder is HannStar, which holds a 6.78% stake in the company or 21,700 shares.

Taiwanese LED industry faced financing challenges in 2016, only Unity Opto was able to raise funds. The company was able to raise NT $747 million on Dec. 12, 2016.

Unity Opto’s consolidated revenue for the first 11 months of 2016 reached NT $7.45 billion, up 1.19% annually. However, the company’s revenue declined on a monthly basis from September to November, consolidated revenue in November declined 7.45% monthly and 9.27% Year-on-Year to NT $617 million.

The LED industry faced very challenging circumstances throughout 2016, even though the Chinese government officially ended MOCVD and LED equipment subsidies for local manufacturers, there are still many equipment in customs, or inventory that have not been utilized yet. Once the economy rebounds, there will be potential of expanding production capacity that will eventually be released on the market, which could cause a surge in LED supplies. Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers will need to strengthen their business transformation, and expand their production capacity.